Divorce -- Clearing The Confusion

Lord, I do pray tonight that you would season my words with grace, Lord, not only season my words with grace, Lord, but give me clarity, Lord, I pray that you would infuse marriages tonight, infuse the lives of those who are distant from you, Lord, begin to draw them to you. Lord, we ask that you have your way in this service tonight. Lord, we're here to honor you, to seek out what your word says. As always, Lord, we give you this service, but we also pray for our nation tonight, Lord, a nation that has rejected you, rejected your word. I pray that you would begin to draw her back through the preaching of your word, that the pulpits would be aflame again with righteousness. Lord, preaching the truth and the power of the Holy Spirit, Lord, draw your church back to you. Lord, wake us from this lukewarm state, Lord, so we would seek you with all of our hearts. The more we seek you, we will find you, and the more we find you, we will seek you. Lord, I thank you so much for calling me to this, but I pray now that you would give me, Lord, not only the boldness, but the clarity and the grace and the love to deliver this message. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. You know, what's ironic is, 20 years ago, you would have never caught me singing those verses. You know, that's not a man's song. But let me remind every man in this room that you will bow to Jesus Christ on this side of heaven, or you will bow to Him on the other side, and then it might be too late. Because every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord. And when you truly know Him, you have to worship Him. You have to worship Him. So worship is just a reflection of what's going on in the heart. And I just want to challenge you tonight, if worship is boring, and you're not sure, just, oh man, come on, there's something wrong in your heart. You should have a worshiping heart, a heart that's following heart after God. And I just want to challenge you in that area, especially men, sometimes we think, oh, the songs are sappy, or this, well, it's not manly to do this. No, it's not manly to worship God. David was a man of war, and he danced so much in front of God that his clothes fell off and his wife mocked him. Worship's not for women. Worship is for men as well, to worship God and to recognize what He's done in our lives. So just think about that next time. It's not some sappy love song. It's a broken, humble sinner thanking God for what He's done. If it was not for the grace of God, there go I, locked up on that prison right there on Jane 60th, oh yeah, I would be there if it wasn't for the grace of God. So let's not forget that that's why we worship. We worship because of who He is and what He's done for us. So with that said, let me transition now into the message. And I want to be careful on this topic. Some people are saying, oh, Lord, why is He speaking on this? Other people are saying, thank God He's speaking on this. Other people are saying, well, this isn't relevant to me. And well, we're in Matthew, we're in chapter 5, and we're on this verse. So that's where I have to preach from, number one. Number two is, I think this will be one of those verses like when I spoke last year on same-sex attraction, balancing grace and truth, and we've had people from the homosexual lifestyle actually come out of that lifestyle from it. We've had a lot of feedback on that message, and it's one of those main verses that we can say, here's our church's stance, preaching the truth but still loving that individual. So this will be another message that I can send out as far as this is the church's stance on divorce. We're going to clear up the confusion today, because there's so much confusion. Divorce people walk around with the big D right here. It's the unpardonable sin. No, the unpardonable sin is rejecting Christ, not divorce. But on the other hand, this culture we've created now, no-fault divorce, I just don't love you anymore, don't like you anymore, look at all the Hollywood actors, just let them go, get somebody else. So I'm trying to find the balance between grace and love and mercy, at the same time holding to the truth of God's Word. So help me get through this for an hour, and just understand that that's where I'm trying to go. But let me first say up front that I have nothing but compassion for those who've experienced divorce. It's like death. It's because two people come together. God says, let man and woman come together, and let nothing separate them. So when that separation happens, guess what? It's like gluing two pages together and ripping it apart. There's going to be damage, it feels like death. And if you remember, I spoke on this probably last year, a year and a half ago, and they're interviewing, I think she's passed away now, but I'm focused on the family. She was released from the concentration camps, and then she also experienced divorce. But she said that the pain of her divorce was greater than the pain of the concentration camps. And it still lingers, it's devastating. So don't think for a minute I'm coming up here and going, wow, wow, wow, you just got to this. As somebody who's experienced this pain, the consequences of bad choices, the regret, the heartache, just walking around with a big D on your chest and you just feel, I also want to bring a word of encouragement. So trying to balance encouragement and truth is a little challenging, because sometimes you're going to err on the side of the truth, and it's going to hurt. But we need to hear it. But at the other side, we're also going to focus on grace and love and mercy. And let me remind everybody here, no matter what you've been through, where you're at in this stage, if this doesn't apply to you today, it might apply to you next week. So listen up, and I guarantee you know somebody who this will apply to. And we'll have this message posted soon, you can get it out there. But let me encourage you that God is the God of restoration. Even though the marriage may never be restored, He can restore your healing. He can heal you. He can deliver you. As a matter of fact, the greater the pain, the greater the blessing. It's actually the pain of my life that has driven me to the cross. It's why I have to worship Him. It's why usually I'd be thinking about leaving here and going to schooners afterwards, but now I'm thinking about worshiping Him more and more, because He's radically changed my life. So that's a great hope. If you can use that brokenness to propel you to Christ, it's a wonderful thing. If you use that brokenness to propel you to bitterness, it's a terrible thing. It's our choice. As you've heard before, life makes you bitter, or it makes you better. It's what you do with that. Because if you know God, once you know Him as Restorer, He actually restores your life, and you rebuild your life, and you look to Him, if you know Him as Provider and Shepherd, you know all the old Hebrew terms, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Rapha, all those, they knew Him as Provider, and their shelter, and their banner. If you know Him, the only way to know Him as those things, to not just read about in the Bible, but to know Him, is to go through it. Because I won't know Him as a Provider unless I've been on my last month's income. I have no other option, Lord, unless You provide, I will not make it. And if you don't know Him as your Redeemer, unless you've been saved from a sin of life and death, or a sin of death, basically, not life, but you won't know Him as these things unless you've experienced it. So those people who go through the pain of divorce, they either come out very broken and humble, and seeking God in a deeper relationship with Him, and that's one of the good things about problems in marriages, is it'll drive you to the cross. Or, it'll drive you to divorce court. You're steering the vehicle. You're driving it in whatever direction. So I have this long introduction, and one of those points was, I need to say up front that I have nothing but compassion for those who've experienced divorce. Actually, there's a lot of groups out there who've said, I can't pastor because of my past in my 1990s. If you go hear my testimony online, you can hear it's on the homepage. I can't even pastor. Not only that, I'm living in sin, and my wife is living in adultery because of what happened to me in 1990s. I get those emails, how can you be up there and preach? You were once married. Yeah, it was abandoned, and she filed and she left. I mean, what do you want me to do about that? Just sit there and linger in that? But because of that, that's what God used to bring the prodigal son back home. The hammer of God came out and said, okay, boy, here's what it's gonna take, bam, now I need you, God, now I'm everything to you. As I drew closer to him, she drew further apart. She's gone, and I'm left falling hard after God. So he rebuilds and he restores, and it's from that that this passion came. So that was actually a turning point, and God knows what he'll use. He'll take your finances, your health, whatever it is, why? Because we have all these idols. We have a Sunday God, but not a Monday through Saturday God, and he wants everything. And just a caveat, next week we're starting, we're gonna be in Matthew, we're gonna talk about God's at war, dealing with idolatry in the heart. And it's already firing up in me, so it's gonna be, bring your friends. We're gonna talk about idolatry and what do we do with that, and how do we crush those things from our lives. However, the culture of no-fault divorce that we have created is alarming and destructive. Adultery has reached epidemic levels, children are being ravished, and families destroyed, and humility is nowhere to be found. Let me say that again. When I see the devastation, talk to families, I don't see a lot of brokenness and humility. I see a lot of this, and name-calling, and pointing, and blaming. No wonder there's no restoration, our hearts aren't right to receive that. Somebody's gotta be the better person. Somebody has to be that better person. So my challenge is I have to offer hope and warning, comfort and conviction. God desires restoration, but he also desires repentance. See how he works like that, he wants to restore, but is there always hope of restoration? Not at all, because it takes two. You have to realize that it takes two people, when the choices of one will greatly affect the other, and it'll put the other person in a position where they have no other choice. It's almost like they created this environment. The other spouse created this environment of divorce, and it's not necessarily a certain person's fault, although it does take two, and I'm gonna get into that in a minute. Of course we know this one, God hates divorce. We know that, but it bears repeating that he told Malachi, I am the Lord thy God, I hate divorce, I believe it was Malachi, don't quote me on that. But the problem is a lot of people look for loopholes and excuses that I found. See there's usually not a heart of, and I'm not again saying everybody, I'm saying the majority of people that I talk to, there's not a heart of restoration. There's a heart of, let me find this loophole and this excuse to make my way through. See, see Jesus said, okay that should be the last resort, not the first. And now let's get into that for a minute. And this is why I really value the value of systematic study. Because if you just take this scripture out of context, and while you're turning there I'm gonna go through that. It's Matthew, chapter five, we're still in Matthew, we're going through the book of Matthew. Matthew chapter five, verse 27. And the reason, what I mean by systematic study of the Bible, do you know what that means? Do you know that we can pull out scripture and make it apply to almost anything? God wants you to be healthy and wealthy, see? You should never be sick, see this scripture? You should never divorce ever, Jesus said it, see? I mean you can pull out, I mean you can, pretty much anything, you can just take a little piece of scripture and pull and make it fit. So systematic study helps. What it does, it shows you the whole counsel of God. What does he say about a particular subject? And as I reminded everybody earlier, divorce is not the impartable sin rejecting Christ is. So be encouraged by that. It's not the impartable sin, it's rejecting Christ is what is the impartable sin. Okay, adultery in the heart, Jesus said, You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Wow. Wow, there's a lot of adultery going on, isn't there? Well, I didn't do it, I didn't meet somebody, I didn't hook up. Well, this says you're committing it here. Now you see my big issue, one of my big issues with modern day entertainment. A lot of you guys are going to bed each night, adultery in your mind. Let's just be honest. We're lusting in our minds. Where the mind goes, there the body goes. Because basically, as the heart thinks, as the mind thinks, so be it. That's how a man, that's who a person is. So Jesus said, okay, although you might not have done the act, you've thought about it, you think about it regularly, you commit adultery in your heart. And in a nutshell, that's what pornography is. Right? That's why it's so devastating. I think I just looked at earlier, I think this is pretty close. In 2011, there were 227 million searches for sex and video in one month. One month. How many of us have added to that search? In the church? See, we think, oh, I haven't committed adultery. But that's why pornography destroys relationships and families. Because you're having sex with somebody, not physically, but mentally. Your sin will find you out. The consequences are the same. That's why transparency and honesty and repentance is so vital. It's not some secret little thing we just keep over here as if it won't affect. Perfect example. My wife can validate this. This morning, this morning, I'm on our VIMA where all our videos are hosted. I'm trying to look, okay, what's that message I gave on lust and temptation? I do a search on that, and there's a lot of videos in our mind that came up. Right there on the screen. I said, Morgan, look at this. Just so you know, hey, I'm just confessing. My flesh says, don't confess, don't tell her. But I said, listen, what is it? We have to find a different place to host our videos. It's right there. But that transparency, that openness is what has to happen. That repentance and not wanting it. We have to see sin the way God sees it. Jesus is saying, you're committing adultery in your heart if you keep looking at women and lusting, or men. Pornography is now on the rise with women, did you know? It's out there. Half the shows we're watching now, soft core porn. It's drawing people in. Okay, the devil says, you might not do the act physically, but you're going to do the act mentally in your mind. It's still just as devastating. It draws you away from your spouse. You have unrealistic expectations. I just don't love you anymore. No kidding, you don't love her anymore because there's no intimacy. That's why I laugh sometimes when we're getting divorced. Why? We just don't love each other anymore. No kidding, that's why you're getting divorced. That's a no-brainer. You see, love doesn't leave people. People leave love. Because if you go through the Bible, love is a choice, not necessarily a feeling. A lot of young adults say, we're so in love. They're in lust. The hormones are raging, they're in lust. They don't know anything about what love is. Because love is a commitment. Love is honest and pure and upright. You know Corinthians. Love is patient, it's kind, it doesn't envy, it doesn't boast. So Jesus is basically destroying their hypocrisy and annihilating their pride, saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, you say all this, but you even look at a woman, you're committing adultery with her in your heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. So next time somebody says, man, you're a little extreme, you're a little hardcore, you're a little narrow, you're a little fundamentalist. Well, Jesus says, I've got to remove those things that are hindering my walk. I have to remove those things that are pulling me down. And you can't just do that, because if you just do that, it's what psychologists called, for the last 50 years, behavioral modification. That's, modifying your behavior is good, but you have to go after the idol that's causing that behavior. And that's what we're going to talk about next week. So be here next week, because that's where we're really going to talk about getting these idols out of our heart. And he goes on to say, if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Jesus said hell. You guys, Jesus said hell. Can you believe it? Just turn to the other Jesus that the media likes. He said, you'll be thrown into hell. Now, we don't want to confuse this here with, okay, if I'm a good person, I do good things, I won't go to hell. Basically saying, sincere believers who have given their life to Christ, who are following God, will take the necessary steps to remove those things from their life. And if you don't, it just is a reflection of your heart, and you'll be cast into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. This is why these are great scriptures for, if your computer's a problem, put it in the garage or put some software on it. If the TV, if you're always just lusting every night, it's okay to unplug it, turn it off if you have any cable. I haven't had it in 13 years and I'm still alive, I'm still doing okay. We don't want to get legalistic in this. I'm just saying, if it cuts it out, I'll sit there for three hours. 150 channel. Duck Dynasty, renewing your house. This, this, this, this, this. It's just a bunch of garbage. So he's saying, listen, if anything is going to pull you in that direction, remove it. And this is a good time to remind you of what I spoke about last year. I know I bring a lot of my old stories, but they keep fitting. When I was up at a men's conference in Lake Arrowhead, and the guy came up, he said his wife is leaving him. He's addicted to porn, he doesn't know it, this is his last resort. And we prayed, of course, behavior modification, you know, but we walked him through, okay, what is triggering this? Okay, every time, I mean, when you feel that, what do you do? You know, because there are things you can put in place, you know, text your, you know, say, hey, this and this, and you can get into it. I mean, there's so much, this isn't really a sermon for that. But to make a long story short, he said, well, it starts a lot of times when I'm watching ESPN and the commercials, the cheerleaders and all, that's really what starts to fuel this, all this stuff that keeps coming on TV. And I said, well, call me stupid, but plan B or plan A might be start getting rid of all this stuff, show your wife you're serious, get this out of here, and begin to worship God, put on worship music. He looked at me, he said, are you crazy? I'm a sports fanatic. Well, how bad do you want it? How bad do you want your wife is about ready to leave, and you have the audacity and the arrogance to tell me I'm a sports fanatic? That's the problem with the church. Everybody loves their entertainment, they love their idols, they don't love holiness and purity, or they would seek God with all their heart. That's what Jesus is saying, there's no wiggle room here. Whatever is causing you to sin, cut it off. Cut it out. No wiggle room, no gray area. And you know what happens once you begin to do that? Then you're filled with the spirit of God. And then you can have some boldness behind your actions, and start being filled with God's word. You love his word, you love his worship. Why? Because you're obeying his word. Everybody says now, we're too busy, we're too busy. You know what they're too busy doing? They're too busy chasing their idolatry. They're too busy being entertained. I just went online, the national media, the national survey, the average household has the television on seven hours a day, yet we're too busy to read the word of God, we're too busy to worship, we're too busy to seek Christ? No, we're not too busy, you've got an idol on your heart, and Christ is in the back. Oh, I didn't come to be a cheerleader today, I'm sorry. It's time to convict and challenge that heart that's crushed the idols. Because you know what people do? They just replace an idol with another one, they put it over here. You've got to crush it and annihilate it, get it out of your life. When the children of Israel used to hide their idols, well, let's just take Astaroth and this carved image, let's just kind of get rid of him for now, we'll seek God for now, but then they'd always go back to their idols, go back to their idols. Idolatry is what leads to all other sin. Martin Luther would say you can't commit all other nine sins without first committing idolatry. Everything is linked to idols. That's what we're speaking on next week. I mean, I don't keep building this up, but I want to preach on it now, I've already been putting it together. And there's actually a really good book written by a guy named Kyle Eidelman, wow, people have been asking me if we're related, but I should meet this guy. But he wrote a new book, it's called God's at War. Talk about convicting. He goes from everything from food, to sex, to power, to success, all these idols. And he made a statement in there, he says, whatever disappoints you has probably got an idol tied to it. Think about that. Work's disappointing me, my money, my financial state. Why? Because it's your idol and he's letting you down. And then he said God will often judge you in your area of your idolatry. He doesn't feed his competition. So if your idol is money, watch out for some devastation. If your idol is sex, watch out for some dissatisfaction. If your idol is power, watch out for some humility and demotion. Think about that, it's powerful. So I'm giving him all the credit, because I'm going to use a lot of his stuff. With biblical text, of course. But that's basically what Jesus is saying, it's in your heart. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Cast it out from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Jesus said it twice. So that's for next week. But then it gets to this week. Furthermore, it has been said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife for any reason, except sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a woman who is divorced, commits adultery. Wow. Taking that face value. That's pretty powerful. That's pretty narrow. And I don't want to take or add to this at all. What I want to do is unpack it. But we have to remember that Jesus is not overriding the law in any of these texts. What is he doing? He's clarifying it. You've heard it said, but I tell you. You've heard it said, but I tell you. And he would clarify the heart of God. What would happen? The Pharisees get really rigid and legalistic. We see the same thing today. But God says, but I tell you. See, a lot of people have the letter of the law, thou shalt not, but they don't have the spirit of the law behind it, which is the spirit of the law, grace and love. They have to be married. So you can pound the law onto somebody, but without grace and love, it goes nowhere. And that's what he's saying here. Listen, you've heard it said, but here's what it means. Now, what I want to do is grab from Mark 10 to bring this. This is kind of the same discourse in a different book of the Bible where Jesus elaborates a little bit. So now you have this picture. Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that if you divorce her without any reason except sexual morality, you are committing adultery, and whoever marries her is committing adultery. So Mark 10. Jesus then left the place and went into the region of Judea across from the Jordan. Again, crowds of people came to him, as was his custom he taught them. Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Well, what did Moses command you? Jesus replied as if he doesn't know. This cracks me up. They said, well, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. Go, go, go. Well, Jesus said, it's because of your hard hearts that Moses wrote this law, Jesus replied. But at the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh. That's why this issue of adultery is so important, because the two becoming one flesh is almost like a spiritual bond. That's what sexual intimacy is for. A great gift from God turns into perversion when you pervert what it's for. So the two come together, not to know ten other people before they get married, but to know the one person, that glue that knits them together, that bond, how God created them. So Jesus is clarifying, listen, this is what God has put together. They become one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate. Do not separate this. When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. So what we have to do here, let's look at three things. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones was helpful at this point. He's a great Bible teacher. He died about 50 years ago. He wrote on the Beatitudes, and I drew from a lot of what he said, because he breaks it down into three areas, and this is really helpful for me. Number one, what did the law teach? Number two, what did the Pharisees teach? And number three, what did Christ teach? So this whole thing of divorce is really going to make sense in just a minute here, because we're going to pull everything together. What did the law teach back with Moses? Well, divorce wasn't an option when adultery occurred. What was the option when adultery occurred? You have some big rocks around here? Stone them to death. Somebody committed adultery, there's no need for divorce. We're getting big three-pound, four-pound rocks. They'll usually be down a little crest like this. People will be up on a hill, a little mountain, and just start stoning the person to death. That was the cost of adultery. You say, wow, we don't do that anymore. Well, that doesn't excuse it. It shows me the penalty usually reveals how God would view it. The heart of God, listen, this is so wrong, so corrupted, that it will cost a person their life. So basically the spouse was released when this happened, right? A woman was caught in adultery, or a man, they would be stoned. The other spouse is now released. Why are they released? Death has occurred. So they're released. The Mosaic Law was actually to help women. It controlled the chaos and the suffering. It limited divorce under the title of uncleanness. So what the guys were doing is like, I don't want this one, let me trade in for a new model. Let me do this. Moses said, uh-uh. Unless there's an uncleanness there morally, spiritually, physically, you cannot divorce her. What you have to do is write her a certificate of divorce. So now she can say, I am released. I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't commit adultery. Don't stone me. My husband, I have a certificate of divorce. He released me. So we usually view it as, oh, yeah, here's your divorce. Here's your divorce. But it was to protect women, to protect the children from suffering. Because divorce was just, oh, I just want this, I want that. You don't cook well. You don't do this. You couldn't divorce them unless they met the guidelines of uncleanness there. And so they would write them a divorce. And the woman would have that as being legally divorced from her spouse. So with that backdrop, the certificate of divorce showed that she was dismissed, released, and he could not marry her again. So that's what the certificate of divorce was. The husband decided to do that. It was a very serious thing. She was released. She's provided for, I don't know how, with the children. She's not going to be harmed because in that time, if a woman was divorced, they'd all be, oh, why did he divorce you? What's going on? Is there adultery there? Do we need to stone her? What's going on? So he actually looked like the bad guy. Like, okay, I'm divorcing you because of these issues, this uncleanness. So that was the law. That was the Mosaic law. That's what happened there. But then what did the Pharisees teach? Of course, what they like to do is take the law of God and then put their own twist on it. The Pharisees taught that the law actually urged men to divorce their wife. It was like a license. So they taught, see, Moses said you could write him a certificate of divorce. See? Divorce, divorce, divorce, divorce. No, Jesus said, no, no, no, no, no, no. He did that because of the hardness of your hearts. That's not God's plan. He did that because of the hardness of your hearts. And so the Pharisees taught, well, you can do it whenever. But the hardness of our hearts had to be controlled just like an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It's in that same setting. Jesus says an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Well, in the Old Testament, whatever you take from a man, you take out a man's eye, it's going to be required of you. You take out a man's tooth, it's going to be required of you. It's in that same setting. So if you divorce your spouse, it's not a license for this. This is very seriously, very serious. So allowing divorce is not commanding it. See, that's the distinction. God allowed divorce because of the hardness of their heart, but he was not commanding it. He wasn't promoting it. He wasn't saying this is the better plan. It's almost like saying because you're going to kill people, you're going to go to jail. Well, God must say that killing people is okay. No, he's just saying because the hardness of your heart, because you're killing people, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, you're going to have the ramifications there. You're going to feel the penalty. Now, what did Christ teach? So Jesus comes on the scene. He's sorting through all this. Adultery no longer requires stoning. That's pretty obvious. Could this be the turning point where people are no longer stoned? I don't know. I'm just throwing that out there. Because Jesus didn't say, yeah, go stone them. He said, you are released because of adultery. And, you know, people might be divided on that. I'm just throwing that out there, food for thought. The two become one, man and woman. The only thing that can break this is adultery. His relationship to her is as if she is dead. That's why Jesus brought this in, adultery and being dead. That's what happens. You kill the marriage, basically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally. Anybody who's been through that knows it's hell. You kill the marriage. The relationship is dead to the person. An innocent party is entitled to remarriage under these certain circumstances, what Jesus is saying. So, I put the Idleman Commentary on this. This isn't what the Bible said. This isn't opinion. This is what I think the heart of the message is. Jesus is challenging a destructive sexual lifestyle. The man is an adulterer. Because God's heart is always repentance and restoration. And what I mean by that, let's say, God forbid, I'm not going to, but I have to bring in examples without you thinking, oh, he's promoting this. I'm just thinking, a one-night stand, somebody's totally broken. I can't believe it. My marriage, I almost lost everything. And they're totally broken compared to a man who every year just seems to have this, you know, just can't get this out of my system. He's an adulterer. Jesus said, let that fool go. Get rid of him. You have grounds for divorce. Crystal clear. Because he keeps breaking that union that was never supposed to be broken. So he's going to the heart of the issue here. So here's the key. Remarriage is not the issue here necessarily. Manipulation and abandonment are. I appreciate the words of Professor John Nolan on this point. The normal understanding of Matthew 5:32 runs the danger of leaving the woman involved a double victim. She has been divorced by a husband who may have well rejected her at his own whim. And now she is to be barred from any new relationship because she bears the stigma of the divorcee. So Matthew 5:32 has a twofold meaning. Do not divorce without legitimate cause. That would end a lot of divorces. Do not divorce without legitimate cause. But even with that, God's heart is restoration. Seeking restoration. Number two. Twofold warning. Do not pursue a relationship with someone who has abandoned their spouse. That happens all the time. All the time. And whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. So Jesus is tagging on there. Listen, if you marry a woman who abandoned her husband, has a renegade spirit of rebellion, the spirit of Delilah, and you marry her, you're committing adultery because she's not released. So that's what the twofold warning is. Jesus is saying, do not divorce without legitimate cause. Do not divorce without adultery occurring. But even then, we should have a heart of restoration. Number two. Don't even dare pursue a relationship with someone who has abandoned their spouse. So the next time you hear somebody, and this is going on the internet, the radio, everywhere it goes, the next time you hear somebody says, well, we're broken up, we're moving towards divorce, run for the hills, run for cover, because that is not a legitimate person you should be dating. That's just biblical text, and it happens all the time. Well, we're separated right now, moving in that direction. Well, you're not right now. And you don't know the circumstances behind that, so be very, very careful. Shane, I can't believe, that's what Jesus says. Well, Jesus' words. And whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. But then he says, you can divorce if adultery has occurred. So in other words, one's released, but other one, there's a warning. So a perfect example. Somebody's working on their marriage. And I knew a guy, I don't see him much now. And I've talked to him about it too. I couldn't quite understand it. But every year or two, he kept cheating on his wife. I'm like, wow. And the first couple of times, she was loving him. Okay, you're forgiven, you understand. But then as the times kept going, she finally said, divorce. I'm done. So according to some now, she can't remarry. She can never remarry again. She's a victim. She got into a relationship. The guy keeps cheating and cheating. You have legitimate grounds there to say, hit the road, Jack, don't ever come back. My heart was restoration. It still is, but obviously, you're a dog. Wow, luckily I have liberty here. See, the heart still though is restoration. Restoration. So don't forget that. The two-fold meaning is, divorce without legitimate cause is not right in God's sight. Number two, do not pursue a relationship with someone who has abandoned their spouse. And that happens all the time. It's like, oh, now they're available. You should run the other direction. Now, let me bring in the big bag of encouragement and open it up. Because how many are in this situation going, oh, shoot. I really messed up. Boy, he's calling me out right now. And I know, Lord, repentance. You can't change where you've been. King David wanted to build the house of God, but God said, you've shed too much blood. You will never build a house for me. But because it was in your heart to do what was right, I will count it to you as righteousness. Same thing if we say, Lord, I left my spouse. I'm so sorry. There's no hope for restoration. They're remarried. I was wrong in that. Lord, I'm so sorry. He's not going to keep it. Well, too bad. You're out of luck. I'm just going to wait until I'm going to hit you with the hammer of hell. Repentance, it's a very healthy word. And actually, it would probably help a lot of people because they would repent from them. Call the spouse. Say, I'm so sorry what I did, what I put you through. But what can I do now? So on one hand, this is great encouragement. It's a warning, but it's an encouragement. And it's meant to be both. Because that's the heart of God. If anybody's going in that direction, God's saying, I'm warning you to not go in that direction. However, if you have grounds and you're married to somebody, man or woman, who is just what I call a cheater, they're adultery at heart. Because if somebody's truly repenting, the sign of repentance is to not do what you used to do. So he lacks the fruit of genuine repentance. He lacks the fruit of genuine faith. He goes back to that old way. He can be cut loose biblically, from my understanding. Now, there are great men of God divided on this. John Piper would say that there's no divorce unless your spouse dies, ever. John MacArthur would take a different stance, like this stance. And other people are way more casual, like, well, I mean, you don't like him anymore? Can I have a deadbeat dad not leading you home? Yeah. Kick him to the curb. Move on to the next one. And I just get sad, because a lot of times I talk with people that are getting divorced. They can't wait until their divorce is over so they can go marry somebody else. As if the grass is going to be green, I can't wait. There's no heart of repentance and humility. You think God's pleased with that? So, see, we've created, in our culture, we've created this whole thing, even in the church. No-fault divorce, and I always say, but Shane, I just don't love them anymore. No kidding! No kidding! You think, oh, God got hit by a curveball with that? Well, I didn't know that. Well, that's why you're divorcing, because you don't love them anymore. If you loved them anymore, you would not be divorcing. Now, sometimes tough love says, and Dobson has a good book on tough love, if you ever want to read that. Where tough love says, I can't deal with this anymore. You need to get out. We're separating. And sometimes that separation will begin to break the man or the woman and get them back in a position that God wants them to be in. So, do I not promote divorce? Absolutely not. But there are incidences. There are situations. We hope for restoration. But there comes a time and a place that you've got to pull the plug. Now, what happens? We were just talking about it. Separation can be a good thing, because you're just separating. Paul would say in Corinthians, if a woman leaves her husband, let her remain single. And it's in that leaving, sometimes it's a wake-up call. Many men never stop drinking until she walked out the door and never came back. They would promise for years. Oh, yeah, I'll stop. Just come on, come on. And then, same old pattern. So, sometimes you need that severity of what happens. Sometimes people need to feel the consequences of their actions. And sometimes it takes separation to do that. And sometimes it takes divorce if that person is committing it. Jesus is pretty clear. If he's committing adultery, you have biblical grounds. You don't need to feel, you know, this burden. You don't need to feel like this anxiety or what am I doing. But God says, listen, you're released if this is happening. But unfortunately, many add this to the text. If you've ever experienced divorce, you cannot remarry, period. Not only does the text not say this, this statement actually condemns someone for the actions of another. Think about that. Forbidding remarriage because of the actions of a previous spouse. Let's just say somebody's spouse cheats on them. They're adultery. They're cheating. Well, if this text said, now this person can never get remarried again, now not only are they the victim, they're in bondage. And Paul doesn't want his children to live in bondage but live in peace. And that's the hard part with a sermon like this. There are so many different situations that you can't just say, well, just do this. Every situation is different. Some people are looking for loopholes. See, you commit adultery on me. You did. Remember back in 2006? Remember, remember? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't think Jesus is hard to go back seven years ago and bring it back. So we like to make all these excuses. And just as a word to some of you, if I see another divorce caused by Facebook, again, I'm going to write that president of Facebook, that thing is a divorce magnet. Oh, old boyfriend, wonder what he's doing. It's been 10 years. Click. Oh, how you doing? Click. It starts. There's people in this room who are divorced because of Facebook. Makes me sick. Why? What do we do? We open ourselves up. It's no big deal. That's how the enemy works, folks. You don't click on their name and say divorce next to them. You click on their name and say, oh, I remember those days. I remember that. I wonder what they're doing. Yeah, I'm so miserable in my life. And he just leads you right down there, leads you right down there. And then you find that person. Oh, this is great. And then hell breaks loose. And you end up losing that person too because it was built on a foundation of corruption. So share your Facebook pages, what I would do. If you're going to have it, share it. Your spouse is all incoming and outgoing. Oh, I don't want to do that. Then there's something wrong in your heart. There's a little mischief going on there. If you're not open and transparent about everything, I tell more, here's my phone check, my text check, my email, whatever you want. Whenever you want, whatever you want. What does my flesh say? Because I don't want you to think, oh, Shane, he's so spiritual, that guy. Oh, well, he just must walk around on clouds. No, my flesh doesn't do that. My flesh says, hide as much as you can, as often as you can. I say, but flesh, you need to sit down because the spirit's going to take over. I need to preach to people. I need the anointing and the boldness and the power of the Holy Spirit. So you better just take a back seat because I need to be honest and transparent. We all do. Follow Christ. I told you guys during the marriage series last year, if you weren't here, go back and watch the marriage series. It's the most requested series we've done. It's about eight weeks long. It's on our homepage. But during that time, some guy from Morgan's high school was emailing her through Facebook. I said, okay, I'll handle this from now on. Thank you very much. And so I said, hey, let's get together. Oh, oh, oh, yeah, I didn't know. It just totally just changed his course. But what about she wouldn't have told me that? See, all of us pastors are on some pedestal to be worshipped. We're right down here in the trenches. Same lust, same passion, same desires. That's why I can speak boldly about, I just don't love them anymore. Because there are times, she'll tell you, there's been times in our marriage, whereas if we would allow bitterness to keep drawing us away and keep drawing us away, and that anger and that frustration keep drawing us away, we could say, I don't love you anymore. I'm upset. Get out of my life. I'm so bitter. How did I even marry you? You're such a, you know, how did all that happen? Because you let it in. Open one little door at a time, the next door at a time. So you don't fall out of love. You leave love by bitterness and jealousy and envy and pride and arrogance, not saying, I'm wrong, I'm sorry. How can we work on this? You have date nights. You talk it through. How can I be a better husband? What's going on here? Because you're working towards it. Why? Because the enemy is doing everything he can to destroy the family. Have you seen what's going on in our nation? It's to destroy the family. The homosexual agenda has one agenda, to destroy the family. They want to destroy the family. They want to get the father out from leading, glorify the children, make the woman, this smart business woman that the dad knows nothing, and just destroy the family. You don't even need a mom and dad. Now you just need two dads. Or you just need two moms. We need to get rid of this whole idea of family. Get it out. Why? Because as the family goes, so goes the nation. Very simple. So he goes after. Why is this such a big issue? He's going after that family unit. I was just at the recorder's office Friday. This little trailer in a parking lot. I didn't know laugh or cry. They're having a marriage ceremony inside the trailer. Just some lady marrying the people. She comes out. She goes, who's next? And these two girls walk in, kissing each other. I'm like, wow. Look at how we, in a trailer, idolizing this from a person who's not even a pastor, preacher, nothing, saying you are married. God says you are married according to my standard. I set up the institution, not you. I ordained it, not you. I created the male and female, not you. But you go and you rip it apart, and it's perversion. And it was a wake-up call for me. I was sitting there. I was sad going, normally you say, congratulations. I'm like, oh, this is sad. Who's next? Who's next? Come in and marry. Say your vows. Who's next? I must have saw two or three weddings. I was only there 15 minutes. Two weddings. Third one on its way. We have cheapened and dumbed down what God has attended. Wow. Amazing. Lack of regard for the Scriptures has taken us to the other extreme of no-fault divorce. If couples would read the Scriptures and apply them, the divorce rate would plummet. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. I don't love her. I don't feel like it. God says, I don't care. I loved you even when you were sinning, even when you were rejecting me. You were committing spiritual adultery on me. You were living in deception. Before anything, the Bible says that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us and gave himself up. So we ought not forgive others. If we would forgive and understand those feelings of love, can I remind you? They come back. How do they come back? I'm sorry. I love you. I was wrong. I'm repenting. Humility. Grace. It begins to build that. That attraction comes back. What initially attracted you? How did that leave? It left because the attitude behind it left. Marriage should be a safe haven. It should be a shelter. It should be something that you're both mutually seeking each other and loving each other. Not some roommate situation. If you're in a roommate situation, you're not in marriage the way God designed it. Is it easy? No. No. Me and Morgan had some difficult talks. I've been a controlling jerk and I better change my ways. Okay. I have two choices. You've got it. Show me how. Can I vent now? No? See? I've got to get that last word in. Yeah, but. Yeah, but. Yeah, you, you, you. And then you go back and forth and back and forth and back. Oh, just me? Nobody's agreeing here. You know you all do it. We all do it. So let me move on here. Or we're going to be here forever. So on one hand, if you're feeling convicted to restore your marriage, do it. God will honor that. If you're feeling condemned because you're about to pull the plug or you need to or you have, don't. If you're scripturally released, you can have peace and joy in that. And know that, listen, I've done all I can do. God knows. God knows you've done all you can do. But yet we're supposed to be punished for the actions of another. So that's Jesus's heart here. Young adults, who you marry is the second most important decision of your life. What's the first? You know what the first is. Right there. Because that's the foundation on which everything else is built. And I see so many people just flippantly go into marriage. Ah, I found the right one. I've known her for three and a half weeks. You're on cloud nine right now. Put on the brakes and watch them in all circumstances. Watch them when they don't get their way. Watch them when you want to try to remain pure. Watch how they treat their mom to see how they're going to treat you. Watch how they see, oh, oh, oh, I'm getting started. Watch, watch, watch. Look for red flags. Don't hide them in your pocket. Look for them, yeah. Ask Morgan. We would go to people and say, what red flags do you see? Please tell me. Obviously, no, I think this is, you've got to, there's got to be something. Of course, there's a lot of little things, but big red flags. You know what I'm saying. Big red flags. They drink and they cuss and they hit people. Guess what's going to happen when you get married. They're going to drink and they're going to cuss and they're going to hit you. They've got a problem with anger now. They're hiding it pretty good. It's going to be times ten when you get married. Oh, just look at poor Nell and Ben. Well, they look at it a lot, and guess what happens when you get married. You look at it even more. If there's not a guard there, why? Because the devil comes after that. I have so many people ask me, so when you get married, you don't struggle with pornography anymore, right? I'm like, guys struggle with lust for the rest of their lives. So do women. Cut it off. Remove it. Do whatever it takes to get that out of your life. And you want to know what the hardest part for me is? So many people are saying amen, but many of you tonight are going to go back and watch Ungodly Filth tonight and laugh at it and be enjoyed by it, entertained by it. You're going to be in divorce court in two years and wonder why. Because you heard it, but you didn't obey it. And the power of the gospel is in the obedience, not in hearing it only. I would say eight out of ten times I counsel, the guys don't do it. Eight out of ten. Oh, yeah, boy, that sounds good, Pastor Shane. Yeah, I really need to do that. Okay, yeah. As far as we get. I think they just wanted a friend to have lunch with and have therapy because they don't want to change. Two of them do, but the other eight don't. I see it all the time, all the time, all the time. And you know what I'll do as well? I've done this many times. I'll say, here, listen to these two CDs on marriage. I'll see them a week later. Did you ever get around to, oh, no, I still got to do that. Your heart's not right. Stop playing games. Wake up. You think you got me fooled? I spent my entire life in sales and marketing and reading people. I can read their facial expressions. I can read their actions. I know exactly what's going on. A person who truly wants that will suck it up and want more. They'll call me tomorrow. What should I read? What can I listen to? Why? Because you can see that they're hungry for that. If not, they're just playing the game. Now, people say, well, Shane, what about 1 Corinthians? Am I going to do another hour sermon? All right, let's hurry. A wife must not leave her husband. 1 Corinthians 7:10. A wife must not leave her husband. Let's stop there. Oh, keep reading. But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else go back to him. Pretty simple. And the husband must not leave his wife. This clearly states that those who are divorced and are separated, unless scripturally released, should not remarry. Here's the ouch verses. If somebody's divorced or separated their husband, there's not really a reason other than, what's the big term now they put on? Irreconcilable differences. Right? We can't reconcile our differences. So we're divorcing. That's the big thing. Well, this is saying you should not remarry. If you leave, you need to remain single. I believe that if this scripture was fully acknowledged, it would create more serious consideration before marriage, and it would be a great deterrent to divorce. There would be fewer divorces without cause and more reconciliations, if you just read the scripture. What about 1 Corinthians 7:15? Somebody would say, but if the husband or wife who isn't a Christian insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases, the Christian husband or wife is not required to stay with them, for God wants his children to live in peace. I believe the new King James or the King James would say that he does not want his children to live in bondage, to be bound by that past relationship. An unbeliever left me. See you later. I'm filing for divorce. I found somebody new. I'm trading you. Bye-bye. See you later. Well, should you pray and contend for restoration? Of course, pray. But at some point, there's no bondage to that relationship. You don't have to pull it. You're not in bondage to that relationship. That's what Paul says. If they leave you and there's no case of returning, God wants his children to live in peace, not in bondage. However, it's wise to allow for a significant amount of time to pass before moving forward. This reveals that the person left permanently or just for a season. We've seen a lot of people. They're leaving. They're out there. The grass is greener. They find out the grass is not greener. This sucks. I'm going back. I learned my lesson. The prodigal comes home and the marriage is restored. Uh-oh. This person is now in a relationship. Hmm. Hmm is right. Now what? Not in a relationship. They're sleeping together. They're planning on getting married. As if that's okay then. But I want to come back. But, uh-oh, that happens more than you know. Why? I'm in a hurry. My biological clock is ticking. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. I've got to hurry. I've got to find somebody to complete me. Idolatry. Do you know relationships can be idolatry? Always needing somebody. When God says that's idolatry, I'm going to judge you in that very area. You need to come to me for everything you need. It happens a lot. I've learned my lesson. I'm so sorry. I'm coming home. No, you're not coming home because now there's somebody in bed where you used to be. Now not only is that feeling the consequence of what happened, now this person's in deep sin, but they're Christian. They go to church on Sunday. You see that guy who had women in his house for 10 years? Go to church on Sunday and come back home? I want to know what church he goes to. I want to hear some videos of that pulpit. What in the world is that guy saying? Wow. The pulpits that are used are supposed to turn that man from his evil way and back to God obviously was disengaged. To sit under preaching for 10 years? Wow. So back to this. Paul says, listen, if they leave, you're not under bondage in such a case. So divorce and separation. Is restoration always God's will? Yes. I see some yeses. I see some noes. Well, guess what? I'm not going to answer that question. Because there's an article in your bulletin that answers this. It's been in that paper a lot of times. Because in my opinion, only God can truly answer that question. Is his heart divorced? Yeah, but if it's going to use shame to turn the prodigal son back home and he's going to meet somebody as wonderful as Morgan, and they're going to have four little kids and pastor of church, I think he's okay with that not working out initially. You see that? So I look back now and say, thank God he allowed that. Are you serious? Yeah. Yeah. Why? Because he redeems the unredeemable. He fixes the unfixable. That's our God. See, this is a positive message too, folks. Smile. God redeems all that. Just turn back to him. Just turn to him. If I time, I go through all these points. Is restoration always God's will? Well, if you're separated or recently divorced, are you lacking peace and joy? I would encourage you to rethink your current situation, because confusion, anxiety, and fear, and some forms of depression are often indicators that you are outside of God's will. Notice how I worded that very carefully. I didn't say always. I said often. Often God will use fear, anxiety, depression, all these things. Why? Because when you're outside of God's will, those are the emotions that follow. You don't feel love, peace, joy, contentment, long-suffering, gentleness, kindness, and fill with the spirit of God when you're outside his will. You don't. So you have to be very careful when you're feeling these emotions. Are you outside of God's will? Not sure? Well, what happens? Excuses often reveal the heart. When God's wanting to convict and challenge and change you, guess what gets in the way? But you don't know. Shane, you don't know my spouse. Whew, you had a few minutes. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Remove the excuses and allow God to work. You have to remove all those excuses, all the things that are hindering. One of the biggest obstacles, hear this and hear it good, one of the biggest obstacles when considering restoration or when seeking direction, Lord, I don't know what to do. Is it restoration? Is becoming involved with someone soon after you divorce or separate. This can severely hinder your chance for reconciliation as well as your ability to follow God's lead. So you should avoid this at all costs. Shane, what are you talking about? I'm separated. You're separated. Apartment. I've got a house now. Now I'm going to go to Schooners and hook up. Now I'm going to find somebody who really loves me. Now I'm going to go down to Hollywood. Now I'm going to hit Vegas. Now I'm going to go. Now, now, now. Oh, no, sir. That's when you should be buried in church, buried in the word of God. Have worship on all those ungodly friends pulling you away from God and your relationship. Cut them off as soon as possible. I say, I don't know what happened. I think I lost my cell phone number. My cell phone broke. Everything. Get rid of them out. Get out of the house. Get out of the workplace. Whatever it takes because they are pulling you away. And that's what happens. It's almost like, oh, I'm separated now. Now I can start dating. God says, no. You missed the whole point of the separation. It's not so you can start dating. It's so you can start breaking. That's the whole point of that separation process. God has given us the freedom to choose. And in marriage, the choices of one will greatly affect the life of the other. Clearly understand that I'm not advocating divorce. Nor am I saying that if you're currently separated, that divorce become an option because better opportunities await you. God hates divorce and anybody that has been there knows why. But here's the key. Most issues would be resolved with a closer walk with God. The closer you draw in, the more you seek Him, the more you find Him. The more you find Him, the more you seek Him. The more you seek Him, the more clear that becomes. As you press into God, you can resolve all your issues. And I'll tell people that. They say, Shane, do you ever counsel people? And I say, yeah. You know when? You guys got a pen and paper? Here's my counseling. It's group therapy. Saturdays at 530. That's what we're doing here. You realize that? Drawing in, seeking in, seeking God. A lot of issues. I don't have seven points in a poem. I don't have try this. I don't have this. I have seek God with all of your heart and let Him do this. Let Him fix you. Let Him rebuild the marriage. You can't do this. You can't send flowers. You can't buy a box of candy. God's got to work in the heart and change the heart. Not the other person. Yours first. And then from that, He'll change the other person. That's how it works. And again, I don't want to blabber this point, but we've grown apart. I don't love them anymore. This can no longer be an excuse. Love is not based on feelings. It's based on commitment. The fruit of the Spirit. But let me encourage you. We've got to close. Many divorced Christians carry years of regret into future relationships. If God is doing a new thing or has done a new thing, it's vitally important that past brokenness does not cause future pain. If God is ministering restoration in your spirit, wait for it and contend for it and pray for it fervently. We should not be excited about divorce and looking forward to moving on. Did you catch that? We should not be looking forward to moving on. We should have a heart of restoration. However, and Christi, you can come on up. Thanks for reminding me. We should not have a heart for that. But if God is doing that and God's doing a new thing and you've worked and you've been in a marriage, you've been in a relationship, and it's not working, the person's adulterer, Christ said you have biblical grounds to leave them. They need to feel the ramifications. They need to feel the consequences for their actions. So see how this is so difficult? On one hand, there's hope and restoration, love and forgiveness. But on the other hand, Jesus said you can divorce because of sexual immorality. If somebody married this lifestyle who keeps breaking that marriage commitment, you're dead to that person now. You are dead to them. They've got a lifestyle of sin that they are not repenting of. There's freedom there. And that really boils down to everything, right? There's freedom at the cross. There's freedom in seeking Christ. So even though this message is about divorce and remarriage, it's really about a God that restores, a God that redeems. He fixes the unfixable. He mends the unmendable. He'll take the hardest, most difficult situation. I remember I felt like committing suicide. The pain was so great. I just said, God, I just felt so. But from that, he rises you up from the ashes and begins to rebuild your life, begins to rebuild your name, begins to rebuild your character, your situation. I had to go through the hell and the humility to be able to now proclaim his truth with the power and the anointing and the unction of the Holy Spirit. It's from that pain and brokenness that this relationship is renewed because then God begins to take those pieces. You know, people say I'm falling to pieces. What does he do? He takes those pieces and he puts those pieces back together. And he not only puts it back together, he puts it back together stronger than it was initially. So there's hope. If there's adultery in a relationship, I've seen marriages in this room, in my family, people I know, they're stronger now because of it. But I've also seen many marriages fail because bitterness and envy and judgmentalism and all these things just sit there and they're resonant. God's saying get rid of those attitudes. Get rid of those attitudes tonight. And please move on and into his arms of forgiveness and restoration. That's the final message is that look to him. That's my answer to everything. Your finances, your marital situations, idolatry, depression, everything. Look to him. Look to the cross. Look to Christ. Look to him. That name is so powerful. That name of Christ is so powerful. The demons tremble. Demons have to flee. That name of Christ. Depression has to flee. That name of Christ changes and fixes everything. I'm going to spend the rest of my life proclaiming this message. It's not a new truth. It's not a deeper truth. It's Christ and him alone. You look to him and look to him alone and allow him to rebuild and restore. That's where true, true, true restoration comes from. Many people go to therapy. They have to meet with their therapist. And they got this, right? They got behavioral modifications, but they don't know true freedom and restoration until they give it all to Christ and fully surrender everything to him. So with that said, let's end. Lord, I thank you so much. Lord, for infusing my heart with this love I have for you and for your word. Lord, I pray that you would infuse all of us. Lord, tonight, give us a deeper walk with you, Lord. A hunger for your word, Lord. Not just to hear it tonight, Lord. But I pray that people would begin to obey your word tonight. Lord, just bring the prodigal home, Lord. But also bring the prodigal spouse home. And the wayward spouse, Lord. Bring the marriage back together. Not roommates and people that used to be in love, but have them fall deep in love again. Acknowledge their sin. Acknowledge their need for a deeper walk with you and a healthy relationship. Lord, begin to build and mend those tonight. And I ask that in Jesus' name. Amen.