God Only Made Half A Man

Last year it seemed that God began to deal with us and then let the blessing come at the end of the week, and that's very good. But this year he was more gracious to us in that he let the blessing come at the first of the week so that we could hear the word the rest of the week. See? Now listen, any farmer knows that the rain comes to soften the ground.

See? That's right. And what God has been doing has been pouring the rain upon us. And you see what happens is as the rain pours upon us, our thirsty souls open to God and open to God.

And then soon as he gets us open, he slips a message in on us. See? And like the one we had this morning, wasn't that a word to our hearts, brother? And that's real teaching. That's got me in it.

It's the kind of thing that stays with you as our brother was sharing with us. All walls don't fall down the first time around. We've probably all learned that, but it's nice to hear a guy like Wendell say it, isn't it? And Derek and other men, too.

You know, the honesty and openness. Now, I want to share with you today what I believe to be one of the most, perhaps one of the most serious and the most difficult things to teach on, and it's the mystery of Ephesians 5, 32. All right? And he says these words in Ephesians 5, 32.

This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you, in particular, that's so nobody escapes, so love his wife even as himself. And the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Now, one of the things that we have been after and are after in this camp has been spiritual maturity. And Wendell and Derek and Sister Corrie Ten Boom and these others, we've been sharing their heart in an effort to orient us and place us in a position so that we can hear and understand in order that we might mature and grow forth into God. Now, in 32 and 33, I think, is one of the great understandings of the mystery of maturity.

Now, he speaks of Christ and his church, and then in verse 33, he brings it back down to a husband and wife relationship. Now, I want to ask you a question. Don't answer me too quickly.

But how many of you know that one of the greatest attacks in our day is on the marriage? Is this right? It really is. And now, young people, this is for you and for us all, but one of the great attacks in our day is on the husband and wife relationship. Now, I'm shaken inside because I don't like to teach along this line because in order to do so, I have to lay my life out right out before you.

That's not a pleasant thing, you see. True teaching is laying your life down for the sheep. But I want to begin and read from verse 21.

Let's read now. And we'll come back to Ephesians 5.21. Let's read, and I know we all know this, and I hope we can say some things now that you haven't known up to this point. But let's begin with Ephesians 5.21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God, and Paul always begins with the troublemakers.

You look in all the scriptures, he begins with the troublemakers. First, he starts out. Wives, okay.

Now, he says, now you know why I'm shaking, see. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, not everybody else's. That's Mumford's translation.

All right, let's read now. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body.

Now, notice how he relates husband and wife relationship to the body of Christ. This is the analogy now, and it's almost always missed. I'm going to try to be very careful today, all right.

Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be subject to their own husbands in most everything, in almost everything. What does it say? Isn't that nasty? Oh, you dirty rat. You got me, all right.

Well, I'm going to get you before the day's over. Let's watch. Okay, they submit in everything.

Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. Notice the word body.

He that loveth his wife loveth himself, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it. The word cherish means to bounce on the knee like a nurse does a little baby. Okay? But nourish and cherish it even as the Lord the church.

Verse 30, here is the key. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause, for what cause? Isn't that interesting? For what cause? For the thing that Paul's teaching us from verse 21 all the way to verse 30.

See, from 21 to 30 is the theme. All right? So in verse 31, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife. And they too shall be, what is it? All right, one flesh.

Now these two, saith God, shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. What he's been saying to you is a great mystery.

But I speak concerning Christ and the church. Now, keep your finger in there and let's go back to Malachi, please, for one moment, for one reading, back in Malachi chapter 2 and verse 14, please. Malachi, just keep your finger in Ephesians because that's where we're going to stay for most of the time.

But just come back for a reading in Malachi chapter 2 and verse 14. Now, some of you know that this is here and others of you do not. I cannot assume that you know that this scripture is here.

Young people, I ask you today to be attentive and listen and make notes. You're going to need it. Okay? Malachi 2 and 14.

Yet ye say, wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously. Yet is she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant. And did he not make one? Yet had he the residue of the Spirit, and wherefore one? Why did he make one? Notice these words and you ought to underline them.

That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore, take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away or in modern terms, divorce, for which you don't need any terms or any problems.

All you have to do now is just have enough money. He that he hateth putting away, for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore, take heed to your spirit that you deal not treacherously.

Okay, let's come back now to Ephesians chapter 5. All right? Now let's come back. Now I want to try to go easy today and this is an instruction course in what I think to be. If you'd ask me what I think I'll do title this message, I would call it the troublemakers.

But it isn't just wives that are troublemakers. Husbands can be troublemakers. See? But there's reason for this.

Now let's get a spiritual reason behind this and this is what I think. Let me put it very, very clear. What I think is this.

Marriage is the testing ground of all ministry. Ha ha, are you there? See? Marriage is the testing ground of all ministry. If you can't make it work in your own marriage, then what we're doing in one sense is exporting our own confusion.

See? Now, I believe with all my heart that there is a calculated and a satanic, I use the word calculated, but a satanic design as it were to bring division between husband and wife in the realm of spiritual things, in the realm of natural things, in the realm of finances, in the realm of children, and to bring division between husband and wife over anything that he can possibly bring because there is a spiritual secret, a great mystery. And I've been after that for a long time. I've been trying to understand.

What is it that Paul saw that we didn't see? Now, I've preached some of these things before. But you see, here's what happened the other day. I had a lady who had flown in from another state to see me for counseling, for marriage counseling.

And she's sitting at my table and we're sharing back and forth. And I began to explain to her what we all know, at least superficially we all know, and it says these words. For these two, saith God, shall be one.

See? And I did like this. This is literally exactly how it happened. I said, these two, saith God, shall be one.

And I put my hands together like this. And then as I put my hands together, I said these words to her. Don't you understand? This is the one that comes to maturity.

And I tell you, it hit me like a brick. And I saw something. See? As long as the enemy can keep us separated, one from another, as husband and wife, keep things going between us, see? Then you have this sort of a thing, see? Does that look familiar to you? Do you interpret that? You don't know what that means, do you? All right.

Now, here's the exciting part. Are you ready, kids? See, I'm a minister. And they say, Oh, Brother Mumford, we're in love.

Will you marry us? I said, I'd rather preach a funeral, but okay. They come down. They're all full of zip and zeal.

They're all thrilled, you know. And I counsel them and talk to them. And I said, Now, here's what it is, see? You're going to come down.

And as you come down to the altar, and I'm going to say, What God hath joined together, see? Like this. What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. I now pronounce you man and wife.

See? Now, that is the pronouncement. Now you've got 40 years to learn how to do it. See, I can stand there and say, I now pronounce you one flesh.

But the truth is this. The real honest to God truth is this. You see, there is something that happens.

Now, every one of us know the old adage that says, Love is blind. Well, I found out love is not only blind, it's deaf, dumb, and stupid. But there's another adage that says something like this.

True love never runs smooth. And I thought, well, I wonder why. Now, all of our psychologists got together, see? And they're going to solve this problem, see? So the psychologists get together and they get the computer, see? And they get the computer and they program your whole personality trait, see? And you like horseback riding and I like horseback riding.

And you like to go swimming on Sunday afternoon and I like to go swimming. And they say, you like blue and I like blue, you know? And so they line them all up, see? And you put all your things into the computer and the computer spits this thing out and says, You should marry Mary Jane. And see what happens, you see? Mary Jane and I are just like two spoons.

Oh, it's so wonderful, see? Because when, you see, when Mary and I are just like two spoons, we just get along so wonderfully together. And I thought, well, that's very good. Except I couldn't understand why after all the computer did all that, they never stayed married.

And the Lord said, well, I'll tell you, because that's not the way I designed it at all. The Lord said the way I designed it was this, see? Now, I was studying psychology and this professor said these words and I almost fell out of my chair. He said these words.

In the years that I've studied psychology, and he had studied in Europe and all over, and he said, one thing I'd like to declare to you today, that there is no such thing as an adequate man. What a blast that was to my male ego. He says there's no such thing as an adequate man, see? And I really shook my tree, you know, and I thought, well, I know why there's no such thing as an adequate man, because sin came into the world.

And the Lord said, oh, no, not because sin came into the world. It goes something like this. God said, when I made man, I only made a half.

And then when you meet your mate, you meet the other half. And it's not like this here. It's like this.

Oh, man, did some lights begin to go on, see? Because, you see, I'm a dreamer. I say, oh, hallelujah, things are getting better. My wife said, where are they? And I'd say, what's the matter with you? You're so negative.

Why can't you have faith? She said, why can't you be real? Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. I said, well, the trouble with you is you aren't spiritual. She said, the trouble with you is you got your head in the clouds.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. So I got down and prayed. I said, oh, God changed that woman.

But I heard her in the other room. She said, oh, God changed that man. Now, God got confused.

And he decided to leave it alone. Let us fight it out. I'm a sanguine by temperament.

I'm full of joy. And, you know, that's my temperament. I love people.

I love life. My wife is basically sort of a melancholic personality. She's quiet and sedate.

She's very beautiful, redheaded gal. You'll see her here next year, Lord willing. And so this is the sort of thing.

So here we were. We got married. And I was so spiritual.

And I thought she was sort of earthbound, you know? And every time I got to flying high, she jerked out my tail feather. I said, God, this can't go on. Lord said, well, I'll tell you a great mystery.

See? God said, I never created anybody like this. Two halves exactly alike do not make a whole. Whenever God gives you a mate, listen, whenever God gives you a mate, he is usually your direct opposite in every realm.

I said, she says, honey, let's buy a new car. And he says, we can't afford one. Then the husband says, let's paint it green.

And she said, I don't like green. I said, well, let's put rug in. He said, I don't like rug.

And here it is. Now, I got so that when I was counseling marriages, they'd come to me, I said, are you still fighting? And they said, yeah. I said, good.

We got some hope. Because here's what. See, now, the world takes the computer and lines them up like this.

And it doesn't work. Because what you're doing is, you are marrying somebody who in being exactly like your personality is not the complete man. See? Now, between my wife and I, our kids get one good parent.

All right. Are you there? See? I'm too lenient. She's too strict.

Or I'm too strict and she's too lenient. And then I began to see something. And I tell you, this has only been about four or five years ago.

Well, it's longer than that now. I guess about seven years ago when I began to come into an understanding of this. And I began to say, I said, honey, I see something.

There is evident, you know, it was evident that there was tensions between us. And it seemed like everything that I wanted to do and she didn't want to do, or some kind of area. And just one small thing after that.

Now, don't think that I'm saying to you we've had any kind of big breakdowns in our marriage. No. It's just the little realms of continual tension that I could never seem to reconcile because I so wanted to be one.

And in order to be one, I was sure that she had to change. And she wanted to be one and she was sure that I was going to have to change. And the truth is, God didn't expect anyone to change.

What he expected was a little thing called spiritual adjustment. It's like this. All you have to do is one slight adjustment and it starts to fit together.

Do you know what that adjustment is? Wives? Might as well say it like it is, you know. See, now there's a little adjustment that's needed. And the moment that adjustment is needed, so one day I said to her, I said, you know what I'm recognizing, honey? I'm recognizing that in your life you have everything that I need.

She is orderly and disciplined, you know. And all of the things that I need in my life, I begin to recognize she had them. And then when I saw that, then she began to say, she said, you know something? You're full of joy and openness and you learn to enjoy life and all those things.

She says, you know what I'm beginning to recognize? You have everything that I need. And I said, oh yes, I'm beginning to see what God has done. For as he brought these two together, adjustments started to be made and then the marriage began to come together in a union and a communion that has been deeper and more wonderful than anything I could have ever believed was possible.

See? I heard the story one time about a skunk. A skunk and a tomcat had been married. And finally, the skunk says to the tomcat who was her husband, she said, honey, I've enjoyed all this marriage that I can stand.

All right, now, if you're with me, see, I'm speaking a great mystery. I'm speaking of Christ and his church. When we first meet the Lord, how many of you know, when we first come into Christ and come to know the ways of the Spirit, we have problems with the Lord.

See? And he doesn't change. Now, I'm going to say something and some of you aren't going to like it, but I'll tell you where this adjustment begins. It begins in the wife.

And he said, wives, begin to learn that this man is the rest of your personality. Begin to learn that and begin to submit to him. Now, you say, well, Brother Mumford, you don't... Yes, I do.

Just hold on. We're going to another verse in a moment. All right, now, are we done with Ephesians? I suppose we are.

Let's go over to 1 Peter chapter 3. We've got to be done here in 15 minutes, all right? 1 Peter chapter 3, and I'm reading from the living letters, not for greater authority, but for greater clarity. I'm reading from living letters. You're going to turn in your Bible and you're going to listen as I read and follow me in your scripture, all right? I mean, 1 Peter chapter 3. I'm reading from living letters and this is what I need to do to shock you, all right? Wives always starts with the right one.

We'll get to the husbands in a minute, all right? Wives, fit in with your husband's plans. Shall I read that again? Wives, fit in with your husband's plans. For then, if they refuse to listen when you talk to them about the Lord, they will be won by your respectful, pure behavior.

Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words. Don't be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on jewelry or beautiful clothes or hair arrangement. Be beautiful inside, in your hearts, with the lasting charm of a gentle and quiet spirit which is so precious to God.

Gentle and quiet spirit which is so precious to God. That kind of deep beauty which was seen in the saintly women of old who trusted God and fitted in with their husband's plans. Sarah, for instance, obeyed her husband, honoring him as the head of the house.

See, he didn't have the courage to say he called him Lord. All right? Honoring him as the head of the house. And if you do the same, you will be following in her steps.

Like good daughters of doing what is right, then you will not need to fear offending your husbands. You husbands must be careful of your wives, being thoughtful of their needs and honoring them as the weaker sex. Remember that you and your wife are partners in receiving God's blessings.

Are you there? Remember, you and your wife are partners in receiving God's blessings. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not get ready answers. Now here's what I'm suggesting to you.

I'm suggesting that the enemy seeks to keep us from ever making the adjustments that are necessary for us to fit together as one because he knows that we are heirs together. It's you and I, dear, that comes to maturity together. We don't come all by ourselves.

Now, I know that that has some tremendous implications. You say, well, what about if my husband is not saved? And of course, that's where the problem comes and people teach it many different ways. But can I help it if I'm right? Now, the illustration that Peter gives here, I can't go through all this, but let's look at 1 Peter 2 and 18.

Will you look at that for a moment? 1 Peter 2 and 18. Now, please follow right carefully in your Bible so I don't slip anything over on you. All right? Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle husbands.

Anybody can submit to the good and gentle servant or the good and gentle master, but also to the froward, the one who is hard to get along with. See? For this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongly. For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults ye take it patiently? But if when ye do well and suffer for it, take it patiently, this is acceptable unto God.

Then he gives us the example of Christ in verse 21 through 25. All right? Then do you see the word likewise? How many of you see the word likewise there? See it? And it means this. In the same manner, wives, be subject to your husband, you see, and not only to the good and the gentle.

See, this is the thing that puzzles me, and that is we're taught, you see, that only time we have to submit is when as is unto the Lord, you see. Now let me give you an illustration that is used right here in chapter 3 and verse 6. Are you with me? I hope I don't get in too much trouble today. But let's look.

Verse 6. Even Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. Now let me give you the reference to this. It's from Genesis.

And Abraham and Sarah are riding down into Egypt, you see. And as they ride down into Egypt, the king of Egypt rides out with his soldiers and his sword, and Abraham sees them coming, you see. And he says to Sarah, Are you my wife? She said, Yes, honey, I sure am.

He said, Am I your lord? She said, Yes, you are. He said, Do you see that king coming? He said, Yeah. He said, Well, I want you to tell him that you're my sister.

Hmm. Now, Abraham is the father of faith. He's our hero.

He's the one who went out, not know where he was going. And Sarah went with him. So the king rides up on his horse and he said, Halt! And Abraham says, Ahem.

And the king looks at this beautiful girl and he says, Who is that? He said, Oh, this is my sister. How? Listen, as much as I know, that's about as rotten as any man could do to a woman. See? But do you know something? Sarah wasn't trusting Abraham.

She was trusting God. Are you there? She said, All right, dear. See? And so he said, Who are you? She said, Ahem.

Lord forgive me. Well, you are quiet today. She said, Oh, that's my brother.

He said, Get on my horse, dear. You're a beauty. Snatched her off his horse.

Put her on it. And Abraham stand there, see? The guy just swiped his wife. Now Sarah gets to the castle or wherever the king lived.

And he says, Go on in and get ready. Okay, let's be honest now. He said, Go on in and get ready.

She goes in, falls on her face before God and says, Lord God, according to my faith, I've obeyed Your word. And I know that the Bible says that when my obedience is fulfilled, that You will justify and bring me safely out of this thing. See? She fell on her face and began to seek God.

The king is in his chamber. And suddenly the king hears a voice and says, What are you doing? He said, What was that? God said, It's me. And you better take that woman back.

Who is she? He said, That's Abraham's wife and you better get her back there. He gets her on the horse right back. He said, Why didn't you tell me? Talk about adventure, brother.

Now for years I've heard people preach on the faith of Abraham. And I've always wanted to preach on the faith of Sarah. See? Amen.

Hallelujah. Now see what you don't understand in all this. If you only submit when everything is right, that's no faith.

That's not the operation of the faith. I challenge you sometime when your husband is asking something of you that isn't right or something that you don't want to do and he's demanding of you something that in your own heart you don't want to do. You said, Honey, I know, you know, that that's not what I want to do.

But I just want you to know that I'm submitting myself to you as the head of my house and I'm doing it in faith. But I just also want you to know that I'm praying for you. Really? I tell you, you think God can holler at that king? He can scare the liver out of your husband.

Believe me, he can. But you see, you have to come under the biblical premise in order to have God do that for you. If you're going to fight your own battles, dear, then you have to fight your own battles.

But if you ever get up enough, you say, Well, Brother Mumford, how far should I submit? I tell you what I believe. According to your faith. Not one bit more.

Sarah had a faith that moved the hand of God. She was no more afraid of that thing because she knew that as she submitted herself to her husband that God Almighty had to move in her behalf. I've counseled marriages after 20 years of fighting.

I said, Brother Mumford, you just don't know how bad he resists God. You just don't know what a nasty he is. I've been praying for him.

I preach for him every day. I leave Bibles by the bathroom so that he can read it. And he just won't submit to God.

I tell you, dear, who he won't submit to is you. How many men know when your woman starts that, what happens inside? Come on, men, be honest now. Come on, put them up.

I want to see a vote here. Why, you chicken. See, there's something inside of a man, or there ought to be, that starts rebelling when that thing starts going.

Pick, pick, pick, pick, see? And when that thing starts, there's something inside of a man that rises in rebellion, and it's not a demon. See? Because there's a divine order, you see? There's a divine order. Now, somewhere, somehow, the thing has to begin.

You understand? Now, I'm suggesting to you this. This is what has been presented to you. I'm hoping under God that you see that that's wrong.

God doesn't want to give you something like you are. You don't want what you want. You need what you need.

And when God gave you a wife, He gave you one that you needed. And when He gave you a husband, He gave you one that you needed. And if you'd ever wise up long enough to see it, you'd begin to submit yourself one to another.

You begin to look at that woman like she really is. And you say, God, I understand that You've given her all the things that I really need. If it wasn't for him, or if it wasn't for her, I don't know where I would be today.

I say that to you publicly. If it wasn't for my wife, I don't know if I would be in the ministry today. She's kept me steady.

She's held me. She's prayed for me. She believed God.

She suffered while I traveled all over the world like a nut. See? But here it is. Then suddenly she begins to see that in me is all the things that she needs.

But you see, there's that thing. So it has to begin somewhere. And it begins by the simple word called submission.

The minute that she does, the minute that the wife begins to submit, something begins to operate in the man. Is this right, brother Bob? Any man will tell you that the minute that a wife says, Honey, I want to be to you the kind of wife that you need. I perhaps have been mouthy.

I've been this. I've been that. I've been running all over.

I've counseled some women who've been to 27 prayer meetings in one week. Brother, I don't know. I think if I were her husband, I'd tear up her Bible myself.

See? But you see, this is the kind of thing that's going on. So here we have a submission, see? So she submits. She says, All right, God.

I'm going to try it your way. After 10 years, 5 years, 8 years, 3 months, 6 months, 15 years, 20 years of continual harassment and heckling and picking and nagging. And don't let anybody know we're fighting, dear.

Now when you get on the platform, smile. See? That's not the normal Christian life. Listen, all these kids know what's going on in your house, parents.

These kids know whether or not you love one another or whether or not there's any union in your home. They know that. They can feel that.

See? But let me tell you, when you get married, it may not be any easier unless you can hear what we're saying. The moment you make that initial adjustment, we begin to fit together and all of the joys and the completement that God had promised begins to come in. And out of two, this is a great mystery, these shall leave father and mother.

One of the great problems today is some kids never leave home. Some kids that are 55 never left home. But you forsake all others and you cling to that husband.

Forsake girlfriends and club members and forsake everybody and go home and be to that husband a wife par excellence. Be to that woman a husband that she could love and esteem and look up to. And then you don't have to say so much.

She is one by your life. Suddenly you begin to sense there's an adjustment being made. And these two are fitting together and they're becoming one spirit.

And suddenly you find yourself confident in life. You find yourself able to face life and the problems of life because you're not standing alone, you're standing together. My wife and I are one spirit.

And together when we think of a thing or when we examine a thing or when we're about to buy a thing, we begin to understand. I understand that by nature I'm an impetuous buyer. I see it.

I say, I like it. I don't even have to think. I just say, yes, that's the one.

And she said, honey, if I were you... And that used to irritate me. I'd say, what's the matter? If you're going to buy it, buy it. Don't waste time.

And then I began to understand. I was continually, continually getting in trouble by impetuous buying. Now I began to understand that this isn't nagging.

This is a thing that I needed help with. And so now I begin to recognize caution in some of the purchases. And I begin to see that together these two are coming into one spirit.

And there's one good whole personality. Our children, out of two parents, are getting one good one. I hope.

Husbands, if you don't understand what I'm saying, don't continue running all over, preaching to everybody, telling them what God can do. Why don't you just slow down in all of your powerful witness? In all your running around and working for Jesus, why don't you just slow down a little while and find out what's going on at home? Peel some of that back and bring it down to some reality and find out how your children are doing. Find out what your wife thinks about all this and find out what's really happening and see if God wouldn't make some adjustments and bring you together in one.

Now listen to these final words. I believe, this is my personal conviction, I believe that the pressures sexually, emotionally, mentally, financially, and spiritually shall become so severe that only husbands and wives who have embraced and understood the union and communion will be able to withstand the onslaught. Now that's my conviction.

Do you understand what I'm saying, church? Do you really? Do you understand? I'm understanding, see, because the sexual revolution, the pressures of life, the materialism, all the things that's going on out here, the desire for careers and all the things that are destroying home after home. But you see, I've counseled marriages, 47 years they have been married. She sat there and wept, she said, Brother Bob, I don't understand.

After 47 years, he come home one day and said, I want a divorce. We've never fought one time in all my life. How many of you know that any marriage that's never fought is not normal? If you have a marriage that you have never fought or argued or disagreed, you better get it to the clinic.

Because what's happened probably, the wife's spirit is broken or the husband's spirit is broken and the reason there's no argument is because the man is letting you go your own way, dear. Or the wife may be letting you go your own way, dear. And if you think that's good, then the day when she comes and says, I don't understand, Frank.

I just don't love you anymore. I just want out. I want out.

But honey, I'll just, I want out. It's dead, it's done, it's finished. Let me out.

And everything you've ever hoped or prayed or thought was there because you weren't diligent, suddenly like a bubble, that thing breaks and it's gone. And you're left in the lathered years, lonely. And there are many people here who can bear witness to the fact that if you can't make the first one work, the odds against the second one are much higher.

Believe me, they are. I just pray in Jesus' name for every marriage that is here today. I pray for those who will hear this tape that God the Holy Spirit shall use some of these words to bring us all into a new conviction, to a new examination, into a new relationship.

It's not enough to have a $2 marriage certificate hanging on the wall. There's something that's involved. I speak a great mystery.

I speak of Christ and His church coming together. That these two, says God, shall be one. I wonder today, I feel to do this.

I wonder if you're here, this includes the young people or whoever, would you like to just stand? Those of you who like to stand, let me just pray for you. Whatever you want to stand for, that's your business. But if you just want to stand, then let me pray for you.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Would you take hands with someone next to you? Your wife or husband. Just everyone. Let's just join hands across this great congregation today.

Hallelujah. I thank You for the body of Christ. Oh, Lord Jesus, I thank You for this precious people today.

Thank You for my brothers and sisters, Lord Jesus. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord.

Lord Jesus, by the power of the Holy Ghost, I ask You to reach out today into this congregation. For every marriage, Lord Jesus, I ask You, by Your name and in Your authority, heal, Lord God, that home and that marriage right now in Jesus' name. Invade it, I pray Thee, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Do it, Lord. Take the words that Your servant brought today and bring conviction and life and healing and strength into every marriage. Lord, I pray for every one of these young people, Father, that are yet to be married.

God, I ask You that You would have burned these words into their heart and mind today. That as they walk down that aisle to commit themselves to one another, that these very words somehow should be used of the Holy Ghost to bind that man and that woman together into one flesh. I pray for every divorced person, for every widow, for every widower, for every man and woman who is without a mate today.

I ask You, Lord Jesus, that You, in the power of the Holy Spirit, shall indeed be their portion. Let God, the comfort of the Holy Ghost, for Thy Maker shall be Thy Husband. Oh God, in Jesus' name, we pray for all of our sons and daughters and their marriages.

We pray for America, God. We pray that You'd move across America with a Holy Ghost revival, Lord Jesus. We pray that You'd move across America with a Holy Ghost revival, Lord Jesus.

Oh, do it, Lord. Do it, Lord. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Father, I ask You one more thing. I ask You that those of us who have been so busy for You, that perhaps we have neglected or misunderstood our wife and family and husband and home.

I ask You, Lord, to separate for us from things that don't really matter. Keep us from religious activity, Lord, that really isn't of any value. And help us to spend our time on things that really count.

Do it for us, God, we ask You. We ask You, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah.

Glory to God. Amen. Amen.

Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus.

Thank You, Jesus.