Well, hey, good morning Veritas. It's great to be with you all this morning. I'm excited we get to open our Bibles together this morning and look at what God's Word has to say about families. We're in the middle of our families Built for War series, and so it's our desire to help people see that the God ordained institution of the family actually matters, right? We want to plead with our church to take your family intentionally, to have it have purpose, to approach your family meaningfully. And don't just, uh, I'm sure it'll take care of itself. Two weeks ago, Garrett had us in Joshua twenty four, where we saw Joshua's final address to Israel, where he saying, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He's saying, out of fear and awe of who God is, we will serve him. So we spent last week looking at how that plays out in in parenting and with kids. And today we're going to look at how that plays out in the context of marriage. were Bible people at Veritas. And so we don't have to lean on our own understanding or else take culture's perspective or thoughts or opinions. We can actually go to the Word of God and see what he has to say about the institution of marriage. Within the last eight days, I actually got to go to two weddings and they were both great. They were fun to be at. It was encouraging. I love Christian weddings, right? And so both couples are believers and they get their friends and their family together, and they go up front with a pastor and they make vows to each other, right? They say through better or worse, or sickness and health or richer or poorer and so on. We vow to love each other and to honor the Lord no matter what. It's encouraging. It's worth celebrating. Christian marriages are awesome. And yet, statistically, about half those marriages at some point will end in divorce. The couple who wanted to put God at the center, who who covenanted together and made vows to each other in front of their friends and family. And ultimately the Lord at some point gets to a place where instead of saying, we do. They say we're done divorce, or. There's also a lot of couples who are still together. But for all practical purposes, the roommates living under the same roof, just coexisting together. And by God's grace, there's quite a few people, couples in this church who I know are making an intentional effort to be the husband, to be the wife that God calls us to be. And for that, I'm super grateful. Finally, there are people in here who are not married. Show of hands if you're not married. Lots. Okay. And so you can be tempted in a sermon like, well, I'm just going to turn out for the next half hour. Um, I would encourage you. Don't do that, please. Uh, God's word, whether you're married or not, has something to say. And also our application for today applies to you whether you're married or single. So please, please stay engaged. But we're going to actually look at three questions. The first one is, what does God call husband and wife to in marriage? What does God call husband and wife to in marriage the next? Why does it even matter if we're called to something? Why does it matter? And finally, if we're called to something and it matters, how can we actually do that? Some great questions. We're going to actually get the answers from Ephesians five. And so if you want to turn in your Bible or else open your app to Ephesians five, we'll get into that shortly. But I just want to encourage you, I don't know if you're anything like me, but sometimes when I hear message or sermon, um, I'm quick to think I wish so and so was here to hear this or I'm glad so-and-so is here to hear this. Specifically, spouse, my encouragement to you this morning would be don't do that right. Just humbly go before the Lord and ask God, what is it you want to show me? And if you're the type of person who has the tendency to elbow whoever's sitting next to you saying, here, this. Invert your elbows and elbow yourself. Make make sense. Fair. You guys good with that elbow yourself? It's harder than it seems. All right. Ephesians five, starting in verse twenty two, it says this wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit and everything to their husbands. And you jump down to verse thirty three, it says, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. So wives, right away you're called to submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife. And we see biblical evidence for this all the way back in the beginning of Genesis, Genesis two and the creation account. We don't have time to get into a ton of details, but we are Complementarian church, where we believe that a God created man and woman in his image, right? They're equal in value and worth and dignity, and yet he gives them distinct roles to be lived out, both in the home and in the church. And so if you're like, I don't know what that means, we actually just did a two part podcast on this that might be helpful. We also did a two week sermon series called Sacred Gender a few years ago. So if you want to look at one of those two things, those might be helpful. But wives, you are to submit to the leadership of your husband, to be a helpmate, to esteem them and speak well of them. You also see in verse thirty three that wives are to respect their husbands. And so if you're married wives, you're called to submit to and respect your husband. I also want you to see, even in the first few verses of this section, Paul, the author of Ephesians, is starting to make an analogy between Christ and the church and husband and wife. As the church submits to Christ, so should wives submit to their husbands. You see this picture again husband, wife, Christ in the church. Let's keep going. Verse twenty five. Husbands, you're not off the hook. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Husbands, you are to love your wives. How as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Love your wives like Christ, loved the church. Sanctify her, washing her with the word. Husbands. You are to love your wives as your own body, nourishing, cherishing your wife just as Christ does the church. And yet Paul is talking about marriage, and he's also talking about Christ in the church. And so here's the reality. I don't know if those of you who have been married or are married, um, this is hard. Can we just like this is hard. What Paul, and what God ultimately is calling husbands and wives to is not easy. It's hard wives respect to be for your husbands to submit to their leadership in the church, husbands to be the head of your household, to love your wife as Christ loved the church and what did he do? He laid down his life for his bride. In the same way, husbands, love your wife by dying to yourself. It sounds easy. So at a high level, what what should a Christian marriage look like? It should look like one where husband loves his wife as Christ loved the church and wife submits to and respects her husband. As to the Lord. You ask a question like why? Why does this even matter? Like why? Why is this important? Why is this in Scripture? Well, Paul continues in verse thirty one, therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. That's Genesis two language again. It says this mystery is profound. So he's talking about Christ in the church. Husband and wife. And he says this mystery is profound. I'm saying that it refers to Christ in the church. It says, however, let each one of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Again, we see this parallel husband wife, Christ in the church. Husband, wife. Your marriage is not about you individually. Your marriage is not even about you together. It's ultimately about God and His glory. Why is marriage so important? If done in an Ephesians five type of way, it should reflect the gospel. It should point to something greater. If someone's looking at you from the outside and sees the way that a God honoring husband leads his wife and sees the way that a God honoring wife respects and submits to her husband. It should paint a picture of something more than a marriage. Should paint a picture of the gospel of the relationship between Christ and the church. Again, your marriage is not about you. It's about God and His glory. I don't know if you guys have ever been to a lake or a body of water where it's calm, it's perfectly still, the lights hitting it just right, and it reflects whatever is on the shore, in the sky. You've ever seen that? I love the Boundary Waters. We go there a couple times a year, typically, and oftentimes northern Minnesota, Canada, there's waves and there's wind and there's rain and there's storms and there's ripples. And you look at the water and you see the water, but occasionally it's calm. There's no waves. The light's hitting it just right. And you see something that looks like this. Isn't that cool? You look at the water, you don't see the water. You look at the water and you see something being reflected in the water. It's showing something bigger. It's showing something greater. Likewise, many marriages are stormy. They're rocky, they're wavy. They have their fair share of bitterness and conflict and apathy and neglect and selfishness and pride. And just like air doesn't reflect something good. And by God's grace, there are marriages where husband is pursuing Christ and loves his wife well, and wife is pursuing Christ and respects and submits to her husband well. And you look at their marriage and you don't just simply see their marriage. You see the gospel on display. You see God's glory. You see a couple worshiping the Lord. Again, godly marriages point to a greater reality. Why does marriage matter? Because it has the opportunity to reflect something much greater. You see, your marriage is not about you. That's hard to hear, but it's true. Your marriage is not about you. It's about God and His glory. And so I think an honest question, if you're married today that you have to consider is what does my marriage reflect? Or what does my marriage point to? Another way to ask this is if there's a fly on your wall, like the annoying kind that stays there for a while and is there for a few weeks or even a month, just kind of secretly watching, listening, observing. Not when you're like out with your friends or when you're at church, but like just in your home. What does that fly? See? What's being reflected? What's being painted? What? What is this representing? First off, we're going to keep expanding on this, but I want us to see clearly this morning that Marriage is both witness and worship. And so whether you're married, whether you're single, I want you to see marriage as both witness and worship. You see, if we're going to be a family and have families built for war, you have to see marriage as both witness and worship, because marriage is not ultimately about you or you and your spouse. I've been in vocational ministry now for over twenty years, which is hard to believe. And the majority of those two plus decades has been as a pastor elder. And so I have the privileged opportunity to meet with a lot of different types of people about a lot of different types of things. And an observation that I've made is that often when people who proclaim to be followers of Christ want to meet about something, they're pretty receptive to God's Word. And so if somebody comes in and they're struggling with materialism or money or things of that nature, and you just open up scripture together, and you look at passages We like. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and Jesus calls us to not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But to lay up treasures in heaven. Most professing believers would be like, yeah, yeah. Or if there's somebody struggling with sexual immorality or addiction or pornography or something, and guys flee from sexual immorality. Yeah. Yep. But I found often when speaking to spouses, I hear a lot more buts. Husband, you are called to love your wife as Christ loved the church. You are called to lay down your life for her. I know the Bible says that, but you don't know my wife. She's crazy. She's controlling. She second guesses everything I say. She's never for me. She's not generous physically. I'm pretty sure there's a Bible verse about it being better to be on the rooftop in the corner than it is to live with a quarrelsome wife. That was written about her. I had a guy tell me that one time. Wives you were called to submit to and respect your husband. I know, but you don't know my husband. He's got a temper. All he cares about is himself. He's too passive. Why won't he just leave? Why won't he just leave? How? I want him to lead. He's emotionally abandoned me. Isn't there a passage somewhere that says if I've been abandoned, I can divorce him? I know the Bible says this about marriage, but he. But she. Church. I want to come alongside you this morning as one of your pastors. This is something that that that really concerns me. I think a big problem in marriages today, not just marriages out there, but marriages in the church and marriages here at Veritas is the fact that we think, or at least we act like we think that marriage is all about me. Marriage is ultimately about me and my happiness and me being fulfilled, and that is not the case. When we have that mentality, we as both husband and wife treat marriage like a contract versus a covenant. When we treat marriage like a contract, we kind of this is what I desire. Here's what I want to see. If you just do this, then I will do that. As long as you keep your side of the bargain, I'll keep mine. But if you break it, I'm breaking mine. It's conditional. It's contractual. I know what God's Word says about marriage, but. See, because we have a skewed view of marriage and why it even exists in the first place, many act as if it's a contractual relationship that is dependent upon what my spouse does or doesn't do. And as long as he or she does what I want them to do, then everything's good. But as soon as they don't, it's bad. In other words, many Christians again believe the lie that my marriage is about me. My marriage is about my happiness. My marriage is about my fulfillment. And if I'm not happy, it's my spouse's fault. In many Christians, I don't just mean you all. I mean, I can struggle with this too. When there's unmet expectations, when there's inconvenience, when there's conflict, how dare. How dare she not help me build my kingdom? You might not verbally say that, but that's how we live often. Because unfortunately, our flesh wants to make everything about me. Everything about us, about my happiness, about my fulfillment, about me. And that's clearly not what the Bible calls us to. Genesis one and two we see God creating. He creates man and woman. In Genesis two twenty four we see. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Two become one. It's not a contract. It's not a contract. It's a covenant. Contracts are conditional. Contracts are temporary. Contracts are self-serving. Covenants are till death do us part. They need repeated confession. And they ultimately give glory to Christ. But the reality is, it's a contract between two people who sin. And if we realize this yet. But. But your spouse sins. Newsflash. So do you. It's a contract between two people who sin. Going all the way back to Genesis three, we see several consequences for the fall in the Garden of Eden, right? And in the the part of or second part of verse sixteen says this, speaking to the wife, your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you. Your desire, husbands desire contrary conflict, right? Sin breaks things. Sin destroys things, including relationships between husband and wife. So you have to ask question how? How do we actually do this? How do we have a God honoring marriage? How is a husband? Can I fulfill Ephesians five and how is a wife? Can I fulfill Ephesians five? What does it actually look like? How is that possible? If you're anything like me, you read a book, or you read an article, or listen to a sermon or a podcast, or read God's word and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm a terrible spouse. But then you quickly go into problem solving mode. If I just do these three things, these three things today will fix everything. And you try it and it doesn't work. All that to say, there are some practical things that can be helpful, but those aren't the final answer. With that said, I do want to be somewhat practical today before we get into. the rest of Ephesians five. And so these are just some things. I don't expect you to remember all these, but if something sticks out, praise God. These are some things that both in my own marriage and also just in counseling others I've noticed over the years. There's practical ways in which a spouse can submit to and respect your husband. Here's just a handful of them. There's way more than this. Here's a handful. Don't disagree with everything your husband says. It's not your job to prove him wrong all the time. Don't use sex or lack of as a weapon. We see in first Corinthians seven that both husband and wife are not to deprive their spouse of their conjugal rights, unless it's for extended time of prayer. And so if you're praying, great. If you're not, I'll let you come to your own conclusions of what you should be doing. Encourage your husband rather than be his biggest critic. Gosh, my wife's words matter. Every single person in this room can email me today and say, Matt, you're a moron and I won't like that. Right. It's not going to be my favorite thing to get all those emails. But but if I go home and my wife's like, Matt, you're not that bad. Oh, thanks, honey. But the flip side is true. If you're all like Matt, you're awesome. My wife's like, no. Her words carry weight. Wives. You have the unique opportunity and ability to either breathe wind in your husband's sails or completely crush him with your words. Your words matter. There's a lot of ways in which a husband can love his wife. Such as, uh, die to yourself. Sounds fun, doesn't it? But lay down your personal desires, your time, your wants. Like Philippians two says, do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility count others, including your spouse, as more significant than yourself. Don't just look at your own interests, but also the interests of others, including your spouse. And we see that Jesus was the perfect model for this. He was God, and yet he considered equality with God. Didn't use that to his advantage. He took on the form of a servant and went to the cross. Again, husbands, lay your life down like Christ laid his life down. Delight in her. Show her affection. Protect her. Celebrate her. Encourage her in the Lord. Some things that are helpful for both husband and wife. Confess to and forgive one another. Be mindful of bitterness. Seek reconciliation. Don't look to your spouse for ultimate fulfillment, joy, and satisfaction. You're putting a burden on their shoulders that they can never carry. Speak well of your spouse. I can't tell you how many times I hear husband and wife just demean their spouse in front of others. Like your wife is not your ball and chain. Speak well of them. Pray for your spouse in your own heart. It's very, very hard to be mad, angry, and bitter at somebody who you're praying for. And with all those things said, the greatest thing you can do for your marriage is not simply an action or a behavioral change. Again, those things are helpful, right? They can improve your marriage. But if you did all those things we just did, that'd be awesome. But it wouldn't be the ultimate solution. We said earlier we want to see marriage as both witness and worship. We've already seen how a God honoring marriage can give witness, or paint a picture or reflect the gospel to the world around us. But what does it mean to see marriage as worship? Let's go back to Ephesians five really quick. We're going to spend over a year in Ephesians here, starting in the fall. That's going to be awesome. We're going to go really in depth on lots of passages. We're going to go like 30s on the first five chapters. Okay, so Paul wrote Ephesians, the city of Ephesus, a large port city, one of the biggest in the world at the time. Lots of opportunity for ministry. Also a lot of pagan practices, spiritual warfare, other obstacles. So ministry was hard. And the first part of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explains what new life in Christ is like, and he explains how new life in Christ calls us to have a new identity. And in that new identity, we should live differently. First half of chapter five, Paul calls believers to imitate God by walking in love, walking in light, and walking in wisdom. And part of that new life in Christ should impact your relationships. So look at verse eighteen and chapter five. It says, don't get drunk with wine. Don't get filled with wine. Instead, be filled with the spirit. And as you are filled with the spirit, you are going to want to sing. You're going to want to worship, you're going to sing praises. But then also jump down to verse twenty one. And what should these new relationships look like? How should they be lived out, including your marriage, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ? So being filled with the spirit, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. You got to see this, wives. How are you able to have a godly marriage? Through the power of the spirit and out of reverence for Christ? Husbands, how are you able to love your wives unconditionally through the power of the spirit? Out of reverence for Christ. You see, wives, you ultimately don't respect and submit to your husband because he's awesome or because he's the best husband in the world, or because he was really nice yesterday. You submit out of reverence for Christ because Jesus is awesome. Husbands, you don't love your wife because she's the greatest ever, or because she meets all of your needs, or because she's your biggest cheerleader, or because she's the best wife around. You love her out of reverence for Christ, out of awe for who Jesus is. Not because your spouse is awesome, but because Jesus is awesome. So do you understand the implications of this? You being a godly husband or wife is not dependent upon your spouse. How do you have a God honoring marriage? How are you able to love Ephesians five? How are you able to reflect the gospel in your marriage? It sounds counterintuitive, but you take your attention and focus off yourself and your spouse and ultimately point it towards Christ. A story that I often share, which I think highlights this kind of. I think it's good enough to share it. But my wife and I were teaching a class was up in Cedar Falls. Eight, seven, eight years ago on marriage. We talked quite a few classes here and both there, and we were talking about communication and conflict. And apparently we were the appropriate couple to do this because the whole entire week leading up to it, we did not communicate and we had lots of conflict. And so even the night before, we're just like talking, we're going to say, and there was this conflict. I'm like, oh my gosh, we just have to agree to go to bed and not not like each other. Okay. Let's just, we'll get up, teach this class and just pray God says something, right? And so I left early because I had to get there early and she came later. This was when our kids were younger. And, uh, it's like seven fifty five. Class starts at eight and she's not there. I'm like, okay, something must have happened. It's seven fifty eight. Class starts in two minutes. She's not there. I'm like, oh my gosh, eight o'clock. I'm like, everybody talk amongst yourselves and discuss what you read. Well, I'm thinking in my head, I'm going to have to tell this class humbly that my wife is really mad at me. And I'm up here talking about communication and conflict. My wife's not communicating with me. We're in conflict. Okay, then. Eight hundred and two as they're talking at their tables, I see her come in, walks through the door, walks through the door, and both politely and sternly comes up to me and says, I'm not here for you. I'm here for the Lord. Fair enough, fair enough. Maybe not the best example, but she understands that God's glory matters more than her husband. And yet. And yet, respecting your husband is a way to glorify God. Remember the call for husband and wife to love and to submit and respect your spouse. Guys, I'm going to be honest with you. That is a lot easier if both husband and wife are mature believers. That's a lot easier if husband and wife are both mature believers. But that also means that you don't have to have a great spouse to be a godly husband, or to be a godly wife. Again, we do what we're called to do, not because our spouse is awesome, but because Jesus is awesome, not because our spouse deserves it, but because we Revere and are in awe and worship Jesus Christ. I want to speak to a fairly large group of people in our church. We have a handful. By handful I mean quite a bit of women in our church of all ages who are married, and either they have an unbelieving husband or an immature, believing husband. And ladies, I would, I would love nothing more, love, nothing more than for your husband to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, to have his eyes open to the reality of his his need for salvation through Jesus Christ, and to like, fast track him to maturity. I would love that. I would love for every single woman in this church who's married to have a mature, godly, Bible fearing, Bible believing husband. And yet, that's not needed for you to worship and glorify the Lord in your marriage. The same thing is true with husbands who have unbelieving or immature wives. Emily and I had a friend. This was when we were in Cedar Falls, and we were like in our early twenties, just married. And her husband at the time was, was just not a good husband. And yet this friend was full of joy. She was honoring, she loved the Lord. She was full of worship. I remember thinking at the time, like, how are you so kind to your husband when he's such a moron? Like how, how are you filled with love and joy and respect when your husband doesn't deserve it? And now, twenty years ago, in hindsight, she lived out first Peter three incredibly well. Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives. When they see your respectful and pure conduct. Guys, marriage is a witness. Marriage is a witness. Our friend understood marriage wasn't about her. When we understand marriage is about witness and worship and not about us, I. You can be in Ephesians type husband can be in Ephesians type wife. Even if. Even if the spouse never acknowledges it. Well, often in marital counseling give practical advice. Hey husband, do these things which usually involves like, don't talk all the time. Uh, wives do these things. Don't do these things. And oftentimes husband wife will come back. I tried, it didn't work. She didn't even notice. He didn't even care. And that's contractual thinking. That's conditional thinking. Guys, there's a reality that you could be a God honoring husband, a God honoring wife, and your husband or wife doesn't ever even notice, doesn't even care, doesn't ever see it, doesn't ever acknowledge it. You know who does. Other people and more importantly, God. You see, we have to see marriages both witness and worship. Your marriage is reflecting something, and if done right, it reflects the gospel. Marriage also does a really, really, really good job of revealing who or what we worship. Oftentimes, it reveals that we worship ourselves. We find our preferences, our desires, our hopes, our dreams as superior and anything or anyone spouse especially, who gets in the way of that? How could they? And in this passage, as well as all throughout Scripture, we see a call to worship something greater than ourselves. Remember Joshua declaring that as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Revere Christ. Be in awe of Jesus. What's the biggest thing that can help your marriage grow in your love for and worship of Jesus Christ? Single person. What do you need to hear? Grow in your love for and worship of Jesus Christ? Wife's. You're called to submit to your husbands, to the Lord. And husbands, you're called to love your wives as to the Lord in a godly marriage. Wives, you give a picture of the church to the world that's watching in a godly marriage. Husbands, you give a picture of Christ to the world that's watching. And sure, there's some practices that you can do and some ways you can honor your husband and love your wife well, which I would encourage you to do those. But the ultimate answer to how can I have a godly marriage be fully submitted to Christ? Worship the Lord above all else. Be about Him and His glory. You know, when our pastors and shepherding team meets with couples, one of the first questions we ask is, hey, how's how's your time in God's Word? And what's your prayer life like? And what's your worship of King Jesus consist of? And the ones that are like, nah, not really there almost to a T, if not to a t, they're the ones that have a very, very hard time living out Ephesians five in their marriage. But the ones who are like, man, marriage is hard, but I'm in God's Word daily. I'm communicating with him through prayer, I worship him, I Revere him no matter what the situation is. Those are the spouses who are honoring to the Lord in their marriage. As a pastor, another thing that both grieves me, and if I'm honest, frustrates me Is the fact that we have a lot of people who are married, been married for a long time. You ask, how's how's your marriage going? And at best, it's okay. And at worst, it's about ready to collapse and end. And that that grieves me. But I think what frustrates me is oftentimes the attitude behind that is apathy. It's just the way it's always been, just the way it is. Kind of been that way since the kids moved out. Guys, if that's you this morning, I want to plead with you to take the commands of Scripture seriously to realize your marriage should be about Jesus and His glory and not your happiness. Revere God, be in awe of him. Worship him. If we want to have families that are built for war, if we want to have marriages that reflect the gospel and glorify God, we have to know the gospel. And we have to know the God who we're trying to glorify. We have to be filled with the spirit. And that comes from acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord. And he's more important than anything in everyone else in our life. Philippians four eight says, whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, anything worthy of praise, think about those things. Colossians three sixteen let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. What are you focusing on? What are you taking in? Where does your mind go? Revere God. Think of him. Read his word. Be in awe of him. Worship him. What's the command to husbands to love your wife like Christ loved the church? What's the call to wives to submit to and respect your husband? Why does this matter? Because your marriage isn't about you. It points to something greater. It can reflect the gospel to the world around you. It's about worship. It's about God and His glory. And how is this even possible? How can sinful humans ever do this through the power of the spirit, as we Revere and are in awe of who Jesus is? See, church, when you go from death to life, when God opens your eyes up to the fact that you are a sinner and need a Savior, you become a new creation and you have new life in Christ. And this new life can lead to new relationships where worshiping and glorifying God is your number one priority. And with God's help, when we Revere Christ, things like love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and self control by God's grace, those are evident in our marriages and our relationships. And it testifies not to the goodness of us, but to the goodness of God. Marriage is witness and worship. Revere and worship your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for his bride while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly, and by God's grace we are saved through faith in Christ. You know one thing I love about marriage and also don't love about it at the same time, is it really quickly shows you just how selfish and how in need of a savior we really are. If we're honest, and if I'm honest, I look at what God's Word calls wives to do and I'm like, good luck with that. And as I look at what I'm called to as a husband and hold that up to Jesus, who perfectly laid down his life for his bride, the church, and perfectly obeys the commands of Scripture and perfectly says, not my will be done, but yours, father, all the way to death on a cross. And then I look at my life and how I am perfectly lead my wife and family, and how I imperfectly die to myself. And I think big gap. And yet the beauty of that is that marriage constantly calls us to something. It constantly calls us to confess to repentance, to Revere, to, to worship King Jesus. And it constantly reminds us of our need for a Savior. And that should day after day, month after month, year after year, drive us to the foot of the cross. And so, Veritas, whether you are single, whether you are married, whether you are divorced, can we be a church who is so in awe of our Savior, and whose main goal in life is to glorify God and enjoy him forever? Amen. And by God's grace that can spill over into our relationships, including our marriages. For those of you who are married, See, I want to be a church that is so devoted to Jesus, who sees glorifying God as our biggest goal and purpose, a church that continually remind each other in the outside world of the gospel, of God's goodness, of the need to glorify him in the goodness of Christ in the church. Let's pray. God, marriage is hard. As a husband, I want to be selfish. I want to do my own thing. And yet you call us to unconditional love. And as a wife, to respect and submit to somebody who has many flaws. It's not easy either. Can I just pray that we see the importance and the magnitude of you and your grace and your mercy. And we are so in awe of a God who keeps his covenant no matter what we do. God, I pray for a church where husbands are so in awe of you and Revere you so much that they lovingly die to themselves. And I pray for a church where the wives are so in awe of you and Revere you so much that they can respect and submit to a sinful husband. God, I pray your gospel will be put on display. I pray for just a softening of hearts. I pray for marriages that truly are on the brink of disaster. God, give them a big picture of you. Give them a big view of you. Give us all a small view of ourselves. And just work in us the fruit of the spirit so we can put your gospel on display. Your name we pray. Amen.