 Good morning everyone and happy Saba. How are you doing? The Lord is good and all the time, amen. We praise God for his wonderful leadership and leadership of Pastor Nyaga and his entire team. As I begin, just listen to this. I will be speaking in tongues. Brian, what is your name? I'm from Pembrokes, I'm from Pembrokes. What is your name? West of East and Side, I'm from Pembrokes. And you are from Pembrokes. So Pembrokes is from West. West of East. That was the language that will be spoken in heaven. I was trying to just catch up with Brian. He comes from Porokoso, a town on the western side of where I come from. I come from the banks of Lake Tanganyika in Polungu, northern Zambia. And so he happens to stay where my tribesmen are. As I will be speaking, I want to speak from a series that we have entitled Marriage, a Divine Christian Trust series. This is a series of marriage and family ministries presentation, which I and my wife together we do. My wife comes to this as a medical doctor and her interest in mental health comes in handy as we do this program. So when we talk about family ministries, I do it together with my wife and we speak alongside. Our philosophy of marriage and family is that number one, marriage is a divine establishment. And we understand that marriage was blessed by God and that it is only sustained by the power of God. Remove God from marriage. Marriage will be just another social gathering where you meet as individuals and live and share space together. But when God is there, then marriage has its essences. Secondly, we also believe that marriage is an institution where individuals are brought together to build a Christ like character. And as a result, it is out of this wheel of challenges and situations of happiness, moments of grief and pain and moments of joy that we are chiseled to be in the image of God and reflect the character of God. Number three, we also understand that marriage is a blessing to humanity. God has given this wonderful treasure to be a blessing. Marriage was never meant to be a place, a cauldron of heat for a couple. Rather, marriage was institutionalized by God to be a blessing where humanity can enjoy the love relationship that is reciprocated in the divine Triune God relationship. And the fourth aspect of the philosophy is we understand that marriage in this context has eternal value. We cannot live out our marriages and only remain here. But if marriage is a divine establishment, it makes us human beings come even closer to God. And much more as we talk about the context of sin in which we live, we understand that ultimately when all the living on this earth would have been done, there is a potential possibility of being in heaven for everyone. And that depends on the choices we make. And the presentation I will be making today, earlier this year, I think about January, the Southern Zambia Union conference of the Seven Day Adventists published a book, Adventist Wedding Handbook, and it is in the press. And they asked me to contribute chapter one, which is the Biblical background or the Biblical foundation of marriage. So this presentation I will make most of the aspect of this presentation comes from that book, the Adventist Wedding Handbook. So if you apparently get some time to pass through Zambia, or at least you know someone who is in Zambia, you can get a copy of that. It is written within the context of marriage, especially the legal context of Zambia. However, this Kenya we use British law, right? Common law. So it's almost similar, minor changes here and there. So that is the book in which I have written this presentation. Let's go to our text, and I want to use the Bible which says, Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled. For God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous nation. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse four, English standard version. Let me read it one more time. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled. For God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Let us pray together. Holy Father, as we come to your word, we pray. May your grace be sufficient, bring healing in our marriages, bring satisfaction to our unions, and bring hope and relief from every care. Much more, give peace to marriages in this generation. It is our prayer in Jesus' name, amen. And I want to speak on the subject, the curtain of honor. You see, marriage is an important institution. Once you go from the step of singleness into this union with God, we begin to realize that you transition into another realm of human interaction, which is rather a government of one who is two presidents. Marriage is not a union or a political party where there is the president and the running mate. Rather, both of you enter behind the curtain of marriage as a united family. One established government system. And so as we look at Hebrews chapter 13, we find that Hebrews chapter 13 forms an epilogue to the entire book. And as an epilogue, the probe begins to recount some of the fundamentals that he has discussed and begins to summarize in point form what he wants his audience to understand. In fact, chapter 13 builds on what we find in chapter 12, where Paul establishes an important theme in chapter 12, which is that worship and service that is pleasing to God. How should man live out a worship service and render service that is pleasing not only to humanity, but to God? And so in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 28 and 29, the Bible says, Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. You see, building on this, Paul establishes that marriage as an institution is a sacred entity. And because it is a sacred entity, as we become loyal to each other, in reciprocity we become loyal to God. In fact, you cannot be loyal to your earthly partner if there is no loyalty with God. If you remove God from the picture, then you will remain vulnerable from any susceptibilities that are suggested by Paul in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 4, the last part. And so reminding us that even as you do your living on this earth, God is present in the human relations. Remember, God loves your partner so much that he gives his only son for them. And as you interact with them, as you live out your lives with them, remember that God is also interested in the affairs of how you relate with them. I also want to remind you that equally as God loves your partner, he also loves you so dearly that he doesn't want to lose you. So God is interested in how we run our affairs in marriages. Hebrews chapter 13 verses 1 to 4 reinforces that love is not an esoteric, rather rightly understood and rightly practiced. Love is a divine and practical experience. Love is not just to be proclaimed and pronounced on the mouth. Rather, it should be accompanied by practical evidence. I don't think they can be a man or a woman who can claim that they love their spouse. And all they say is, my wife, I love you. And it ends there. This birthday comes, I love you. Another activity comes. The only thing is I do what? I love you. I love you must be accompanied by something that is practical and tangible that one can be able to see and say, indeed, I love you is accompanied by something. I don't know about you, but imagine, ladies, imagine your husband just comes this one day and comes with a small box. It's your birthday. And in that small box is a little key. And it tells you, I want to close your eyes and escort you outside. And then your eyes are open. And there is your dream car waiting outside. How would be the excitement like? You would be thrilled because this is a surprise. He never told you that he was going to prepare a certain package to you. And when you receive this thing coming to you, you feel excited because this man thinks about you, plans for you, and you feel love. But you see, I also want us to remember that there are times when our practice and our actions may not be in the same place. You can lavish your partner with earthly and perishable gifts. But yet you know deep down your heart that you are not with your partner. Your partner is nowhere anyway. In fact, if you were to do a headcount, your partner would be number one, two, three, seven, eight, nine, ten. And all these are ranked as your partners. But I want to remind you, my brothers and sisters, that God who is interested in the affairs of your spouse is also interested in your faithfulness to your partner. Secondly, when significantly loved is not only to be expressed to the deserving, but rather and most importantly to the undeserving. This works out as an important tapestry on which marriage is built. Listen, when you begin your marriage, in those important days of courtship, oh, marriage feels rosy, nice and interesting. I don't know about you, but when I first saw Mutinta, my wife, and she was a little young girl, and I wanted to approach her, but then I had that fear in me, what if she says no, what if and what if. And that thrill of trying to make a proposal to her was something that really was an enjoying, a joyous moment for me. My brothers and sisters, as it started, she is this person that is all deserving of my life. That is how marriages start, but down the drain of life, when things begin to be tough. When you begin to face the reality of the two of you waking up to every problem and you have to resolve it. Then you begin asking yourself, did I choose right? You begin to think maybe I could have done it otherwise, but then you realize that marriage seems to progress from the deserving to the undeserving. In moments when you feel like your partner is undeserving of your love, that is when you need to even love them so deeply and dearly. Because the moment you remove that moment away, then you live the life of God only for the deserving. But you must remember that the life of God is expressed to the deserving and also to the undeserving. Its manifestation seems to proceed from the deserving to the undeserving. And so let's do a little analysis of Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 1 to 4. In verse 1, the Bible tells us that brotherly love must characterize our relationships within society. Now you see, it begins from a broader scope. You cannot learn to live harmoniously within your nucleus family if you don't know how to live with the brotherhood or fraternity of brotherhood. And so church becomes a bound, a bound where we serve these relationships, where we begin to express our love for one another. But that is just brotherly love. In chapter 13 and verse 2, he says, express your hospitality, be hospitable. And I want to speak to young ladies in their formative years. You see in your 20s, you are not thinking much about marriage. And so even those that come to you say, can we do something about this thing? You look at them. I don't know whether you have scanners here, but I've known that certain young ladies have scanners. When they scan and they measure you, they put you on their scale and they'll tell you, you are not my type. And then every time they, you see in their heydays of life, they're just youthful and they feel like exercise courtesy. Because the same people who today are not your type very soon will begin to be very attractive to you. By the way, I have learned that a man does not fall, he only kneels down. And when a man is kneeling, the moment he stands up from his kneeling, there is victory. So today, that young man who seems to have no future, one day will be the future of society. So be kind to one another. Parents in our families, there are times we segregate others and say, you can get married to that family, but not to that one. You want to get that one? Look at his shoes. His shoes are like KQ. KQ almost about to take off. The shoe has been eaten and that is the man you want to present. Look for others who are well established. But you don't know that in this man destroying his shoe and his shoe becoming like KQ, he's actually building an empire for himself. And once he is established, you will be saying, you see, your friends are marrying well. You see, that young man you were just looking at him at church, please don't judge people by their current status. Judge people by their capacity as human beings with life and that when a human being has life, there is potential for anything possible that they can achieve in this world. And so in verse three, Paul talks about ministry to the prisoners. This is ministry to the vulnerable in our society. People we least expect, I mean, in fact, this is a test of Christian experience. I was in Kawe. I was still pastoring in Kamuala in Lusaka. And this time we were invited to Kawe, which is another town about 130 kilometers away from Lusaka. It was a prisoner's day, a world prisoner's day, a commemoration, something like that. And we took some of our gifts as a district and as a church. And in that program, there was something that was intriguingly fascinating. You see, a story is that a certain young man killed his wife. And he was imprisoned for life. And this particular day, the mother-in-law to this young man who was in prison said, I have courage so much bitterness and hurt in me. I want to go and reconcile with my son-in-law. I may not know the circumstances in which the two had a rango and an altercation that resulted into my daughter's death. Also, by me bearing this hurt and burden, I will not bring back my dead daughter. So while we were seated and our current Northern Union president, Dr. Namito, was the preacher that day, something fascinating happened. This young man was gotten to be among those that would offer service and coordinate activities for their own program. And so he didn't know what was happening. And he stood somewhere where he was taking guard and you could see him actively engaged in the activity. And so as the service progressed, there was a hushing pause and a woman began to descend from the VIP. We thought she was just maybe going to do some presentation. And as she descended, the preacher paused as she entered into the arena on a small gate. And that is where this young man was standing. And she went directly to this son-in-law and hugged her. They cried. And then she began to speak and say, my son, I know you and I have never seen eye to eye and embraced each other ever since my daughter died. I have carried so much bitterness in me. But I want to remind you that I have come to settle scores with you. I don't want to bear any longer the burden of knowing that there is someone in prison whom I am still carrying a burden for. Brothers and sisters, I want us to remember that sometimes people that will come along our way may not be deserving of our love. They may not be deserving of our trust, but we must reach out in love to people that are not deserving. And the fourth aspect he speaks about is marriage in chapter 13 and verse 4. And he says, this institution must be held in honor among all these. Now they are translations that render that as it must be held in honor or by honorable. But then the context suggests that you can have brotherly love. You can be hospitable. You can do kind deeds. But above all these nice things you can do in human social relations. You must hold marriage in high honor. And when we talk about marriage, we are talking about an institution entered upon by two adults in a heterosexual relationship. Not a marriage where a man and a man can say we desire to be married or a woman and a woman desire to be married. That is not the biblical concept of marriage. The biblical concept of marriage is female by natural biological makeup and male by natural biological makeup. The two consenting together to be in a godly divine union as they encounter. And that is what the Bible says it must be held in high honor. What is the nobility of marriage? Brothers and sisters, the Bible places a high premium on the institution of marriage. It affirms that marriage is honorable among all Hebrews 13 and verse 4. This imperative exalts marriage to each divinely envisioned ideal. Listen, my brothers and sisters, because of the blariness of life and the effect of sin, we cannot see the ideal that God has envisioned for marriage. Only as we get a glimpse from Scripture that we understand the value that marriage has in God's thinking. Hebrews 13 verse 14 is a constant reminder to the believers that the sanctity of the marriage institution is not to be devalued by moral inconsistencies as is suggested in 13 verse 5. It does not mean because you are to be tolerant, to be open, then it gives room for you to provide moral inconsistencies in marriage. God is a consuming fire, is our theme, and that God is interested in the affairs of your marriage. Therefore, marriage must be considered as a sacred trust to humanity. The biblical estimate of marriage or relationship must be viewed through the Christ church relationship that is given to us in Ephesians chapter 5. How does God relate to the church and equally is the example and the template on which married couples must begin to relate to each other? Let's note one important thing that although the picture of the Christ church relationship is one that is mad by inconsistencies from the part of the church against the steadfast trustworthiness of Christ. It does not mean that God opened the door for moral inconsistency among married couples. Rather, He demonstrates the need for tolerance and steadfast for bearing of one another. If we are to create and establish marriages that are lasting, that will have an impact, we have to tolerate and be there for one another in difficult times when you see certain inconsistencies in your spouse. My brothers and sisters, one of the growing contemporary views is that marriage is no longer a covenant, but marriage is a contract. And I have seen even among scholars, biblical scholars, where they use the term marriage in reference to and reciprocating it to a contract. The problem when marriage becomes a contract is that there is a possibility that would-be marriage partners can decide to engage in matrimony for a specific period of time on specific terms and conditions. If and as when those terms are met, the marriage lasts, and when those terms are not met, then the marriage automatically dissolves. That is why my brothers and sisters, it is possible that we can live in a society where two can seem to be working together and are rearing children, yet they are long divorced. They enter the same door, and that is the end of the conversation. The only time you see them talk together is in public space. When they go back home, it's each one for himself and God for us all. In fact, marriage has become a battlefield where there are forces that are warring between the marrying partners. My brothers and sisters, there must be a higher elevated view of marriage if marriage would have to pass the international standards that the divine has set for it. This model, that is the model of marriage as a contract, marriage is not a lifetime commitment between partners, born from the bond of love. However, for Bible-believing Christians, marriage is more than a business contract. It is a covenant, and Marachi 2 verse 14 says marriage is a covenant as it is viewed from God. Brothers and sisters, Ellen White in the book Adventist Home, page 25 says, When the divine principles are recognized and obeyed in this relation, marriage is a blessing. It guards the purity and happiness of the rest. It provides for man's social needs. It elevates the physical, the intellectual, and the moral nature. That is the worth that God has blessed on this institution called marriage. Let me share with you some of the principles we have gleaned from this undertaking. Number one is that marriage is not a competition. You see, marriages usually start on a good turf. A loving relationship between husband and wife. But along the way, it begins to cascade into a competition. Who is better at doing this? Who can end more? Who can do things better for their family? Who is a better parent? I mean, you even allow your children to make you begin competing over their loyalty. No, my brothers and sisters, before them, the two of you loved each other. And so you must remember that they are a proceed of your love rather than an outcome of your competition. Children are not a proceed of your competition. And so because of the tension in most marriages, marriages are on the rock. In fact, most marriages are on life support system. And there are times when married partners will say, I'm just in this for children. No, my brother, you're not in this only for children. You know why you are in there. You know, I cannot live. If I live, where will the children go? Just say it. But you see, because of pride, we don't want to be humble enough and treasure each other to tend to your spouse and tell them mama, daddy, I still love you so dearly and deeply. I love you that it pains me that I love you. I don't know whether you've had that kind of an experience where it feels painful to love someone. Number two is that marriage is intricately related to the concept of worship. At the heart of worship is obedience to the dictates of our Creator God. And so when you talk about marriage, my brothers and sisters, we are talking about our attitude to God. And so as we engage in the concept of marriage, marriage is not just about rearing children and raising a family. It is an expression of our gratitude to God and our serious commitment to our worshiping God. The moment that the worship of God is removed from our marriage, then anything is possible and it leaves room for anything to happen. So my brothers and sisters, I want to remind you that as you are blessed with that institution called the holy matrimony, you must remember that God is receiving it as a fervence of worship from the two of you. That is why, you know, when I was at undergraduate, one of our professors said, when it is time, you know, when it is what? When it is time, you need to turn on the radio and let it play with a soft song. Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me. And in that mood and ambience, you begin to even enjoy each other. It is at that point that he also said, you know, it is very important as you go in that ambience behind the curtain. You also need to pray. And only later did I realize that actually Ellen White affirms to what he said that it is important, even at the point of love behind the curtain, that there is need for us to engage God. And what that does is that it helps our minds connect to God and connect to each other. All the issues that may have been bubbling in the background are drowned into the ambience of divine presence. And all you look at now is enjoying each other in the presence of God. You know, I have been praying, except Ellen White has a stronger caveat to it. I have been thinking, how would marriage be with my wife in a sin-free society in heaven? That would be something very nice, much more the behind the curtain sins, you know it. Let me share four principles, practical ways how we can strengthen our marriage. How many principles? Four. Number one is plan and spend what? Finance is how? My brothers and sisters in most of our marriages, if there is something that is emotive is a concept of finance. Finance has a way that it raises suspicions about each other. Just imagine sometimes when money has come into the account and you know today it's paid it, your husband has been paid. And you perhaps know how much it gets paid. And then this time he only decides to bring 10,000 shillings and says, my wife, this is all I had to earn this month. As a wife, what would you think? There could be other small wives outside who are benefiting from what should be mine. Right? True. And you begin to raise that lack of transparency, begin to breathe tension in the home. And you begin to suspect each other even when the suspicions may not be founded. But you see the moment that you give an opportunity for suspicions to grow and breed, it becomes something that you cannot contain in your lifetime. And that is where I want us to remember my brothers and sisters. We must take care of our financial transparency. You see, when I am counseling would be couples, I always remind them this. What is more important to the public? Your appearance without clothes or money? What would you protect the most? I need feedback here. Your appearance, right? Yeah, that is true. But you see, today we have couples who rather would share their nakedness together, but don't even know how much each of them get paid. They have never seen a pay slip of each other. In fact, if a wife asks for money, these fingers have now developed scanners. So when the fingers go into the pocket, it will be able to sense that this is the one thousand. This is the one thousand shelling. This is a hundred shelling. This is a five hundred shelling. And when it removes, if the husband, if the wife wanted only two hundred shelling, it will make sure that it feels. And when the money comes out, it will be indeed a what? A two hundred shelling. No one would want to remove the money and say, okay, mama, we can count this and see how we can run around our face. But yet you are able to share your personal privacy together. We have set our priorities upside down, my brothers and sisters. What should be considered private is what we have made public and what should be public is what we have made to be private. And so marriage counselors go flattering people. No, you need to have your own. The moment that you begin to have your own begins to be a breeding ground for suspicion in your marriage. Godly advice, handle your finances together. You see, one other thing, and this one, most of us as men suffer from it, because we have not opened up to how much we have. You see, most women now begin to view us as if when we are going for work, the moment we are taking steps, also we are manufacturing what? It's correct. We are manufacturing money. So when we come, we are like an automated teller machine. It has to just produce as a result of my brothers and sisters. Many men have been taken into doing corrupt activities in order to sustain a life that is a lie in their marriages. They want to keep up appearances. They want to live up to a certain standard. They want to show that they love and care for their spouses. In the end, they do wrong things in the face of the Lord. So one day you are just called, do we have anti-corruption commission here? Or is it integrity? You have been anti-corruption. They just, you hear, your husband is being called, oh, come and appear before the anti-corruption commission. And you'll be saying, me, my husband can never, when you fueled actually him doing the wrong thing. Simply because we did not sit together, plan our finances together, and give our understanding on collective agreements. This also entails important issues, such as how do we co-own wealth we acquire? I don't know if our legal framework here allows for co-ownership of land, property, and all those things. Tell us, it allows, right? But you will find that the house you are staying in, it's only in one name. The cars, come on, in one what? That other vehicle you have, which is on the road, it is owned by one name. And every property that you have acquired, it's all in one name. And the other one will just be there saying, oh, you see, oh, these are for my husband, my brothers and sisters. If we took responsibility, there is a way that we can generate our wealth together, and work together, and become successful as a united front as a marriage. The problem is we want to compete in marriages. Number two, there must be what? Open communication. If there is anything that is lacking in most of our marriages is an aspect of communication. In fact, in our contemporary society, the best way that I have seen people communicating right now is when they have a problem between them as spouses. You just see the status post on their social media. God will judge you. God will vindicate me. God is my strength. And you know that all these are coming as a result of a challenge in their homes. My brothers and sisters, we have become so weak people that we cannot face each other as one on one, and we are attacking each other on social media. In fact, behind our phones, we are social media giants. We are lions and lionesses. But when we come in face-to-face contact, we are cowards. God did not establish marriage so that it can be mediated by social media. He created marriage so that if there are issues within marriage, they can be resolved between the two of you and there it ends, and you move on as a married and loving couple. Don't take your issues to social media. In fact, social media only makes you vulnerable for viral sin. While you think you are just posting to get rid of your anger, someone is watching to take advantage. And you see when you post that thing, someone will come to you and say, I knew you couldn't take care of you. But anyway, you should know that you are the most beautiful thing that ever happened in my life. You may not have you now, but I know if there was justice in this world, you could have been mine. He's lying. He is lying. And all that he wants is to cohese you into an adulterous relationship. And so you even begin to fall for it. Excuse me. Your head even tilts towards his suggestions. And you begin asking yourself, am I right in my frame of mind? Brothers and sisters, let's be careful. We must begin to develop dialogue as husband and wife. Number three, remember to what? To forgive. In marriage, things will happen. Big things and small things. They will do what? They will happen. Don't go on past those issues and instances, still bearing the grief and the baggage of your yesterday's experience. Don't allow your yesterday's experience to ruin your future happiness. You know, when you are carrying a baggage and your spouse decides to surprise you with something that is nice. And unintentionally, without any cause of wrongdoing, they bring a gift to you and you'll be saying what? He has now brought... Thank you. He has now brought this gift. So there must be something wrong. He cannot just buy me a what? A new dress. He cannot just buy me new shoes. There must be something what? Something wrong. So you think you are happy when he comes and he gives it to you. Oh honey, I bought you this. And you see the honey who has been bought for that something does not reciprocate in joy. And they will get and quickly to the what? To the bedroom. And when they get, instead of trying on what has been bought, they will put it down. Now just tell me the truth. What is the truth? I love you is the only truth I know. Just tell me the truth. Listen, I have just given you this because I love you. You are my spouse. What is making and fueling that kind of anger is that because it happened 30 years ago, this has also happened now. And so this is a payback for something that my husband has done what has done in even this time. Remember my brothers and sisters. God forgives us and he does not accuse us every day when we stand and say, you have come to worship today and you are singing in the choir. When you are an adulterer 30 years ago, remember who you were. Yes, I was what I was, but the blood of Christ washed me and I am a new creation. All the things are passed away. That is why Paul says, one thing I do, forgetting what is passed, I press towards the goal of the high calling which is in Christ. God has called us to a sacred goal. Remember, marriage is better when we are able to forgive one another and go past our earrings and build stronger relations and also knowing that God is not yet done with us. Number four is that have time for devotion. You see, marriage is stronger when couples are able to connect horizontally and vertically. They can connect with God and connect with one another. The most important adhesion to marriage unity is God coming in between the two of you, gluing you together. You see what the presence of God does is, you will know that my trustworthiness, loyalty is not only owed to my spouse, but rather I must be loyal to God before I become loyal to my spouse. When times are hard, partners, married partners, husband and wife, pray together. When children pass, pray together. You see, there is this notion when a child, especially daughters, when they do something wrong, she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. Who is she? The mother's daughter. You see, look at how your daughter has done. Every pressure is on your daughter, your daughter. When she has passed and she's going to university, ah, that's my daughter. You know, I'm very proud of my daughter. Come on, we are doing, we are in this together. In good times and in bad times, God desires that we should devote our time to this, to his cause. So the four are number one, plan and spend finances together, open communication, remember to forgive and have devotional time together. Marriage, my brothers and sisters, is to be entered upon in view of the God-head relation. This suggests that marriage is to be embraced on the condition of one fully understanding and maintaining a personal connection with God. And that is why Genesis chapter two reminds us that before Adam and Eve could see the presence of each other, they first of all saw the presence of God. Before you go into marriage, young people get to see the presence of God, have a personal relationship with God. In when you are in marriage, what will continue sustaining your connection together is when the presence of God still continues to be on your forehead. The marriage born, my brothers and sisters, was designed by God to be exclusively experienced between husband and wife. To protect the boundaries of marriage, God instructed, you shall not commit adultery. God loves that bond so much that he doesn't want what is shared between you as spouses also to be shared between you and another person outside the bonds of marriage. And the consequences were dire because in Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10, the Bible says, he who committed adultery was to be stoned to death. God is serious about the institution of marriage and its sanctity. Marriage, my brothers and sisters, is a lifelong royal commitment to each other. We cannot waver anything about our marriage relationship. Rather, we have to be loyal regardless of the situation. Marriage is a shared identity. When you get married, you are not independent, free-lancing individuals that cohabit and coexist in a bedroom. Rather, the two becomes one. And that oneness is the oneness that is also seen within the experience of the Triune God. And so, my brothers and sisters, sincerity of the marriage covenant is truthfulness to God. Matrimony is not just about you and your partner. Rather, it is about God who established it. And the moment that we find these important truths, we will embrace the great establishment that God has given to us. So, Ellen White concludes and says, God has ordained that there should be perfect love and harmony between those who enter into the marriage relation. She continues and says, men and women at the beginning of a married life should reconsecrate themselves to God. Be as true as still to your marriage vow, my brothers and sisters. Refusing in thought word or deed to spoil your record as a man who fears God and obeys his commandment. This institution is a sacred one. I may not know what your current state of marriage, but I want to take an opportunity to pray for someone in this place. Your marriage may be okay, but you want God to take a front face in your marriage. It also may be that your marriage may not be okay. It is on life support. It needs a divine intervention. I also want to pray for you. Or you could be contemplating marriage, desiring to make that commitment, but I want to remind you that decision is the right decision, especially if it is a heterosexual relation that you are contemplating. And you desire to find the face of God before you find the face of your spouse. If you are in any of the three categories, I would ask you to stand with me as we pray together. Let us pray. Holy Father, we are grateful for the institution of marriage which you blessed at the beginning of creation. A gift that came from your benevolent hand in a sinless world. A gift that has continued even after sin. Holy Father, we realize that in the mix of life situations, our marriages are not to the ideal standard which you have envisioned. Heavenly Father, if we have deliberately gone amiss from your goal, may you forgive us. Also we pray, Heavenly Father, may you keep and reunite our bonds of marriage. May they become vibrant one more time. They are those who are standing and their marriages are okay. May you be the front first in their marriage relationship that your name may be glorified, that children may learn from their example and become equally people that will fear you and honor you in our generation. They are also Heavenly Father, those that may be standing up and their marriages are polarized by sin and the inflicting pain of infidelity. I want to pray Heavenly Father, that may you salvage such marriages from breaking up. In fact, there may be somebody in this place who may even be contemplating divorce as the final result. May you speak peace till marriage as Heavenly Father. May you speak to broken hearts that your name may be glorified. They are also those that are standing Heavenly Father, desirous that they may enter and trade upon this sacred institution. I pray that before they find each other, may they find your face. When they would have found your face, it shall be your name that shall be glorified as you shall connect them to their suitable partners who are going to keep them ever in your presence. And to you who is able to keep your change from falling, I commend. May you keep each one of us until the day of our redemption. This we do pray and ask it in Jesus' holy name, amen.