John 8 31 32 If you abide in

John 8: 31 -32 "If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "

Is Marriage A Contract or A Covenant? • The Problem With Looking At Marriage As A Contract: – Contracts Can Be Broken By Mutual Consent. – Contracts Are Usually Renegotiated As Circumstances Change. ract – It Is Unscriptural. Cont Or nt a n e Cov

Malachi 2: 14 “Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. ”

Jer. 31: 32 “…not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. ”

Covenant In The Hebrew • Covenant – beriyth (ber-eeth') – To Cut; A Compact Made By Passing Through Pieces of Flesh. – Gen. 15: 9 -10 then 17 -18 – A Covenant and Its Making Was and Is To Be Spiritual!!!

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • Why Is There A Bride and Groom Side? • Why Does The Groom Enter First? – He Is The Initiator of the Covenant.

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • Why Does The Father Walk The Bride Down The Isle? – The Parents Are Showing Their Agreement With This Covenant. – The Father Fulfills His Duty To Present His Daughter Pure (Dt.

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • The Father Gives The Bride Away. – This Represents A Transfer of Authority and Responsibility. – It Again Shows An Approval of This Marriage Covenant.

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • The Couple Rings. Exchanges – This Is A Token of the Covenant. – God Gave Us A Rainbow As A Token of His Covenant.

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • The Introduction of the Couple. – Emphasizes The Changing of Names.

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? Armenia 4/10 of 1% • The Signing of the Guest Book. – Used To Be Signed At The Reception. – They Are Signing As Witnesses and Making A Claim To Help This

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • What About The Receiving Line? – This Is When The Witnesses Can Give A Blessing To The Couple. – Ruth 4: 11 -15

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • Why Is There Food at the Reception? – This Is The Covenant Meal. It Is A Celebration and A Sealing of The Covenant. – Wedding at Cana

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • Why Do They Feed Each Other Cake? – This Represents Them Becoming of One Flesh.

What Is The Significance of The Wedding Ceremony? • Why Have A Preacher? – This Is A Spiritual Covenant Made Between Two People and God. – The Preacher Is To Remind Us Of The Importance of Marriage In God’s Eyes.

A Wedding Is Not Just About Having Fun and Making Great Pictures The First Person You Need To Be Betrothed To Is God!!!

How Vows Have Changed • They Vow “Till Death Do Us Part” and “For Better or Worse”, But Don’t Keep Them. • Now They Have Changed Their Vows To Make Less of A Commitment.

This Is Not The Way God Intended It! • Num. 30: 2 • Deut. 23: 21 -23 • Eccl. 5: 4 -5

This Is Not The Way God Intended It! • Matt. 5: 33 -37; Jas. 5: 12 – Matt. 23: 16 -22 Shows Us That The Pharisees Had Come Up With Loopholes In Which An Oath Was Not Binding. – Jesus Was Telling Them That Their Word Was To Be Their Word No Matter What!

What Should I Know Before I Make A Marriage Vow? Prov. 20: 25 - Count The Costs “It is foolish and rash to make a promise to the Lord before counting the cost” (TLB).

What Should I Know Before I Make A Marriage Vow? 1 John 3: 18 - The Sin of Staying Together “Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. ”

What Should I Know Before I Make A Marriage Vow? John 13: 34 - Define Love Correctly “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. ”

Do You Have A Copy of Your Vows? • Can You Remember What You Vowed? • Have You Forgotten Your Vows To God? • Maybe It’s Time To Renew Your Vows & Start Living By Them!