God As My Witness — Holy Matrimony — Rich & DawnCheré Wilkerson

Hey wherever you're at in the world we welcome you to VU Church. Today we are starting a brand new collection of talks. It is called Holy Matrimony. Yes. And really the subtitle it gives you a little bit more about what is it we're gonna be talking about. God's design for marriage, dating, and everything else in between. Yes. And let me just say from the onset of this conversation this is truly a collection for everybody. Put that in the chat. Everybody. That's how that's how we say it over here. It's for everybody. Whether you are dating, engaged, married, divorced, confused, full of hope. It's complicated. I don't care what your status says. I believe that God's Word, His blueprint, this book called the Bible it wants us to not just survive in relationships. Come on somebody. How many want to thrive in relationships? Yes. Amen. I've always been a big believer that the quality of your life depends on the quality of your relationships. We were designed for relationships. None of us were meant to do life all on our own. We weren't meant to be an island but rather God's Word shares with us that we were made for community. So let me just give a couple disclaimers before we go to God's Word today. A disclaimer that's really important is that this is not a collection. I don't know how you got here today. I've been doing these for a long time. Maybe your wife brought you and this is your first time to church and you're a dude. We welcome you, okay? We're not here to beat up men. We're not here to add to all the ladies more to-do lists, okay? This is not a collection that wants to put pressure on either gender. This is one that wants to help you be you. It's funny. I've been in ministry. Don and I are going to celebrate 20 years of marriage but I've been in ministry. This is my 19th year in ministry so I've had a lot of time. I'm not a... Thank you. I love you guys. Miami Gardens is kind. Okay. I love you guys. No kidding, okay, okay, okay. I'm not a professional counselor but I have spent a lot of time with people, both of us, and it's so funny to me sometimes. I'll meet with like a single woman, you know, Dawn, she and I together and it's like, hey, what are you, you know, what are you hoping for in a man? They start giving us, she starts giving us the list, you know, it's like, oh man, I want a man who's emotionally intuitive. I want a man who's a clear communicator. I want a man

who's strong but sensitive. I want a man who's confident but gentle. I want him to love Jesus. I want him to love my family, love me, love long walks on the beach, love Pilates, love to travel, also love to stay at home, also make six figures. I'm like, yo, you are not describing a man, you're describing you. Like, like, I don't think you actually are describing a guy and vice versa. Let me just come for the guys. I meet a lot of guys like, yeah, she's got to love football. What? Like, you're like, she's got to love hunting. Like, bro, you don't want to marry your bro, okay? Like, no, this is a collection that's not trying to make women more like men or men more like women. We want us to embrace the blueprint and the design God has for us. We want to celebrate you and all of your differences. Yeah, men and women are different and you can spend decades trying to make your spouse more like you or you can understand that the differences are not a flaw in the design, they are the design. Like, God created you to be different. Not better, not worse, but different. That's what makes this union powerful. I think about a battery. You have like a positive side and you have a negative side. If you're gonna jump a car, I've never done this before, but I understand. I do understand. Tell the truth and shame the devil. You can't just have two negative sides or two positive sides. You have to have both and it's the difference that makes the engine come alive. It's the difference that makes the power start and come together and so it is with marriage. You have different perspectives, different stories, different outlooks on life and yet you have the same God and you have the same mission. You're not looking for uniformity in marriage. You're looking for unity. You're looking for two people walking in the same direction. This is not competition. My way is better. Your way is worse. My way is right. You just don't get it. No, it's not competition. It's collaboration. It's I have something to learn from you and you have something to learn from me and today today we just want to ground this conversation in Malachi. Malachi chapter 2 verses 10 through 16. We read that Malachi is an Old Testament prophet and the people of God have come back from exile. They've begun to worship again, but Malachi is making it very clear that

God cares not just about your worship but about your relationships also that it really matters to God so let's read in Malachi chapter 2 it says this another thing you do you flood the Lord's altar with tears you weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands you ask why it is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth you've been unfaithful to her though she is your partner the wife of your marriage covenant has not the one God made you you belong to him in body and spirit and what does the one God seek godly offspring so be on your guard and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth the man who hates and divorces his wife says the Lord the God of Israel does violence to the one he should protect says the Lord Almighty so be on your guard and do not be unfaithful and today the thought that we are gathering around is this thought God as my witness God as my witness how many know that words they don't lose their meaning like words mean something but what I've learned about culture and society is that many times words they don't disappear but they do tend to drift so they carry the same sound but they've lost their substance let me try to give you an example of what I mean there was a time in this country that if you said I'm going steady with him or I'm going steady with her that spoke towards dating that spoke towards exclusivity that meant don't flirt with me I'm going steady with that guy over there today if you say I'm going steady people like that's good to know praise God you're not shaking right like why don't you hydrate what would that awesome okay it's because it meant something back then but it had an intention but the impact it doesn't land the same way anymore our culture has this phrase hooking up what does that mean I mean back in the day it meant we would meet up now now what what is this right like I don't know what this don't label it don't call me tomorrow but we're something and something happened I want to talk about it okay I mean you can just keep going through culture in the words I mean there was a time when gay simply meant carefree happy I'm having a gay old time if you sing that now it

means something completely different the word partner part are we in business together are we renting an apartment did we get into a contract we don't know what these words mean because they have an intention but the impact lands differently I say that because today I think if there's a word that we have lost in our generation that we really don't understand the weight of it or the meaning of it it is this word marriage it's not that people don't want to get married people want the party people want the photos they want to post it on the gram but they don't recognize God's design God's plan and the weight to what the word means it means different things to different people it really does and it's important that you define what it means to you according to this the truth of God's Word have you ever been at a wedding and the priests or the pastor right he always opens up with the same words beloved today we have gathered to celebrate holy matrimony hmm have you ever thought deeply about those two words we don't we don't use those words very often anymore holy matrimony I mean most people in the crowd are like I'm here for what I thought I was here for a wedding I'm here to dance all night and to celebrate the grown the grooms already crying the bride looks beautiful with her makeup people are ready to celebrate but they're like I know what a marriage is but what is holy matrimony because most people actually don't want holy matrimony they just want a happy marriage and it's important that we understand the difference they're not the same thing we've actually lost the meaning because God's primary goal has not ever been to just make you happy God's primary goal is to make you holy and he uses the tool of holy matrimony to shape you in his image and so it's the meaning of the actual word itself that helps us because matter actually means mother or source of life mm-hmm and monium actually means state covenant or responsibility Wow so in other words marriage was never meant to just make you feel good fulfill your dreams get you excited make you happy no marriage was meant for something far deeper than just the current season or view you have in life it was meant to impact legacies far after you breathe your last breath for generations would be changed

because of what because of your happy marriage no because of holy matrimony there's depth there's beauty there's power to this this is not a fragile thing based on your feelings this is stable this is secure this is holy it's beautiful and is powerful it can be both I think about like the diamond that in Western culture typically is on a woman's ring finger when the the man proposes to his fiancee well you could look at that ring and go oh that diamond so beautiful look it's multifaceted it glistens oh you just keep that thing nice and clean and it's reflecting and wow it's so beautiful and you can stop at that or you could realize that diamonds are powerful semiconductors that they're used as batteries now that they're discovering they can actually sustain power for thousands of years when other materials break down diamonds stand strong and so it is with your marriage it's not just beautiful it's powerful it sustains it lasts it brings energy and life to all the other relationships around it when it's actually holy matrimony that's why your marriage carries weight because when we say holy matrimony we're not just talking about religion we're not just talking about a ceremony we're talking about Almighty God's design we're talking about what the Creator instituted for us for the next few weeks we're not here to argue with culture we're not doing it we're here to clarify meaning hmm we're here to look closely at the truth and I believe that as we look at the truth how many of you know you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free come on picture hands together if you believe it today Wow it's powerful I do think it's a little bit hypocritical that you're preaching about a diamond not wearing your diamond ring. It's been calling me out man, one of the prongs. Today junior spit it out I'm dying to hear this I just she's over here I'm like I'm getting blessed like where's your ring girl? One of the prongs has been loose for a long time. Oh get out of here prong is loose. And I usually wear another ring and I forgot all my rings today I love you. Let me show you how serious your boy is. I love that. Get you a man get you a man who tattoos your initials on his finger I take DC everywhere I go but if you don't wear that ring I'm gonna turn this into Dade County right here okay? The dream center the dream center the dream center. Crazy. You're preaching so good I think it's beautiful it just made me laugh because I was like where's her ring? It's alright it's fine we're gonna deal with it don't worry um it's very interesting what we're talking about today because we are grounding this and

we're grounding this today in a very ancient text we already opened up reading from Malachi chapter 2. Malachi is what we call a minor prophet it's a smaller book of the Bible and the cultural moment that he's dealing with is that Israel's back from exile as Don Charity's mentioned and and they're back to worshiping and she said it so powerfully it's not a worship problem they have they have a relationship problem. Now if you've ever read the book before it's a very very small book and it starts out talking about Israel's doubt of God's love it talks about the priest and the way that they have maybe disordered worship and continuing to recalibrate how you do that it speaks about injustice of the day most of us who have somewhat of a church background especially in the West we've probably heard it preached about the tithe or our generosity or our offering there's powerful things that's where Malachi says you know test the Lord in this see if he doesn't open up the floodgates of heaven and maybe you've heard bits and pieces that my guess is most of us have probably missed these six verses in chapter 2 because in the midst of all of that here comes God and here comes through the Prophet Malachi he begins to speak to them about marriage and it's because marriage is not some sideways issue it's not something on the side it's actually quite fundamental and it's massive for culture and society he begins to address the fact that yeah you're worshiping me but man there is a fracture in relationships I want you to write this down because this is very important this is why I'm starting here today this is why we we're grounding here today we're gonna talk about a lot of things topics and moments but this is important if you catch in the Catch this, how we treat each other reveals how seriously we take God. Yeah. You cannot say, yeah, I love the Lord, but then treat people casually. No, the Lord says, if you love me, you will show it to someone else.

And so here comes God and he's speaking. When I'm seeing all the stuff that you're doing, it's amazing, but man, you're missing something. There has been a breakdown in the marriages. There's been a breakdown in the home. And what we're beginning to see is that when there is a drift relationally, there's also a drift spiritually. A lot of us, especially in the body of Christ, we can be so loud about judging the world for being the world. A lot of us can look around and just check out the news and they're like, man, this place is crazy. You don't have to be a sociologist. You don't have to be even a prophet. You can look around going, people are losing their minds. But listen to me, when the home begins to break down, it's just a matter of time before society breaks down. It's so important that, listen, how we treat each other horizontally is an indication of what we think about God vertically. So look at what happens right here, Malachi chapter two, verse 13. Let's just read it one more time. Another thing you do, another thing you do as it comes up on the screen, you flood the Lord's altar with tears. So VU Church is full weekend and week out. There's people showing up, worshiping God, serving hard. We had Night to Shine on Friday.

We got lots of people online right now. If you're watching online, once again, just tell us right now in the chat. There's moderators. Where are you watching from? I just wanna make this point. Watching from all over the world. I want people online to see that right now. All over the world, people are here at the altar coming to God, emotional, sensing God. He says you weep and wail because he no longer looks, this is important, with favor on your offerings. Or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, here's the question, why? Why have I lost my favor? Why do I not sense the hand of God on my life? It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been, here it is, unfaithful to her. Though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant has not the one God made you. Listen to this. Some of us, we're here today, and we're going, man, I'm going to church. I'm showing up even with my spouse. I'm here, but I feel like I'm lost favor. I feel like God's blessing, holy momentum seems to be lacking. I wonder how you're doing relationally.

I wonder how you're treating people. I wonder how you're treating your spouse because it's really important. What we see is this, is that faithfulness invites favor. Unfaithfulness disrupts it. I've known this to be true. I just haven't always had Bible to see it. What I'm hoping over the next few weeks is that some of us, we can start to walk into the favor of God. Today, we're talking about holy matrimony. That's important because I want you to get the blueprint. This is not like rich in DCs. This isn't the Western evangelical church's idea. That's what TikTok would tell you. Like, oh, that's what the West did. No, that's not true at all. God designed marriage. God put a blessing on marriage. God said the way I'm gonna build cities and societies and cultures is through healthy homes. And so whether you're gonna ever get married or not, or if you're gonna be single and secure because God told you to do so, you need to understand God's design because when we walk in healthy relationships, ooh, I wanna prophesy to some people, the favor of God begins to come upon your home, your household, your kids, your kids' kids, your business, your life.

Every area of your life can begin to flourish. And I just wonder today, is the reason why you sense a disruption in God's favor, could it be not because of something happening vertically, could it be something happening horizontally? The cross of Jesus Christ is a vertical post and a horizontal post because Jesus didn't just come to get you to heaven, he came to teach you how to live a healthy life here on earth. And what does Malachi say? Malachi says it this way. He says, you weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. Watch this, you ask why, it's because there's three words. The Lord is the witness, one word, between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, that's the second word, the wife of your marriage covenant, that's the third word. If we're gonna reclaim meaning for marriage, it's three words. It is the word witness, the word partner, and the word covenant. Let's start today going backwards, don't you? Let's start with that word, covenant. It's beautiful. Holy matrimony is more than a feeling.

So Malachi doesn't call marriage a feeling, he doesn't call it compatibility, he doesn't call it chemistry. No, Malachi calls marriage covenant. This word is different. And butterflies are important, chemistry is important, but Malachi says she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant because the covenant is where the commitment and the strength lies. I know it takes butterflies and attraction is important and attraction may start the conversation, but let me tell you, covenant is what keeps the marriage secure for decades, for a lifetime. I mean, butterflies, they help, right? It's beautiful, it's a gift, it's just that butterflies aren't gonna pay your bills. Butterflies aren't gonna stay up at 2 a.m. with your child when they're going through something. Butterflies aren't gonna be your strength in the hospital room when you need God to do a miracle. No, there's this commitment that says, God, I am committed to this relationship. Chemistry is what helps get you married, covenant is what keeps you married. You don't stay married because you feel it, you stay married because you meant it. That when you said I do, you meant it because feelings fluctuate,

but man, decision, it's a stake in the ground that you don't have to wonder if you're staying in this or not, it's decided. I remember when we started dating, it was almost 25 years ago and I was in college and I would often write in my journal and practice writing Rich's last name with mine. You know, you read some of your journals when you're young and you just cringe, are you with me? You're like, what was I writing about? But I would write my name with his, I would practice writing his name. Let me tell you, writing his name is very different than walking with him in his name. It's one thing to romanticize it, make it look beautiful, plan for the big day. Well, much more important than the big day, you got a big life and marriage is understanding, oh, this is covenant work. This is not just about the big moments of life. No friends, we understand that the big moments are the little moments. They're the mundane moments that that's where covenant matters the most. Nobody gets married thinking, I cannot wait to argue over who loads the dishwasher. Nobody gets married thinking, I cannot wait to argue over the thermostat or who's gonna take out the trash or how we're gonna do this

or what our plans are gonna be over the weekend. No, you're so just enamored with the season, but friends, marriage, it's the mundane moments where we choose to walk together. It's built in daily decisions. When God wants to define how he relates to his people, he chooses covenant. God made a covenant with Noah, a covenant with Abraham, with Israel, and God made a brand new covenant through the blood of Jesus. Aren't you thankful? It gives us a brand new life. So covenant is not just a promise. It's actually the strongest relational word that we have in scripture. Why? Because when you're in holy matrimony, you don't ask, do I feel like it today? No, you ask, what does love require of me today? Because it's a commitment. So beautiful. Holy matrimony means it's more than a feeling. And once again, here's where semantics and words matter because the scripture tells us, according to Paul, that we're not to conform to the pattern of this world. So here's what happens to a lot of people. Happy marriage versus holy matrimony, two different things. Happy marriage thinks in contracts. So a lot of us, we know about contracts,

but a covenant is not a contract. It's got, it's like a contract, but it's far deeper and far bigger than that. A contract's like, oh, if you change, I can change. If you break it, there's an exit strategy for me. If something changes, we'll just renegotiate. Covenant is far different. Covenant says I made a decision, regardless of how I feel, regardless of the circumstance. What are wedding vows? For sickness or in health. For richer, hopefully richer, or poor. It's suggesting that no matter what takes place, I've made a covenant. What's a contract? A contract is between two individuals. A covenant is when it's between two individuals and God. A cord of three strands, come on, is not easily broken. So it's bigger than what we're giving it credit for, and here comes Malachi. Malachi's saying you've been unfaithful to the covenant and with it, disruption has hit your life. I gotta deal with a lot of stuff in your worship but I cannot bypass this moment. But it's not the only word he gives us. The second word he gives us is the word partner. Write down that word partner. And the way we would subtitle this is holy matrimony makes you stronger, Dawn Cherie. Yes, Malachi again uses this word

and it's something very profound. He says you have been unfaithful to her though she is your partner. Malachi doesn't say though she is your roommate, though she is just your friend, though she is your supporting character. No, he says though she is your partner. This is a powerful word that can give you a new framework of what holy matrimony is. Because at its core, partnership is shared responsibility. It's shared investment, it's shared sacrifice, it's shared strength. A partner isn't just someone that you love or that you're delighted in. No, a partner is someone who helps you carry life. That they're in it with you. This isn't a new idea. All the way back to Genesis, God looks at Adam and he says it's not good for man to be alone. I'm gonna make him a partner. This is before sin, this is before dysfunction, this is before the brokenness of the world. This is before God looks at Adam and goes, this isn't working this way. It's not working. So he creates Eve, right? I love how it said that he creates Eve and he takes Adam's rib from his side, not from his head so she would lord over him, not from his feet so that she would be beneath him,

but from his side so that she would walk alongside him. What a beautiful symbolic picture for us from the creator of what partnership is as Malachi calls it. Why? Because God created us to walk together. Marriage was God's solution to isolation. And hear us, there's a lot of ground to cover in this collection. We're gonna talk about broken relationships. We're gonna talk about single seasons. There are people that are called to singleness not just for a season but for a lifetime. And as we preach on marriage and holy matrimony, make no mistake, we are not preaching a theology that marriage completes you. That's not marriage's job description. Jesus is the only one that completes you. When you turn to your life to God, you are whole, you have the peace of God, shalom, nothing, nothing broken, you've got a purpose, you're not at a stop sign, you are full of the Holy Spirit power, you are on mission. Can I get an amen? Amen. It's really important for you to believe and understand the theology of this. We do not believe that marriage completes you. What marriage is about is not completion, it's about cooperation.

Will you say that word with me? Cooperation. And scripture just keeps reinforcing this again and again. Two are better than one. Pity the man who falls and has no one to pick him up. How can one keep warm alone? One can put 1,000 to flight but two can put 10,000 to flight. That's not sentimental for romance, that's strategy. And some of you, you spent decades working on strategy in the workplace, strategy in your self-discipline. Let me tell you one of the greatest strategies you need to focus on is that partnership strategy of your marriage because you are in it together and what God can do through two united hearts. Well, it's super natural. It's not just emotional, it's practical. Yeah, I love the idea that it's practical. For instance, I'm weak in some areas and Dawn Shree's strong in those areas. How many of y'all know I give her a lot of opportunities to be strong? But I want you to see that, that both of us are covering each other. Both of us are helping each other. Both of us are spurring each other on in the Lord. If there's an area that I'm weak, praise God she's strong. If there's an area that maybe she's not as strong,

praise God I have got some help to come alongside her and help her stay on the path. We go one, we go all. Together we are better. It's just, there's just the Bible that backs up. Have you noticed that God is into partnership? Go into God's word. He's always doing things in partnership. I mean, when he wanted to spare the world, he didn't just say take one animal. He said take them two by two. When Jesus wanted to change. changed the world. He didn't just send one disciple, he sent them out two by two. Moses had Aaron, Paul had Barnabas, David had Jonathan, Jordan had Pippin, Batman had Robin, the Lone Ranger had Tano, Rich has DC. Come on somebody, I'm trying to get you to see. It's a partnership. It's partnership. What's fascinating is that woman is taken from Adam's side. She's taken out of him. And then when they come back together through sexual intimacy, they are reunited.

We're not here today just talking about, but can you get a bigger vision of what sex is? It's not merely for your pleasure. It's not merely for your own excitement. People are not objects. They have the imago Dei. They have the imprint of heaven. They are human souls and there's a purpose behind it. See, a true partner doesn't just love you, a true partner lifts you. I just, if I had more time, I would try to help some of the men out there because you think that you always gotta be strong, but if you would let your guard down every once in a while and recognize that shit knows how to fight too, bro. But you gotta let her in. You gotta actually show this. It's called vulnerability. You gotta go back to the guard naked and no shame. And some of you ladies, if you would actually just let your guard down and quit trying to make him just like you, celebrate him for where he is, you would find out that there is strength in that man that can only come from him and him alone. Roman soldiers, they talk about when they would go into battle, they would fight. And if they ever got into close combat, what they would do is, is that if it was just two by two,

they would fight back to back. Back to back, they could see some stuff. Come here, don't show, we're gonna illustrate this. Turn around, turn around that way, ooh. I just wanna try to show you something. This is a picture of holy matrimony. We're not competitors. We're not fighting, we're not looking at each other trying to prove who's right. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We are back to back. And when we're back to back, guess what? She's got my back. Got a left, left, yeah, I'm ready. Show the head to toe, I don't like this shot. Show that, yeah, there we go. Let's check this out, she can see some stuff I can't see. And how many of y'all know, when stuff comes this way, baby, I got it, don't you worry, I got your back. We're fighting together, come on somebody. We are partners in this thing. This is a picture of holy matrimony. You don't have to fight alone. You got a collaborator. You got someone who's walking with you. Somebody give God praise. This is his design. It's his design. That this word partnership, that holy matrimony makes you stronger.

And this is not an invitation, once again, we're gonna keep saying this. This is not like, I'm single and I guess I'm not strong. Not true at all. It's giving you a picture of what God designed if you're called to it. I think the word calling's a big word that we kind of over-spiritualize, but we miss its meaning as well. Paul called singleness a gift because he was called to it. He was called to it. That's why calling, you can't look at your neighbor. That's why you can't compare your calling to somebody else. There's somebody watching online right now, man. You are spending your time comparing yourself to other people, and that's why you're losing the joy. That's why you're losing the purpose. That's why that thief, the enemy, keeps coming in and stealing from you what God has designed for you. It's fascinating to me, and I've said it a lot of times for my church, but the word helper, that's what the scripture says about Eve, that I'm gonna make a helper suitable for Adam. It's the word easer. It's a Hebrew word. Every time it's used in the Bible, it's used about God. You know what that tells me? That tells me whether you have a husband or a wife, you still got an easer.

His name is Jehovah Jireh. He is your provider. He will fight with you. He's got your back. He's walking with you. You are strong in the Lord. Amen. You are strong in the Lord. I can do all things through Christ. Who what? Who strengthens me. So this isn't like, oh man, Rich and D.C. are up there, and I'm just, no, no, no. This is you understanding biblically what's taking place here. These guys were coming in worshiping, but worship wasn't the problem. Relationship was. Relationship was. Let's go to this third word. The third word is witness. Holy matrimony has supernatural help. This is powerful because Malachi says something remarkable. He says, the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. That word. This changes everything. Because covenant is between a man and a woman, but it's not just between a man and a woman. God is involved in a covenant.

A cord of three strands is not easily broken, and so this isn't just a marriage where a husband and wife are saying, I do, and hey, we're holding on to each other. No, in covenant, we're not holding on to each other. We're holding on to God together. He's the center of our relationship. He's the pursuit of our purpose, and it's his witness that changes everything. Yeah, at a wedding, oftentimes when I start the wedding, Don't you mention it up front. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness holy matrimony. Most of us, when we hear the word witness, we think of the people in the audience, and no doubt, family members, friends, they are there to witness. But according to Malachi, there is a greater witness, greater than your mama, greater than your dad who walked you down that aisle, greater than your best man or your favorite bridesmaid. Come on, there is one. He is the true God. He witnesses it. So what this is trying to do is open up our eyes to how supernatural this is. This is why it rages in the face of culture, that if you've been coming to VU for a while, and some of you have been coming for two years, and man, you've been on this process of being sanctified,

and some of you, this is just the next step in your discipleship journey, that God got ahold of your heart, God got ahold of your mind, God's about to get ahold of your body. Because some of you, you're living with somebody who's not even your spouse. And you're like, yo, pastor, that's old. Old? No, no, no, yeah, it's really old. His design is from the beginning. I know, but can't we just live together and just, we're just trying it out. No, no, no, you don't just try it out. Have you ever noticed the silly things that people say, and maybe there's a girl here or a guy here, and you're dating someone right now, and they're like, you know, I just, like, will we be good at sex? I don't know, we should test this out. We should take it for a test drive. Do you think I'm a Ford Focus? Test drive? You think I'm a Honda Accord, a test drive? You're not a lease. Come on. You're not a purchase. You're not a rental. You're a human soul. So marriage is not just like, oh, great,

we're gonna have guilt-free sex. That's not what it is. We just decided to get married, just felt like the next step. No, no, no, no, you're missing it, you're missing it. You know what research would tell us? Those that live together before they're married, most of the time, those relations don't last. More often than not, those that wanna do the test drive, it usually falls apart. In fact, I'm always here to make sure, we've been married, this year will be 20 years, and I'm always here to throw off the paradigm of the culture. What research really tells us is that those that are married, they have a better sex life. Those that are married are happier. Those that are married live longer. Watch this. Those that are married make more money. Favor. And so it's not so that we can have some guilt-free experience. No, Malachi is telling you that when you come together in marriage, you stand before a pastor or a leader in front of family members and friends, but it's not the only witnesses. There is one above who looks down

and he seals the marriage. That's why Jesus said, what God has brought together, let no man separate, because this is supernatural. This is not just physical, this is spiritual. This is big. God's favorite illustration on love is marriage. Don't let somebody tell you that some pastor in America made this up. It's not true. The Bible opens up with a wedding, Adam and Eve, and then you go to the last chapter and the Bible closes with a wedding. It's called the wedding supper of the Lamb. Jesus Christ is a real groom. He didn't just walk down an aisle. He walked up out of heaven and he came down to this broken place and he found us, his bride, and he said, I choose you. Come on, somebody, give him praise. It's the gospel. It's the gospel. Come on. It's the gospel. And as our marriages go, so do our cities, so do our neighborhoods, so does our culture. That's why here at Vood Church, we have to take some time. We can't just preach the gospel

when we're preaching today. We're sharing the gospel. We're sharing Jesus, and he says, I am the witness, and with the witness comes supernatural help. I gotta be honest. I gotta tell the people, the greatest gift in my life outside of my salvation in Jesus Christ. is hooking my life up to you in a covenant and a partnership I can't even begin to testify you have no idea it's been sweet doesn't mean it's been easy right I used to be like oh you know don't clap for how many years we've been married now I'm like we're hitting 20 years church on a clap because we've gone through some stuff we fought through some stuff we're still standing but we'd be lying if we said we're only standing in our own accord no we're standing because we've had the help of heaven we've had the supernatural supply of our God as the witness of this union yeah it's beautiful because when you make a commitment where God is the sinner you receive a covering a covering that is super natural there is supernatural covering when God is the witness of your marriage I think about what the enemy said to God when he spoke about Job he said have you not put a hedge of protection around him and his household and his household and his household it tells me something powerful that the enemy didn't invent that he ran into it he could not get through the hedge of protection around Job and his family and I just want to speak some faith to your soul today that when you surrender your relationship to God God is in it with you he's in it he's in it in the midnight hour he's in it when things don't make sense when you've committed your ways to God he is your covering I think about the witness protection program you know in America there's been a lot of faults with that I know it doesn't always work out the way it was intended to be but somebody is a witness and then they are protected because of their witness well let me tell you God has a fail-proof witness protection program no you need to understand this because this is what

Jesus did scripture tells us that he was not only the sacrifice that he not only went into the Holy of Holies the presence of God and laid down his own blood as the offering but he was also the witness he did it all for you and so when you decide to stand in your marriage as a witness God says I've got this I'm your covering I'm your protection I go before you I go around you I am with you and make no mistake you said I do God said I'm with you every step of the way I'm grateful for the faithfulness of God listen I know that relationships falter and other things fall apart and it was the last thing you wanted but maybe your partner made another decision but because of the witness you know that his eyes are always upon you you know that he's never left you he's never forsaken you and that the plans that he destined for your life they will come to fruition because it's who he is he's faithful he's true when he makes a covenant it does not change come on if you believe together this is the message we carry we've got a hope in culture we have a phrase God as my witness and when we say that we're saying I'm telling you the truth and God is my witness when you step in and you follow the plan of God when you step in and say this is a covenant not just a contract I'm gonna partner with this person God says I'll be your witness I'm gonna put a protection program around you I'm gonna fight your battles I'm a bless your home I'm gonna strengthen you doesn't mean that mistakes won't happen doesn't mean that challenges won't happen it just means you will know who your source is so here comes Malachi speaking to us in Miami oh you don't have a worship problem maybe you have a relationship problem today maybe it's not with your spouse maybe it's with a friend maybe it's a co-worker someone that you need to apologize to someone that you need to forgive you need healing in order to have health so what is his word he says at the end of verse 16 so be on your guard do not be unfaithful I think this is a season the next four weeks we're gonna talk about a lot of different things But as a church community, let's invite the Holy Spirit to check our heart. Let's all of us take our responsibility in guarding our heart.

Solomon said, above all else, guard your heart, for it's the wellspring of life. Everything comes out of the heart. Jesus says, out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We could go on and on and on. The key is your heart. So you got to guard it. Otherwise, you're just one step away from becoming unfaithful. It's my unfaithfulness that disrupts my favor. Some of you today, you're waiting to feel love again. I want to challenge you. Don't wait to feel love again. Make a decision to choose love again. Today, choose love. Choose forgiveness. God is my witness. When you choose these things, God shows up. God wants to bring about healing. God wants to minister to you. I'm just going to keep speaking to people online that I know people are tuned in right now. People are watching right now. In fact, in the chat right there, put, be on your guard. Just put that all throughout the chat. Be on your guard. Be on your guard. I want you to testify. I want you to write it out right now, because I want you to catch this in your heart. If we will guard our heart, God will protect it. God will carry us.