Upset the Vows - Part 2

Tim Ross | February 28, 2021

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I love you, guys. I'm so grateful that you're here and I'm just so excited about what the Lord is doing right now in this season. In particular with this particular series, it got off to a bank. It's already the highest viewed content that we've ever had out.

Which is amazing, which lets you know how important this topic is to people. I feel like if we strengthen marriages, we strengthen families. If we strengthen families, we strengthen communities. If we strengthen the community, we strengthen the body of Christ. I'm grateful for the investment that you're making to walk with us through these nine weeks.

Now, I want to say a couple of things, I know that the content that I'm going to be sharing over the next eight weeks now, a total of nine weeks is going to be opening up a lot of worms for some people. Some cans got opened up last week and within three hours folks was like, "Okay, so can Tim and Juliette do our counseling today?" The answer's, no we can't because I got to go pray and get another sermon.

I hope you took advantage of what Pastor Stan said in terms of all of the resources that we want to make available to you. If you think about it over the next nine weeks, if you are married, you're basically getting marriage counseling so if you pay attention, I'm going to answer a lot of the questions right now.

When Juliet and I get on the couch and we start talking about pact, we're answering more questions during that time. If you want to come back for that taping and get your question in, you can. I want to make it clear. I hope it doesn't hurt anybody's feelings. I can't do your marriage counseling personally. Even if you hear some stuff and you identify like, "Yes, I went through the same thing," it's like, "Yes, now go to Stan."

We have a whole team here to help us lift that load. Now I also want to say for those that are not married, I heard everything from, "Yes, I'm so grateful that you're giving this content because it's going to help me when I get married." I heard people that were divorced say, "Hey, I messed it up the first time, but I can't wait to the next time because I know better now." I heard some people that said, "Thank you for the series. I'm never getting married."

It's all good. Whatever floats your boat. Jesus wasn't married either. Paul wasn't married either. You don't have to be married to get a revelation of Jesus. If you know someone married, you will have one. Are you all ready for part two?

Are you ready to grow?

If you're ready to grow, say let's grow.

If you're ready to grow, say let's grow.

All right, let's go then. If you have your Bibles, I want you to go to the book of Matthew 5. The book of Matthew 5. There's something that's absolutely amazing in this particular passage that I want to read to you, then I'll give you the title of the message, and then I'm going to just go. Let me give a shout-out to everybody that's watching us online. Thank you for all the comments that have poured in.

I love you, guys. Whether you are here or there just know that we love you. If you have Matthew 5 and starting at the 33rd verse. Matthew 5:33, here is what Jesus said. These words are in red. "You have also heard that our ancestors were told you must not break your vows. You must carry out the vows you make to the Lord, but I say, do not make any vows!" There's exclamation mark, so my voice has to go up.

"Do not say by heaven because heaven is God's throne, and do not say by earth because the earth is his footstool. And do not say by Jerusalem for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Don't even say by my head for you can't turn one hair white or black." Verse 37, "Just as simple "Yes, I will," or, "No, I won't." Anything beyond this is from the evil one.”

If you're taking notes, please write this down. The title of this message is simply three words, Did You Forget? Did You Forget? If you're married and you're sitting next to your spouse, look them right in the eye. Don't care if it's awkward, just look them in the eye real quick and just say, "Did you forget?" If you did, you're about to get reminded. Did you forget?

Bow your heads. Let's pray over the word, shall we? Holy Spirit, help us not to forget. Amen.

In Matthew 5:33-37, we have Jesus doing what he has been doing so well in his earthly ministry when speaking with religious leaders. He's constantly bringing them back to what the scriptures actually say and not the things that the religious leaders added to the scriptures and made it say.

Any time you see Jesus correcting a religious leader, it's not because he's saying anything new. He's actually correcting the things that were added to the things that were written in scripture. How many people have grown up in church? Okay. Church was a part of your life growing up? Did you notice how many rules were added on to stuff that wasn't in the Bible? The length of your dress, red lipstick, nail polish, a beard, no beard.

Right? There were all of these rules that were added as addendums, but you couldn't actually find it in scripture. People said, "If you don't do this, then you're actually not pleasing God," and then you go back and read the Bible and go, "It's not even in there. When did you add this?" Anytime Jesus is saying something to the religious leaders, he's not saying anything new, he's actually just knocking off the addendums that they were putting to the things that he said.

What happened with the vows, and the reason why he actually had to say this, is because people were taking their vows in Jewish culture, and they were getting out of control. The vows actually had no more meaning because by saying that, "Hey, before God, I vow this," it would be strong, but if you said, "Before my parents, I say this," or, "Before the Holy Temple, I say this," and depending on what you used to say what you were saying, it either strengthened the vow or weakened the vow.

When Jesus comes to correct this, "Hey, listen, I just want to settle this whole thing with vows. Don't say 'By God.' Don't say 'By Jerusalem.' Don't say 'By your own head.' Don't say by anything that's been created, just let your 'yes' be 'yes,' and your 'no' be 'no.'"

I'm from the hood. I've told you all this. I was born in Inglewood, I grew up in a city called Valinda, California, so I was surrounded by Crips, Bloods, and Eses. Growing up in the culture I grew up in, I didn't think about vows until I was reading the scripture, but in my culture, if somebody wanted to say something and they really meant it, the challenge would be, "Put that on something." "Oh, you're dead serious? Put that on something."

If somebody said, "I put that on my mama," you were serious, because there's nobody that's going to blow up their mama. That's what we would say if you actually lied on something, you'd say, "You blew your mama." Just grateful that mamas didn't blow up based on vows. There would be a lot of dead mamas.

We would say, "Put that on something," and so, if you'd say, "I put that on my mama," we knew you were serious. Very rarely did anybody put something on their daddy where I grew up. I'm glad I have my dad. May dad, Charles Everett Ross, is still alive. Hi, Daddy, I love you. Thank you for staying married to Mama, but nobody was putting nothing on daddies. If somebody put something on like a bike, you'll be like, "For you lie. You don't even like that bike." You know what I'm saying? It's a huffy, and you got it from Kmart. Everybody were making these vows means something more or means something less based on what they were putting in front of it or behind it.

Jesus comes and says, "I'm going to fix all of that. Just let your yes be yes and your no be no." I have three things I want you to consider before we get further into this message. Three things that I want you to consider. Please write these down.

The first thing that I want you to consider is that Jesus elevates the every day yes or no to that of a binding oath. Jesus elevates the every day yes or no to that of a binding oath. He says, there's no need for you to put it on something anymore. There's no need for you to put it on God, or Jerusalem, or your head, or your mama or your bike. From now on if you say yes, it's the same as making a vow and if you say, no, it is the same as making a vow.

Here's the second thing that he says. The second thing I want you to consider is that John exalts Jesus by using the illustration of a wedding ceremony. Now this is very, very key for where I feel like my assignment is directed today. John exalts Jesus by using the illustration of a wedding ceremony. Now, remember, we talked about last week that the picture that God has chosen to illustrate his love for the world, Christ, and his bride is marriage.

There's something interesting that I found in John 3, that I had never seen before. How many people have heard? If you've been in church, you've heard the phrase where John the Baptist says, "He must increase, so I must decrease." Anybody ever heard that phrase? "He must increase, I must decrease."

Here's what it says in John 3. I want you to have it in context and I think when you see this, it's going to blow you away. John 3:27 says this, "John answered and said," and this is in response to John the Baptist's disciples coming to him and saying, "Hey, that guy, you baptized on the other side of the Jordan, he has now more people following him than you do."

It sounds like a lot of competition that happens in church all the time. They have more members, what are we doing wrong? John's like, "Nothing's wrong." He must increase, I must decrease. I want you to see the context John gives his own disciples as a result.

John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven." You yourselves bear witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. Get this. He who has the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is fulfilled.

Here's what John tells his disciples, "Hey, he must increase, I must decrease." If you want an example of how I feel, Christ is the groom and I'm his best man. As the best man, I'm just happy to stand right next to the groom and hear him pronounce his vows over his bride.

Really, John. Out of all the examples you could have used to talk about him increasing and you decreasing, you use a wedding? Dah. Of course, he does, because from the beginning of time, the picture has been a wedding, and a marriage, and at the end of time, it would be a wedding and a marriage. John the Baptist says, "I'm just a groomsman standing next to the groom, and I'm just hyped to hear him recite his vows over his bride."

I mean, I want you to think about it. Could you imagine if the best man in a wedding got more shine than the groom? If he had on the fanciest tux if he had the light pointed on him then what will the groom-- what? Marry the groom, the best man. He says, no, I'm next to the guy, and I'm happy to be in the wedding. Since he uses this example, I think it's important for us to remember our wedding day. Did you forget?

Stan got up here and talked about the fact that the Holy Spirit actually asked him, "Hey, do you remember what you said?" He's like, "Yes". Then he's like, "No".

Do you remember that day? I'm sure you do, but do you remember those vows? Could you repeat them verbatim right now? Did you forget? The reason why I'm asking this is because there was a lot going on that day, unless you went to the Justice of the Peace. Ran away to Vegas and came back real quick. There's a lot of logistics going on.

For the man, you know you were making sure your is on, and everybody actually got the right tuxedo from the right place. There's always one person in the party that's like, "Where's the shoes? Sir, what are those?"Like, "What do you have on? We are all supposed to have one black shinys and you have on Jordan, sir. What happened?"

I count three cummerbunds, is supposed to be four, and there's a lot going on logistically, "Where am I supposed to be standing? Where am I supposed to stand?" I'm so nervous, and when she comes out, am I going to cry? Oh God, I hope I don't cry.

The woman's in the back, getting that dress perfectly laid out. Now, when I step, please make sure that I don't step on the dress in front or in back. If I'm going to wear a veil, when should I put it on? Do I keep it off? Who's walking me down the aisle? Is my daddy here? Is my uncle here? Is my niece going to actually go down? Is she going to be focused enough to just walk straight down the aisle and drop them flowers on both sides or is she going to drop herself?

I would start crying. Is the little boy, the three-year-old boy-- Why do we keep asking these little people to do stuff? I have no idea. This is absolutely foolish to be asking people sub-five years old to be a part of one of the most important days of your life.

You have an experienced events' coordinator, they handle these whole logistics. You go hand these rings to a four-and-a-half-year-old snot-nosed kid with ADD.

He's coming down the aisle. Mama?

Did you forget how much stress was on that day? How you wanted to make sure that the DJ played the song at the right time, that the parents sat on the right side. He was looking at your mom and daddy's face making sure they were happy. You're looking at your new in-laws going, "Oh, God".

Did I make a mistake? They're supposed to play Ribbon in the Sky. 

Lord Jesus. Did you forget? In case you did, I want to remind you of the words that were spoken that day because whether you know it or not your wedding day,

if you had a wedding, was a prophetic picture of Christ and his bride. The entire wedding is a representation of what is going to be like at the end of all time between Christ and His bride. Wedding ceremonies are prophetic pictures of Christ and His bride.

Let me set the scene for you because I want you to see the trinity of God at a wedding. The first thing you have is the officiant and the officiant is standing in the front of the entire wedding ceremony. When the officiant is standing there, he actually is a representation of God the Father, because God the Father has been here since. He was never born. He's always been here.

The officiant is actually standing instead of God. When I used to do marriage counseling and tell people about the actual wedding day, the best way I could describe it is, "Hey, listen, I want you to understand that my role on the day that I officiate this wedding, is to stand instead of God." The most simplest way I can describe that is, "Hey, God couldn't be here today so He sent me. I'm here instead of God being here to go over this commencement of your vows to each other." God the Father is represented in the officiant.

God the Son is represented in the groom. The groom actually is a representation of Christ. Notice that the groom doesn't walk in and have music and everybody stand for him. He's already standing down there with the officiant because the officiant is God the Father, and the Son is the groom. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

God gave his word that he would redeem all of humanity. He puts His word right next to him. The word is standing there because it's been here since the beginning waiting for the bride. Now, why doesn't the groom get any shine like the bride? Because the groom has been here waiting for this bride, because the groom represents the fact I've already been here.

You haven't been waiting on me, I have been waiting on you. You know when a man falls in love with a woman and he'll say something like, "All my life, girl, I've been waiting for you all my life." Why is something like that so moving and so powerful? Because it is actually a representation of Jesus, who has been waiting for all of eternity to be with His bride.

Why is the entrance of the bride such a grand entrance? Because we've been waiting for this bride all of eternity. The reason why she comes from the back is to represent the fact that as the bride she has been walking through time to stand with her man in eternity. God, the Father is officiating the wedding, God the Son is standing next to the Father and guess who's walking the bride down the aisle? God the Holy Spirit because it is the Holy Spirit that leads people to Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit that literally grabs the bride by the arm and leads her through time.

To spend eternity with her groom. This is the picture but we never appreciate the picture in the moment because we were still nervous.

Am I okay? Am I okay? Am I okay? Then the music changes. "We've been in the sky--" It goes off. I don't know how Stevie saw it, but--

No, yes too soon. All right. Uncomfortable a little bit? Cool. Meant to do that. I'll just keep going. I'll just keep going. I'll just keep going. The officiant says, "All rise," and everybody stands up and the doors open. This beautiful bride steps through. Wearing a beautiful dress, gleaming white, spotless, perfect. Those brows are on point, that makeup has covered every blemish. Your makeup artist is spectacular on that day.

Your hair is the best bun you've ever had. The best curls that have ever been curled, the best color that's ever been colored, and whether that woman is pure or not, on this day, she is spotless.s I that's not a picture of what he's going to do with the church, when he brings her down the aisle, every spot blemish, every fault, every sin we have been washed away, she will be presented spotless. No matter what her past was, she will be presented spotless. No matter what she did, she will be presented spotless. No matter what she had gone through, she will be presented spotless.

The Holy Spirit is proud to walk her down and it's a slow walk. You talk about being patient. This man has fallen in love with this woman. They have set a date and now she's going to slow walk down here. Girl you better run down here. I've been waiting for you all my life and you about to hit me with the-- Did you forget? Your mind's swirling with the wonder and the romance of what this moment means.

Perhaps it was too cloudy for you to hear the words. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God in this company to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Marriage is an honorable estate, instituted of God, blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ and declared by St. Paul to be honorable among men. It is not therefore, to be entered into without holy advice or lightly but reverently, soberly, advisedly in the fear of God. Let us, therefore, under the seriousness of this act--"

Do you remember? Did you forget? The officiant said this was serious. All those butterflies you had, your limbs going numb, your cheeks flush. Did you forget that he said this should not be entered into lightly, but reverently, soberly? You can't be drunk in love. It's not theologically correct. Mrs. Knowles Carter.

Let us, therefore, under the seriousness of this act invoke divine presence upon this occasion. Then, me as the officiant, standing instead of God, I would pray. Did you forget the ministerial church? I now charge you both as you stand in the presence of God to remember that true love and faithful observance of your marriage vows are required as the foundation of a successful marriage and the establishment of a happy and enduring home.

Without these, there can be no real marriage, and the home which you will endeavor to establish will be a vain effort. Keep the solemn vows you are about to make. Live with tender consideration for each other. Conduct your lives in honesty and in something, slide, because I don't remember everything. Hello, slide. Ministerial charge, slide. Conduct your lives in honesty and in-- Really? Roy, can you get my phone? Is Royhere? I'm going to get this right, you all, so just bare with me. We missed something on this slide. Gracias. 

Live with tender consideration for each other. Conduct your lives in honesty and in truth and your marriage will last. Your home will be lasting. Your home will be lasting. This commitment to marriage will be a blessing to you and will be a blessing to others. This should be remembered as you now desire to be united in holy wedlock.

The reason why I think it's important for us to go through these vows is because in the moment, it could've sounded like, "Wah, wah, wah, wah. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah." Please pay attention to this part, because I don't know if you forgot that when these vows started, they were not to your spouse. Officiant, groom, the bride has walked down the aisle, but she has not been passed off to the man.

Here is the vows. Whatever your name is, Chris. [chuckles] This will be fun. Chris, do you take this woman to be your wedded wife, and do you earnestly promise, before God and these witnesses, that you will love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health, and that forsaking all others for her alone? Will you perform onto her all the respect that a husband owes his wife until God, by death, shall separate you?

Chris's response is, "I will." It is not, "Before God in heaven, I put this on my mama, I will." No, remember your yes and your no has been elevated to that of a binding oath. Man says, "I will." The officiant precedes, "Rihanna," you all didn't get it. I'm trying to reconcile, just trying to prophetically save a relationship. That's all I'm trying to do. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know, maybe.

"Rihanna, do you take this man to be your wedded husband, and do you earnestly promise, before God and these witnesses, that you will love him, comfort him, honor and obey him, in sickness and in health, and that forsaking all others for him, will perform onto him all the duties that a wife owes to her husband until God, by death, shall separate you?" She says, "I will."

Here's the next question, "Who gives this woman to be married?" See, I need to pause because I need to know if you forgot that on your wedding day, you didn't make one set of vows. You made two, and your first set of vows were to God. Your second set of vows were to each other. In all the ceremonies that I have officiated, the reason why we do it this way, where the woman comes down the aisle and she stops with the person that has walked her down the aisle, we do not have an exchange until there is a vow made to God that I will honor this woman for the rest of my life. The man has to say I will do that. The woman says I will do that, and then and only then, will a smart father or uncle or loved one release that bride to that man.

Here's the implication, the strongest implication. If you can't say before God that you're going to treat this woman right, I'll never hand her over. If you can't say before God to this man that you'll treat him like you're supposed to, you won't be released. It goes on, "Therefore, since it is the agreement of Chris and Rihanna to be husband and wife, please join right hands."

Did you forget? Not only did you give your word to God, but you shook on it. This was a handshake. This is a literal commitment with a handshake. "Turn to each other, join right hands and repeat after me, before God and these witnesses, the marriage vow." Remember that you've already made a vow to God and now you have to make the vow to each other.

Here's what it says. "I, Chris, take thee Rihanna, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward. For better or for worse. For richer or for poor. In sickness and in health, and to love and to cherish till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge thee my faith."

I've been in so many weddings where the couple would say, "We wrote our own vows," and I'd be like, "You're so cute." You can say those in addition to what you're going to say right here because some of you might be practicing law and get around all the commitment stuff. Like, "I'm going to be here, promise to hold you down." No, I need to get you some biblical language up in here.

After he makes that vow to her, then it's her turn, "I, Rianna, take thee, Chris, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poor, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part according to God's holy ordinance, and thereto I pledge thee my faith. Is a set of vows to God and a set of vows to each other, and it's done in front of witnesses.

You invited people to a venue that you pay for. Then you fed these people afterwards to come watch you, not kiss, commit. You did it in public so that there would be witnesses to what they saw. Then those people would go out, and evangelize your union.

You don't even have to announce that you got married because the 200 people you paid to show up have already posted it to Facebook, they already checked into your little venue.

They will have your photos on Instagram before you can publish the photos from your photographer. You did it in public because you said you meant it. Why when you face a challenge do you want to dissolve the marriage in private? Your love was public, but now your challenge is private. Your misunderstanding, you don't want anybody to know about. "We'll fix this." You can't fix it. You're going to need some help.

Did you forget the pronouncement? For as much as Chris and Rihanna have consented together in holy wedlock and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and therto have pledged their faith each to each other and have declared the same by joining hands, they shook on it and by giving and exchanging rings, I pronounce that they are a husband and wife together in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Now, why would that be there? Because the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, are represented in the actual ceremony?

Those whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Amen. Now, I won't add anything to Scripture, nor will I take it away, but here's what I want to whisper on that last line. Those whom God has joined together, let no man put asunder, including you.

With all the trauma you brought into your marriage, including you. With all the promiscuity in your past, including you. With all the dysfunction that you have in trying to communicate, including you. You don't just have to watch out for someone coming from the outside. You need to watch out for what's coming up in your hearts on the inside.

Now, let me give you three points quickly, and then we'll go bye-bye. This is good for anybody?

There's three points that I want you to have to this message and as a reminder to what you may have forgotten. Point number one, very, very simple. You gave your word to God. You gave your word to God. Here's what it says in the book of Revelation 13:8. It's really the last verse, the last line that I need, "All who dwell on the earth will worship him. Whose names have not been written in the book of life of the lamb, slain from the foundation of the world."

"Tim, why did you pick that verse?" Because I just want you to see that the lamb was slain from the foundation of the world, which strongly implies that he gave his word before the foundation of the world. He made a commitment. He said, "I will, I do," prior to God saying, "Let there be light." That's how long Jesus has been waiting on you. Before he said, "Let there be light," he said, "I'll die for them." "I give you my word. I will stand here and wait for the one I've made my commitment to," he took his vows early.

He didn't even wait for you to show up to take his vow. He made his vow with God before you were even spoken into existence. Point number one, you gave your word to God and the reason why that's important is because Jesus gave his word to God. Point number two, please write this down. You gave your word to your spouse. You gave your word to your spouse and we don't need an elevated sense of the word that you gave.

It doesn't mean more because you put it on your mom. It doesn't mean more because you wrote your own vows and you elevated it, and I crafted my own words. You gave your word when you said, "Yes, I will."

Here's the thing about marriage that you need to know. On the day that you exchange vows with that person, you're not committing to what you know, you are making a commitment to what you don't know. I'm going to let that sink in real quick. Think about it. What got you to your wedding day is what you could find out. [chuckles] What's going to keep you through your marriage are the vows to what you will find out.

I notice, I know Amy is on that one. That's cool, but it's good though. You gave your word to your spouse. Here's a scripture for you. Matthew 28:20. This is what Jesus says "Teach thesenew disciples to obey all the commands I have given you and be sure of this I am with you always, even to the end of the age". How about that for a commitment?

Here's what Jesus says to his bride. "I'm with you always, even to the end of the age, there's no place you can go that I won't be there. I will never leave you nor will I forsake you. I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Point number one, you made a vow to God. You gave your word to God. Point number two, you gave your word to your spouse. Point number three, I know this is basic, but you just need to be reminded. You gave your word in front of witnesses. You gave your word in front of witnesses, you didn't do this in private. Even if you went to the Justice of the Peace, you stood in front of two strangers, walked in there with $75 and we're going to save our money and get out of debt and we went through Dave Ramsey and so we're just going to do it at the JP, and guess who he was there with? Two strangers.

"Saw him do it, never seen him before, but saw it." You gave your word in front of witnesses. If this scripture-- If you don't get this scripture, I don't know what to tell you. Here's what it says in Luke. This is Luke 24:48. This is in red. This is what Jesus said. The fact that I found this, I just thought, "This is okay, Jesus. You're making it way too easy. "You are witnesses of all these things".

Just how more basic can it be? You are witnesses to all these things. Acts 1, what does Jesus tell his disciples right before he leaves to get ready for the wedding? "And you will be my witnesses everywhere. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of earth." You are going to be my witnesses, that I am the groom and I'm coming for my bride. I'm planning a wedding.

Did you forget what that event represented? Because that's what a wedding is, is an event that prepares you and culminates what is about to start the wedding. Here's my concern, more people invest in the event than they do the actual marriage. Because you're not going to have that makeup artist every day. That's what the lady didn't know and the man.

You're not going to have that hairdresser every weekend, but you're going to have that spouse that you made those vows to both God and your spouse in front of witnesses. It's going to be the reminder of that exchange that keeps you together until death do you part.

If you forgot, this weekend was about reminding you that your vow to God, your vow to your spouse in front of those witnesses were meant to keep you wedlocked for life. Should you bow your heads and close your eyes? I know somebody flinched when I said locked, but you lock something to keep it safe. You lock something that you want protected.

You lock something that you cherish. You locked your car before you walked in this building. You locked the doors to your house before you drove off. Locking is loving, and while the enemy might try to pervert or distort what wedlock is all about, I believe God has called us to walk slowly through his word. So that we may have an understanding of what he is saying to our marriages and to the church.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I just want you to think for a moment about the vow that you made based on the mere words that you said, "I will, I do". Think it not strange that this same statement is what we ask anyone who says they want to give their life to Jesus. We're asking you to make a vow, giving your word that is meant to be a binding oath. "Yes, I will follow Jesus," is supposed to be a life time commitment.

Ups and downs, highs and lows, in sickness and in health, poor or wealthy until death do I part, I have made a vow to follow Jesus. You may be in this room and you're getting a revelation of marriage, but you're also getting a revelation of how much Jesus loves you, how long he's waited for you, how patient he has been with you. He would love to make a commitment to you right now, to walk with you for the rest of your life, and the only thing you would have to do is receive Him as Savior and Lord and give your word.

Holy Spirit, I pray that every single person, married or unmarried, would have a greater revelation of what it means to give their word to a relationship with each other and their relationship with you. May our yes be yes and our no be no and may it produce the fruit in our relationship that establishes a generational blessing for a thousand years. In Jesus name, Amen. Love you, guys. Bye.