TRANSCRIPT | Wed, October 28, 2020 |  Questions About Sex, Marriage, and Divorce

 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Hey, 3trees online. It’s so good to be with you tonight. Thank you so much for joining us again on Wednesday evenings. We really are enjoying these moments of getting to come and be with you and just break down the book of 1 Corinthians. I know it's already been mentioned a couple of times tonight, but again, I myself just want to remind you, we are going to partake of communion at the end of this time of teaching God's word. If you want to grab a cracker, or maybe some juice, gather the elements together. Maybe you were at one of the locations, you were able to pick that up in the gathering area, just be ready, we're going to do that together as a church family. The other thing would be, if you go to ericgilbert.org, you're going to see there's a discussion guide link there, click on that link, and then just follow the cues to the service that you're looking for, and we'll be able to get you a discussion guide and even message notes to partake of as you just you know, take some notes. And this is something you can even go back and reflect on. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I believe that 1 Corinthians is an extremely relevant book for what is happening in the Church and in the world right now. We've titled this series, What in the World. And the reason for that is because what had happened at Corinth is a church that it started out really strong, had stepped into a place where they had become worldly. They had embraced sexual perversion. They had embraced basically valuing personalities over the presence of God. They had stepped into open drunkenness. I mean, there were some really significant issues, including disorder in their worship services, you name it, they're struggling with it. Paul writes to them to try and encourage them and lead them forward into God's plan for their life and their church. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

So tonight, we're going to pick up in 1 Corinthians 7. And as we do that, just, you know,  I’ll let you know tonight, we're doing this, and I'm going to be kind of dealing with three pretty hot topics alright. But what I want to show you as we go into it is up to this point, he has been talking about some things that needed to be corrected. But now he is transitioning into questions that need to be answered. Okay. So up until chapter seven, he's been dealing with topics that needed to be addressed and some things that need to be corrected. Now, he is starting to answer questions. And so maybe to give you a little more clarity on that, the thing that is being said, is that he has maybe even received a letter himself, and they are asking him how they should approach certain topics. And so in chapter seven, he is answering the questions they have sent him about the subject of marriage. In chapter eight, he's answering the questions that they have about food being offered to idols, if they should eat it or not. Chapter 12, he's answering questions about spiritual gifts. Chapter 15, he's answering questions about resurrection of the dead. And then in chapter 16, they have some questions about missionary offerings that would be sent to try to reach the Jewish community with the Gospel. And so one reason is I'm sharing this with you is because I understand maybe some of you have some of these questions yourself. For instance, like chapter 12, you may have some questions about spiritual gifts. We're going to be moving through this progressively week after week, after chapter seven comes chapter eight, and after chapter eight comes chapter nine. So you stick around with us, we may even be able to help answer some of the questions that you have yourself. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And so what I want to do is I kind of want to dive into it. And we don't know exactly the question that they ask, we just know the answers that he gave. Okay. So what I'm trying to do is, do the best that I can to help figure out what was the question that they asked in each stage of him answering these questions. And so it's possible that this first question that they ask is, is celibacy more spiritual than marriage? And there's a lot of reasons that they would have been interested in that because it would have been some things that surrounded the religious and spiritual culture of Corinth at that time. And I'm sure that it wasn't worded exactly like that, but we know that in some way they're asking a question along these lines. They clearly have a question about celibacy. and they clearly have a question about whether or not that is something that would make them more spiritual than being married. And what we see, as Paul begins to provide the answer, which we're going to take a deeper look at, he provides the answer by giving them an understanding of Christian celibacy, by giving them an understanding of Christian celibacy. And so the way that what we learn is that celibacy is permitted, but it is not commanded. Okay? 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

So we're gonna read the verse in just a minute. But the thing that he very clearly points out is that celibacy to live a life, abstaining from sex and not being married, it is permitted, but it is not commanded. And the way that we see that is in 1 Corinthians 7:6, he says “Now as a concession, not as a command, I say this,” and the very next thing that he says is that “I wish that all were like me”, okay. And so we know that Paul was not married. We know that he did live a celibate lifestyle. And he's saying, I'm giving this to you as a concession, but it is not as a command. And he tells him, I wish everybody was like me, but I get the fact that that's not necessarily going to be the case. Now, what he goes on to teach them is that not everyone has the gift of remaining celibate. So what he begins to lay out for them is that, you know, if someone is able to remain celibate, and to live their life not married, and truly abstaining from sexual activity, he lays it out pretty clearly, the only way that could happen is you would have to be gifted by God. And so he shows them that celibacy is not something you just decide to do. It is something that if you feel called to it, there's also going to be a gift that God puts in your life to help make it come to pass. 1 Corinthians chapter 7:7, “I wish that all were as I myself am,” remember this is not a command, it's a concession. He's just making the statement. This is something he wished. “I wish that all were as I myself am, but each has his own gift from God, of one kind and one of another.” And so he's saying, like, I'm gifted, Paul is saying of himself, I am gifted to be celibate. I wish everybody had that gift. But not everyone does have that gift. And so I think it gives us some pretty clear understanding of why it might be possible for some people to do that. It might not be possible for other people to do that. If you don't have that gift, and you see someone trying to live that lifestyle. You might even be like, how in the world are they living that out? I don't see how that would even be possible. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Another question that it seems like that they are asking of Paul, is, how is the decision to engage in sex managed in marriage? And I'll be honest with you, as I was trying to articulate what their question might have been, I don't know that I did the best with this. We're going to talk about four questions tonight. I felt like maybe my attempt to craft their question in a way that we could make sense of it was the weakest of this particular one. But they're evidently in some way asking Paul questions about once you're married, like, how are the decisions made about when to have sex? And who gets to make the decision about whether or not sex is going to take place or not? And what it seems like that Paul does, is, as he's answering the question, he gives him an overall understanding of the purpose of marriage. And as he's doing that, one of the things he makes clear is that God's design is one man married to one woman, like he makes that extremely clear that when it comes to even marriage, and sex within marriage, one man, one woman. Now what he's throwing out there is that polygamy is not of God. What he also seems to be throwing out there is that God would not ordain a homosexual relationship, even if there was a marriage. That God has designed is one man, one woman. So let's look at the Scripture that backs that up, it's verse two of chapter seven. “But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman, her own husband.” And so in this guy, he's clearly saying, there’s to be an establishment of one man and one woman.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And he starts to also teach us that, as the question is being answered that husband and wife must not abuse the privilege of sexual love. That within marriage, husband and wife, one man, one woman, this sacred union, that as that relationship is being developed, and as it's evolving, that the love that is expressed in a sexual way, that that is supposed to be something that is never used by one spouse against the other. And that it's supposed to be something that happens in a beautiful way so that the temptation to fail or to make mistakes would not take place, because that the needs are being met within the bed of marriage. So verse 1 Corinthians chapter 7, we're now going to verse three, it says the way this works is that the husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights. And likewise the wife to her husband, for the wife does not have authority over her own body. And if a man stopped there, he would be really excited. He'd be like, yes, God has spoken, thus sayeth the Lord. But it does not end there. It says, likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. And what a powerful passage of text when you're trying to make sense of how God has designed for sexual activity to transpire within marriage. And I believe that as Paul's trying to answer this question, there must have been something that the Corinthians had thrown in their letter along the lines of abstinence in marriage as well because he actually deals with that subject specifically. And this is what he makes, clear abstinence is permitted seasonally in marriage for the unhindered pursuit of God, but the decision must be consensual. That's a, you're going to see the verse that makes this statement real. And he's saying, as you're going to see in the verse, that it is okay for a marriage to go through a season of abstaining from sexual activity. But that one does not get to make the decision without it being a consensual decision that the two are in agreement about. And he even goes as far as to say that if abstinence is occurring, the reason that that should happen is so that the couple could become totally focused on prayer. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

You will learn, I believe as a couple, Mandy and I  have learned this, that we really believe this, we say this, that we believe the most intimate thing that can ever happen between two married people is to pray together. Because when you really start thinking about prayer, that is where you are totally intimate with one another in that person sees you in your flesh all the time. They see the mistakes, they see the shortcomings, they see where you mess up, and then to try to be spiritual and say I'm going to approach God, like that shows the rawness and the realness of the intimacy of marriage. So I want you to see this verse that backs this up 1 Corinthians 7:5, “Do not deprive one another,” do not deprive one another, “except, perhaps by agreement for a limited time that you may devote yourselves to prayer.” So if there's going to be an abstinence, the purpose for that is prayer. Now, we kind of hit on this a moment ago, we're going to circle back to it because you'll see the scripture move progressively as Paul's dealing with answering this question about how that, you know, sexual love is something that is meant to transpire between husband and wife in a way that is never manipulative. Okay? 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

The takeaway we're going to get is that sexual manipulation in marriage can result in unnecessary sinfulness. And Paul is going to speak to that. And I'm sure that maybe we all know of scenarios where we've heard someone share about the fact that one spouse began to manipulate the other spouse, and that sex was something that was used to get what they wanted, rather than to truly express love and to make that marriage stronger. And so in 1 Corinthians 7:5, “but then come together again.” So this is on the other side of fasting, remember, it’s on the other side of praying. Some translations, some of the newer manuscripts of the Greek put in the word fasting alongside prayer, just throwing that in there, if you want that for you take it home with you can write it in a note or something, okay. But so after you've finished this time of abstinence,” but then come together again,” watch this “so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” That we get to play a part in helping to keep our spouse pure. And we know that there have been spouses who've made mistakes. It's possible that we've made our own mistakes. I mean, who knows what all the stories are. But the truth of it is this, that when we are being intentional about expressing love in that way to one another, it is actually helping to safeguard our home, to safeguard our relationship, and to safeguard us as individuals, so that the enemy may not tempt you. Satan himself may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. And so I'm just gonna circle back to this one more time and bring this point home that sexual love within a marriage is a tool to build with not a weapon to fight with. It is a tool to build with, not a weapon to fight with. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And so, you know, if if we're if we're going through something in our marriages, where that sex is something that has begun to be used manipulatively like we may need to let the Lord convict our hearts. We may need to come to a place where we're on an altar before God and it is something that needs to be repented of. If it's something that's been used to get something, or to get that new thing, or to talk the other spouse into spending that money that one you wanted to spend on something that they didn't think you needed. I mean, we can fill in all these blanks, right? That if you're using it as a weapon to fight with that is against the will of God for your marriage. Can I get an amen, witness from somebody? Amen. All right. And so one statement was made, this is actually an unnamed counselor. I read it in a commentary, I thought it was good thought, I'd share it with you. There are no sex problems in marriage, only personality problems with sex as one of the symptoms. And so it's usually where the personalities start to differ, where the personalities starts to struggle, and that's where the problems actually start to come from.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And so, one of the things we're going to learn as Paul continues to answer questions about sex is that if you are not yet married, if you are struggling to control yourself sexually than marry. You're going to learn that he actually makes that statement. Here's the verse it's recorded in 1 Corinthians 7:8, “To the unmarried and to the widows, I say that it is good for them to remain single.” Okay, he clearly values singleness; you're going to see why later, just as I am. “But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is.” I'm gonna tell you something when I was 19 years old, moving into 20, and I was trying to talk Mandy into marrying me, I knew this verse inside and out. I could quote it forwards and backwards, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. I took that one to the altar with me, man. We had so Mandy and I, we dated all through high school. Okay, we dated for three years. We were high school sweethearts. And Mandy had never been with another guy. And I had never been sexually involved with another girl. And so we were trying to remain pure during that relationship. And we reached the point where that we're engaged to be married. And we actually at that point, I started the church when I was 20. I had no clue what I was doing, way too young. And we had talked about how that even though we had gotten engaged before the church was launched, that, you know, we would set this marriage date out for like another year, maybe even another two years, which admit we'd been dating for like we would be dating for four years, maybe five years, possibly even six years. And then the more I pastored that church, and the more I contemplated how far away that date was, one night I was, this is how mature I was, I was in the middle of a revival. I was preaching in central Kentucky. And I looked out at Mandy, and I said to her, we're moving up the date, we're getting married in December. I announced it from the pulpit. And she looked at me kind of cross eyed, funny, and rightfully so. Thank God she put up with me. And when we got to the car, I said, I heard the Lord say it's better to marry than to burn in the name of Jesus. And so our parents thought we were crazy, and we were. My parents thought we were crazy, and we were. We had no money. We did not know what we were doing. We had no business getting married, but here we are, like 20 years later. The marriage is still strong. We got two kids, and the burning still lives on, amen. And so I just, I've lived this one. Alright, praise God. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

So the next thing that it seems to me that they're asking, Paul, is, when is divorce permissible? Now, again, I don't know if that's the way they worded the question in their letter. But he's going to go into some stuff about answering when and how divorce would be permissible. And what he seems to be trying to do is to give them an understanding of God's view of divorce, is what it seems to me like he's trying to get across. What we're going to learn is that God designed marriage as a life-time experience, okay? That's what we're going to learn. God designed marriage, God put marriage together with the concept that it would be a life-time experience. You don't see God setting an example that there's going to be a trial run or anything like that. And we know there's different things that bring marriages to an end. And there's different things that have led to folks haven't experienced the pain of divorce, but God's initial design is that it would be a lifetime experience. And so in 1 Corinthians 7:10,”To the married I give this charge, not I but the Lord, the wife should not separate from her husband, and the husband should not divorce his wife, a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives.” Somebody say lifetime experience. Lifetime experience. And so there are clear moments though in Scripture where that divorce is permitted, but God's ultimate desire is reconciliation. And I don't have the time tonight, nor do I feel the unction from God to go into all the details about where divorce is permitted, where it's not all that, but there are clear moments in Scripture where divorce is permitted. But God's ultimate desire is reconciliation. And so that's one of the things that you're going to see. And I know that's not everybody's story. I know not everybody's story ends up that way. And that's not how it all plays out for everybody. But you're going to see Paul's going to make it clear that that's something God longs for, is that people would be able to experience the grace of reconciliation. 1 Corinthians 7:10, “The wife should not separate from her husband, but if she does, she should remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband.” And this is a pretty deep scripture, that again, we're not going to take the time to build all the way around it. But I just want you to see this word reconcile that this is something that God longs for, and aspires to if it becomes possible for it to take place. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And so another thing that Paul starts to address and answer about is that if someone experiences salvation, after being married, and their spouse is not yet a believer, he or she is to remain with the unconverted spouse, as long as the spouse is willing to live with them. Now you're going to see him provided a scripture that I think that's what he's saying. And it seems to me that maybe the question was that there in Corinth, Christianity is a new thing in the earth. And as it’s unfolding, they're trying to make sense of, Okay, well, this person is not a believer, and they, and they've come to be a believer, but their spouse doesn't yet want to be a believer. And obviously, that's providing tension in the home. And they're trying to make sense of what to do with this tension. And it seems like maybe what they're trying to get from Paul is, well, if we were both unbelievers, and I've found Jesus, but they haven't, does that mean I should divorce them, that I should leave them behind as a result of that? And what you see Paul say is in verse 12, “To the rest, I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife, who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband, who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.” So in other words, one being a believer and the other and being an unbeliever is not reason enough to get a divorce. “For the unbelieving husband can be made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife can be made holy because of her husband.” What that seems to be implying is that if you live out the example of Jesus Christ in that home, it can have a profound impact on the unbeliever. And so don't give up too soon with what God could do through you in winning that person to the Lord. And so otherwise, watch this, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. He seems to be implying that if there is one believer in the home and one unbeliever in the home, and that union has brought forth children, then the person who is a believer can have a greater impact on those kids than the unbeliever, and that the kids are in many ways worth fighting for, and believing for. So it's a pretty profound passage of text. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And so moving forward, if the unbelieving spouse, this is something else you're going to see he says, so let's say okay, there's the believer, there's the unbeliever, we together on that there's the believer, there's the unbeliever, and one has come to know Jesus after the marriage, the other one has not. He points out if the unbelieving spouse leaves the home, then the Christian spouse is not obligated to keep the home together. He points this out. So again, the home is worth fighting for. It's worth fighting for to see that believing spouse lead that unbelieving spouse to the Lord. But let's say the unbelieving spouse was like, I'm done with all this Christian stuff. And I don't like the Jesus freak version of you, I'm leaving. He seems to say that the believing spouse is not obligated to try to keep it together if the unbeliever has left, okay. In 1 Corinthians 7:15, “But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved. Just know God has called you to peace.” And so I'll be point blank with you. I do not claim to have all of this theologically figured out. I do not claim to be able to master the doctrine of everything that 1 Corinthians is saying. But as you as you read some of this stuff, all I want to do tonight is just trying to give you the best interpretation that I possibly can. But more than anything, I just want to let Scripture speak for itself. And as Scripture speaks for itself, maybe it drops something into your heart, it means something to you. And that's our prayer for tonight. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And so I'm going to show you another question, is a Christian required to get married? Now I know he kind of addressed this at the front end, but now he is specifically addressing the subject of a Christian. If a person is a Christian, are they required to get married? And I think that as Paul answers the question, the way that he does it is by trying to provide an understanding of the current circumstances. And what he's going to do is he's going to let him know that it was a time of distress in the society that they were in, and it was going through change, okay? So they're in a society that's under stress, they’re in a society that's going through change, and Paul is telling them, you need to take into account when you are getting married, that your culture is a mess. That’s what he’s going to show them. 1 Corinthians 7:26, “I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is, for the present form of this world is passing away.” I think the further point is that challenging circumstances you're going to learn did not prohibit marriage. But those who chose marriage needed to be ready to accept the trials accompanying it. And what he's saying is that when you look at your world, and your worlds in a mess, and when you look at your society, and it's an absolute chaos, it probably would be better that maybe you didn't marry, especially if you could find that grace for celibacy. But it's okay, if you do. Just don't go into it, and then make an excuse that the world's coming apart, and that's why I don't have the last. Look at what he says, 1Corinthians 7:28, “If you do marry, you've not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.” So he's just saying, it's not necessarily going to be easy. Can I get anybody that would give me a witness that marriage is not always easy. So just because it's not easy, doesn't mean you don't have to still fight for it? Can I get an amen from somebody? And just because the world's coming apart, you know, there's been an unbelievable amount of divorces that have taken place during COVID. I've heard that the numbers have risen, and I haven't validated that. So if I'm wrong, please forgive me. But I have seen others talking about the fact that it seems like divorces are just rising and rising, and suicide rates are rising, and rising, and rising. And I think when the world is like breaking loose, and all the trouble and all the chaos, we have to remember that just because it gets hard, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is an excuse. In fact, it is not an excuse to just say I'm done, I quit, somebody say amen, please, amen. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

So it is God's will that a union and marriage be a lifetime commitment. When you take it away, we've referenced this already, but when you take it away, that's the thing that Paul's just trying to remind people of, is that this is His ultimate wheel, this is His ultimate desire for our lives. And so Paul closed this section by sharing God's design for marriage is only in the Lord. Everybody say that with me, only in the Lord. Say that one more time, because it's important even if you're at home, only in the Lord. So what we saw is there can be an instance where there are two unbelievers, and then one of them comes to the Lord, right, and then hopefully, both of them comes to the Lord. But he's going to draw a picture, I believe that shows us that if you are saved, a believer, then you should marry only a believer. That you should not be unequally yoked, or in fellowship with darkness when it comes to the subject of marriage. And that's not the specific phraseology he's going to use in this chapter. We know it's phraseology that's used in other parts of the New Testament. But in 1 Corinthians 7:39, “She is free to be married, to whom she wishes,” pick whoever you want, just make sure that it's in the Lord. So if you're single, church is probably a great place to pick up another single person. Okay. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

All right. Here's what we learned. God has put walls around marriage, not to make it a prison, but to make it a safe fortress. That’s why God put walls around it. He's trying to build a fortress. And if you look at it like a prison, you got something off. Okay. And I wanted to say more about that. But for the sake of time, we're going to kind of wind this up. And I want to show you what I believe the takeaway from chapter seven is. And if you've got a son or a daughter, in your home that's thinking about getting married, or if you are in a situation where you are thinking about getting married, I believe that 1 Corinthians 7 gives us these five questions to contemplate. What is my gift from God? What is my gift from God? Am I burning like crazy? Or is it possible that God has given this gift of celibacy? I mean, that's something you never hear talked about. It sounds like an outrageous thought or an outrageous concept, but I think there's the need to ask what is my gift from God? Another thing is, am I marrying a believer? I think we just made that point that if you're going to marry, the expectation is that it would only be in the Lord. Another thing is, are the circumstances conducive to marriage? Like, is it possible that there's things that are happening that would cause you to say, maybe we should delay this. Or maybe we should wait. I can't fill in all those blanks for you, but he clearly talks about the fact that circumstances can make marriage more difficult. Next thing is, how will marriage affect my service for Christ? And we didn't dwell on that one a lot tonight. But in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul does make some pretty clear mention that getting married causes you at times to not focus on the ministry God gave you, because you're so concerned about trying to keep your spouse happy. He talks about that, and he doesn't say it's a bad thing to keep the spouse happy. He just points out, this is going to affect your ability to do maybe everything that God's calling you to do. And so he's saying, you know, you'd give that some thought. And so the fifth thing, last thing we're going to talk about is, am I prepared to enter into this union for life? So when you think about marriage, and you think about going into that union, think about it in the context of okay, I know God's will is that this is for lifetime. That's what He wants. His ultimate will for me, the thing He really wants for me is that it would last a lifetime. Am I willing to sign up for that? Am I okay with that? It doesn't mean there's not gonna be problems, it doesn't mean there's gonna be mistakes, it doesn't mean ,different stories end in different ways. It's just that am I willing to make that lifetime commitment on the front end?

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

 I would say this about marriage, the Book of Ecclesiastes says, “It is better to not vow a vow than to vow a vow and break it. And it talks about the fact that when you vow a vow, you do it in the eyes of God. One of the things that I always remind people of when we're standing at the altar, and we're doing the whole marriage thing, and we're going through the wedding, which can be a very beautiful thing, is I remind them guys, this is not just ceremony. So like when you're making this vow, and you're making that commitment that you're going to give yourself totally and completely over to this person, you're making that in the eyes of God, and you're inviting God into that. And that means you can find the grace to help you fulfill what you would never be able to do in your flesh. And so thank God for it. I hope you guys are getting something out of this. I am ready to end this teaching in the name of Jesus. All right. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

So here's what I want you to do, I want you guys to take out communion. And we're just gonna, if you're single, I want you to just to kind of welcome the Lord into this moment for you. And if you are married, we're also going to welcome the Lord in this marriage. I'm gonna invite these guys to kind of move this TV out of the way here. The band's gonna come back up. We're gonna just create an atmosphere of worship. And I want you to take this communion. And again, if you're single, I want you just to invite the Lord into your selection process of who it is that He's going to lead you to, and who it is that you're going to marry. Maybe you've been having trouble finding a strong believer in Jesus, like, you've been looking for that follower of Jesus that would make you a great husband, make you a great wife, and you’re like I just can't find anybody that seems to be all in for Jesus. I believe the Lord can illuminate them, I believe the Lord can show them to you, and it can be an amazing experience for you. Maybe you're somebody that you are, you are married, and you're kind of in that place where there's some things that are going on in regards to the sexual intimacy, and it's just it's just created some tension, and it's created some strife, and there's some things that are happening in your house where maybe even you're struggling right now and you feel like that, that you're you're contemplating sin, and you're trying to not blame the other spouse, but there's there's things that's not happening that should be happening in regards of sexual intimacy and not your heads going to this place your hearts going in that place. Well, before you cast all that blame on the other one, like you might want to look yourself in the mirror for a minute, okay. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Like, I remember a season in Mandy and I’s marriage, we've talked about it in marriage conferences, we've been really open about it, that we were going through this place where we just weren't speaking each other's language. And I felt like she wasn't me and everything that I wanted her to be to me in one way, and when we got to the heart of it, we discovered she thought I wasn't being everything she wanted me to be to her in another way. And, and it just got real crazy there for a season because we loved each other, but we didn't know how to show each other, or tell each other, and we were casting blame to the point we couldn't realize what God wanted to fix in us individually. And so in this moment, Jesus died on the cross for you to take away your sins, and his body was broken. And Scripture tells us that so that we can be healed. I believe God can heal your heart. I believe he can heal your marriage. He can heal your relationship. Some of you are believing God for reconciliation. What an awesome thing. Don't stop believing, if that's something that's still stirring in your heart. And so when I ask you tonight with just an attitude of thankfulness, and gratitude, and grace before the Lord, would you just take an eat of the bread?
 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Jesus lifted up the cup and told them it was representative of His blood shed for the remission of sins, and Aren't you glad He can cover the sins You know, Mandy and I, maybe just come here for a minute. I don't know, when I, when I get on the subject of marriage, there's a part of me that just really wants to dive into our story because we've seen that story helps some folks and, and I know tonight, I don't have the time to do all of that. But we often talk about how that the first seven years of our marriage is like the tribulation, if you've read the Book of Revelation. But the last, how long we been married, 13 years, the last 13 years. Um, it's been a lot different. And, like, we're not screaming and yelling, and our living rooms not a war zone. And, like, we say, we love each other and we mean it. And we’re not trying to cover up anything. And it's just, it's just a very real relationship. And the only way that that is possible, is because the blood covered a whole lot of stuff and gave us the courage to just believe man. God can even help you forget some stuff. I wanna believe that for you. Welcome the blood of Jesus into your life, into your marriage, in your relationship. I want you to take a drink.

​

Pastor Eric Gilbert

If you're there and you've got a watch party, and you need to sign off right now and go ahead and start facilitating the discussion, feel free to do so. But for those of you that are just here, kind of lean into the moment with us, we're just going to have a time of just letting the Lord seal the Word and maybe even just speak to us individually.