Criteria for Finding a Mate - Part 1 | Pastor Paul McGee

Hallelujah. Thank the Lord.

Good God. Thank you, Aiden.

I appreciate it. Amen.

Come on, my soul. Apostle Paul, at different times

he spoke to himself too. He said, I think myself happy

sometimes. You got to talk to yourself,

David. He did too, through the Psalms.

I had to talk to himself. Sometimes you don't have it from

anybody else, so you got to talk to yourself.

Come on, let's get going. Don't do that.

Be encouraged, right? Live for God.

Sometimes it's like you got to grab yourself by the nap of the

neck. Amen.

They call that self-discipline. It's becoming more of a lost art

in the world today. Amen.

It's called self-discipline. You can be seated tonight.

Hey, man, few announcements that this coming Sunday will be

Bishop Sunday. All right, My wife and I, we're

going to be gone. We'll be gone.

We're going to be celebrating 27 years of marriage.

And so Bishop, it's going to be Bishop Sunday.

Next Wednesday, Brother Zach's going to be teaching here.

The following Sunday is going to be Doctor Mason Sunday, all

right and such. So there's some opportunities.

You don't want to miss a man to hear another voice.

Time changes this weekend. All right, So keep that in mind

as well as as we go into the weekend and you might actually

you, you could show up early to church.

Hey, man, how about that? Just forget I even said times

changing this weekend. Amen.

No, nonetheless. So also on the 7th of November

is Power Hour, I hear at the church from 7:00 to 8:00.

The 7th of November is power, our individual prayer time, all

right? It's not corporate or LED prayer

or anything like that. It's just individual prayer.

And so that's on the 7th Amen of November as we tiptoe into the

month of November. Amen tonight again, and I, I

said this, I'm going to start a series here tonight called the

criteria for finding a mate. Whenever I was doing a self

worth series, I just kind of felt pricked in my spirit that I

needed to go back to this and do this series again.

Now I would have done it right after self worth, but then well

need to do election series with the election coming up.

So now here we are finally with criteria finding mate, I did

this. I created this series about 12

years ago. 12 years ago I did this series.

And so some time has elapsed between then and now.

Here's the fact of the matter. I know that this predominantly

probably relates to singles, whether it's not someone that's

ever been married or someone that's been divorced and maybe

looking at remarriage or or whatever the dynamic may be.

It could be a widow or widower even in that aspect.

So there could be those things that's into play.

But overall, I think if we are married or if we have found a

spouse or so and so forth, we have children or grandchildren,

but there are certain aspects of this then that you can support

and get underneath it with me tonight, regardless whether

you're single or not. Whenever I did this about 12

years ago, back then about 90% of people were getting married

and only 10% were remaining single.

Those numbers have changed. Now only 75% of people are

getting married and 25% are remaining single.

Never marry. I have my I have my assumptions

of why that is. I think cohabitation is a big

thing now and people don't get married, they just cohabitate.

They live in the same space with the perks, if you will, of

married life without having the certificate or the covenant of

marriage. And they get some tax, you know,

benefits sometimes by nevertheless, you know, with

some of these things. And so I think that's part of

it. And so yet, although there's

still a majority them of people getting married, then it's

important to know the criteria finding me.

I'm coming to you tonight from from the position that this is

not like Pastor Mcgee's, you know, top 10 criteria that he

wants to share his full of knowledge of having been married

for 27 years. And this is what it should be.

That's not what it is. This is not some, as I said in

in, you know, advertising this, if I want to say that this is

not some, you know, pop psychology idea or anything like

that. This is biblical idea.

This is biblical idea. This has biblical basis.

And so just to start out tonight, if we can do it, and I

got a lot of scripture tonight. OK, Proverbs chapter #12 and

verse #4 the scripture says a virtuous woman is a crown to her

husband, but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness.

In his bones, all right. And so now the book of Proverbs

is, is a father that's primarily writing to his son.

All right. And even sometimes a mother

that's right to her son. So that's the reason why it kind

of leans more toward talking about him finding a woman and

he's. So I'm not up here trying to be

a male chauvinist or anything starting out, you know, from the

scripture tonight or using this. We could have very easily even

put a man in there that he can either.

Bring glory to his crown of glory to his wife, rottenness to

her bones just as easily. So just understand the

perspective that this is being written from.

And so the underlying the principle of this little verse

here is a principle that I say over and over, and it matters

not what the relationship is, whether it's a marriage

relationship, whether it's a friendship, whatever

relationships we have in life. And that is this and it it.

Applies to both sexes, but for our purposes for for a mate

someday your spouse all right your spouse is going to be of

one of two things to you a liability liability or asset all

right a liability or asset look here he says a virtuous.

Woman a crown to her husband that that crowning a dormant up

on his head, but. She that maketh ashamed or is

the liability aspect rottenness and the bones.

I mean deterioration, decay, you know anything that you would

associate with that? Not well.

So there is in that in our relation, there is no really a

middle ground, people, even your real relationships, their asset

or their liability to you in life.

So any relationship that is formed, a person's going to fall

in one of those, one of those two camps, one of those.

Categories an asset or liability.

So I think it's. Important then to view

relationships or possible mates even in those eyes as you're

dating, as you're doing these things is this person is the is

the net is the net balance line that they are an asset to me or

a liability to me. All right, so whenever we look

at Genesis chapter 24, and I've been saying over the past

Genesis 24 · chapter mention

several weeks, Genesis 24, when it comes like to the number of

verses in length, it is the longest chapter in the book of

Genesis. And it is a book about Abraham

having sent his eldest servant out on a journey to find a mate

or a wife or his son Isaac. Longest chapter in the book of

Genesis is devoted to this. I mean, we've read, yes, some of

the creative chapters, but none of them have been this long.

You know, we read about the chapters in Genesis.

None of this is none of them is this long.

And I think that should give this chapter credence then that

there's some importance importance or it is majorly

important about who you bring into your life to be your mate

who's going to be that till death do us part type of

partner. I believe that is important.

All right. And so it's vitally significant.

Abraham in in Genesis 24, Abraham will be around 140 years

old at this time, around 140 years old because the scripture

tells us that Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca.

To be his wife. That's what Genesis 25 tells us,

that Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca to be his wife.

And so Abraham was around 100 years old whenever Isaac was

born. And so it's about 140 years.

It's because he's going to find this, this this wife, and then

he's going to bring the eldest servant is going to bring that

to, to hear Isaac and they're going to celebrate.

So we're about 140 years old. Here's Abraham.

The Bible describes him that he is old and well stricken in

years. Matter of fact that said about

Abraham a lot at different ages in his life.

He's old. You know you ever had.

I know as a kid, like, I remember people in congregations

growing up that I grew up that they seemed like they were owed

when I was a kid. And like, I got adult and

they're still old. You know, it's just like they

were just always old. You're just old and well,

stricken in years. But Abraham, according to

Scripture, he dies when he's 175 years old.

So in the next 35 years from this moment, he's he's going to

die. And his wife, Abraham's wife has

already been dead for about 3 years.

And no doubt, you know, he is occupied with this, this concept

of death, maybe even coming to him.

It's already come to his wife. I would think anybody that loses

his spouse to death, that their minds probably begin to think

about their own appointment, you know, with death themselves.

And so he's no doubt thinking about some of this and the end

of his life. And the Bible says in verse

number one of Genesis, Genesis chapter #24 that the Bible says

that the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

So he's blessed Abraham and all things.

He's an old stricken man. And the Lord has done this.

And the very thing that's upon Abraham's mind as he's

considering even perhaps his own death is about his son having a

proper mate. He's thinking about his son

having a mate, and he's going to entrust that to his eldest

servant of his house. All right?

And so just think about the importance of this.

Here's a man that's going to die sometime soon.

His wife's already died. And his mind's thinking about

his children and who they're going to marry.

All right listen the guys here in the front row I tell you who

your parents should be concerned about who that makes going to be

someday for your lives should be Amen and so Abraham entrust this

process to his elder servant. More than likely Eleazar that we

can find in Scripture are I want you to take this.

And for my son Genesis 24 and verse #3 the Bible says, And I

will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven.

And the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto

my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,

that thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred, and

take a wife unto my son, Isaac. There are several criteria that

we'll get to over the next three weeks.

This is number 1, and I just take it as it comes in the

chapter, all right? I don't know if they're set in

line Bishop according to priority.

It doesn't tell me that, but I just take them as they come.

Verse 3 again says thou shall not take a wife into the son by

son of the daughters of the canaanites #1 criteria is do not

date or marry a unbeliever. All right?

Do not date or marry a unbeliever, he said.

Don't get, don't get my son a wife from the Canaanites, the

people among whom I dwell. All right.

Now, the Canaanites. Canaanites were Pagan

worshippers, right? They worship Pagan gods, a

multiplicity of gods, they were. They worship idols, gods of

wood, gods of stone, and yes, Abraham dwelt among them.

Because God said their land I'm going to give to you, their land

I'm going to give to you, and we'll get to it here a little

bit later. Although that would be the case,

he still wanted them to be a people among the people separate

and distinct from where they were living.

We know that in Scripture. Amen.

And so he didn't want them, him to take a wife from the

Canaanites. Why?

Why do you want this God? And this is the reason why God

did this it several times in Scripture.

We look at Scripture and there's times he doesn't want them to

marry different nations of people.

And please understand it wasn't because of the nationality, it

wasn't because of the race, it wasn't because because of the

ethnicity. It was because if they married

someone of a other nation, then there was a great chance that

there was going to be influence of the gods that that nation

served going to come and compromise then in their

marriage. All right, we'll probably get to

it later. I might be jumping way out, but

it wasn't untypical in those days that whenever you had these

married groups come together, if they had different gods, part of

the marriage was each one adopting the other's God.

Amen, we say. Well, there shouldn't be nothing

wrong with that, brother. You can't imagine a Pagan

adopting God is God. Yeah, but then you're going to

adopt all their multiplicity of Pagan gods as you, too.

Last time I checked, God is a jealous God, right?

He doesn't share platform with another.

Does it do that? And so one of the reasons why

then the Abraham is cautious concerning that is why.

Well, if she's if this is her environment, if this is her

context, then she won't be true to the Lord God.

She won't be true to the one true God, right, Amen.

And throughout my lifetime, they've called that type of

thing called missionary dating alert and convert.

That's what they called it. And let me, I'll stand here

today and tell you that some of those things have been

successful. Some of those things have been

successful. If they are, that's God's mercy,

not God's endorsement. God's not changing his mind.

OK. And as I stand here tonight, I

hope you understand, Pastor, I'm up here speaking what God's word

is saying. If you fell or fall, I'm going

to love you and all that good stuff.

All right. But that doesn't keep me from

declaring what the word of the Lord has to say concerning the

matter. OK, So he said, get him a wife

from my country and my kindred. In other words, get him a mate

from, from people who will be serving our same God and, and to

kind of under, under support here this concept idea.

You say, well, let's think about Abraham.

He's from or of Chaldees and they were pagans as well.

Yes. But remember that he left his

people, his country, his family, and they set off on the journey.

Let's look at it just for a little bit.

According to Acts chapter #7 it's in Acts chapter #7 that

Stephen, who was the first martyr of the church, was

beginning to recall the history of Abraham and Isaac and those

to those he was speaking to. And he said in his recollection

in Acts chapter #7 that God had already spoke to Abram right

before his name was ever changed to Abraham.

God already spoke to Abram once in ur of childies to leave.

So we see again this family that that that who were idol

worshippers, Abraham's father Tara was Amen.

We understand that. But he has, He has Abraham

separating from that. He has Abraham making some

distance from that. And there's some of the family

as well that goes. And then there's Abraham.

There's a lot, right? There's some of these that go

with him and they separate from this heathen idultery that is in

err of Chaldees. And they go around 730 miles to

the place called Haran. All right, 730 miles to a place

called Haran, which Haran is equal to, or the same place as

Nahor, which is where the eldest servant is going back to, to

find a wife for Isaac, the people, the land.

And so Lot, Abraham's nephew had children before Abraham did.

They had some kids before Abraham ever had some children.

And Abraham learned from Lot's mistakes.

Can I tell you it's OK to learn from other people's mistakes?

Matter of fact, I encourage it. I encourage it.

Abraham learned from Lot's mistakes because whenever God

destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in the book of Genesis in Genesis

19 in particular, and the Angel of the Lord came warning and

they were going to go around and and make sure that Lot and his

daughters and his wife and the son in law's of his daughters

for them to get out of Sodom tomorrow.

Because it's going to be destroyed.

It's wicked, it's perverse, it's prideful, it's going to be

destroyed. That Lot's son in law's would

not leave the city, although they were given opportunity to

leave the city. From what we can read in

Scripture, there's nothing that comes right out and says it just

verbatim black and white. But what we can deduce from

scripture is that these two sons in laws of a lot more likely

were of the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, meaning that his

daughters had married outside of their people.

All right, look, if you will, and I'll go there.

Genesis 19 and I think I have it up there, but Genesis 19 and

verse #14 of this particular occurrence.

And Lot went out and spake unto his sons in law, which made his

daughters, and said up, get you out of this place, for the Lord

will destroy the city, but he seemeth as one that mocked.

Unto his sons in law. Couldn't take him serious.

Really. Leave this place, especially if

that's what they had known. Leave this place.

What's the big deal? Is everybody OK?

What's the big deal? The problem was they didn't know

the true God. They were more than likely

steeped in the Pagan religion and the context and atmosphere

of Sodom and Gomorrah. And so as Lot says go, they say,

what's the big deal? For that matter, let me step

back a little further, like on the parental side and say, Lot,

what did you say whenever they even got married?

Did you have any conversations before they got married?

Are you puzzled about them not leaving now?

But wasn't puzzled about what could happen before all of this

ever came into wedlock? Amen.

And so when Abraham had his eldest servant go back to Haran,

All right. Or in the core, his remaining

family, there had been a family that had been removed from earth

child. These had been removed from that

Pagan worship that Abraham had grown up.

Amen. To know had been separated from

all of that for at least 65 years until this moment here of

them, of them coming to the horde, trying to find a bride.

They'd already been separated from all that for 65 years

because Abraham or Abram was 75 years old when he left, all

right? And so now he's 140 years old,

all right. So 65 years have have elapsed

since that time. So he says, go back to these

people. If I'd say like this, go back to

these people that's been separated.

From all that for several years. And find my boy a wife there.

Find the wife where? Where they've been separated

from the idolatry and separated from those things that our

family we have in our past, but we've.

Moved on from that. Genesis 24 and verse 10 The

Bible says these words, and the servant took 10 camels of the

camels of his master, and departed for all the goods of

his master. Were in his hand.

And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of

Nahor, which is known as Haran back then.

Note Now Eleazar had a. Trip on his hands here.

I mean to leave where he was from Canaan and go back to

Nahor. The city of Mesopotamia, or

Haran if you will, is a literal 400 plus mile trip.

He has camels, but he has not a lot of horses under a hood like

we do. Today.

All right. He has camel.

This is going to take a little bit of time.

It's going to take a little time for him.

Going to take a little time, a little bit of effort, a little

sacrifice for the eldest servant to go find a spiritually

inclined mate. Fries it rather then just

settle. For a compromise that's readily

available, all right, We have access to all types of things

around us. To marry a Canaanite would have

been an easy route because they were all around Abraham's

family. That's the context in which they

lived. That's where they do well, many

of them. Amen.

Sometimes it requires a little more effort.

Sometimes it requires sacrifice. Sometimes it requires not giving

in to settling. Sometimes it requires no

compromise. Again, I say this 12 years ago

and I still say it because I'm older now and I've seen it.

Many young people are lost out of the church because of who

they decide today or marry. That was 12 years ago, right?

We had we, you could brought a microscope, didn't even need a

microscope. You could have brought it right

down in here. Most of the young people that

time that we lost, we're due to relationships.

I'm not just talking about lost from this church and went to

another church. I'm talking about lost was due

to relationships. Amen.

And so, yes, I probably should have done it before 12 years

from now need to talk about this again and preach about this

again and address the subject matter again, right?

Absolutely. And so Genesis 26, look at this

now and verse 34, because this isn't just a, this isn't just a

Genesis 24 thing that we see. We see this in various places in

Scripture, this, this going outside of the people of God, so

to speak, and finding a mate or a companion or a fiance or

whatever you want to call it, a mate for life.

Going outside of that, Genesis 26 and verse 34 and Esau was 40

years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Bury the

Hittite, and Bashimat the daughter of Elon the Hittite,

which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebecca.

Now Rebecca's is Esau's mom and dad.

He took Hittite girls to, to, to wed.

Hittites were right there alongside the Canaanites, all

right in the land of Canaan. They dwelled among there as

well, but they also, like the Canaanites, opposed Israel and

opposed Israel's God. Let's let's just get real

sincere for a moment. Anyone that opposes your God has

no business being a possible candidate for a mate, all right?

It just shouldn't even be a possibility in your mind, he

says here, look at this in verse 35.

Again, these unions were a grief of mine to Isaac and Rebecca.

Why? Because again, here's Esau

bringing these women into his life and they did not serve the

Lord. They were of the Hittite line.

All right, now look at this Genesis 27 and verse 46.

And Rebecca said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the

daughters of Heath. The daughters of Heath are

female. They're female Hittites.

They're female Hittites. She's saying I'm wearing my life

because of the daughters of Heath.

If Jacob. And we just talked about Esau,

but now she's thinking about Jacob.

If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heath.

And remember, she was kind of favorable a little bit toward

Jacob. Rebecca even was.

So this is probably, you know, maybe get close to home for her

because this is her favorite son.

You know, she kind of. She says if Jacob take a wife of

the daughters of heath such as these which are of the daughters

of the land, if he takes daughters of the Hittites just

like he would if they were taking daughters of the land or

the Canaanites. She says, what good shall my

life do me? What good should my life do me?

She says, so we got female Hittites out there that that

Esau took. If Jacob would do the same and

join himself or he would even take from some of the

Canaanites. She says we're we're already

here grief stricken over Esau. Our mind has just grief

stricken. She says what what are we going

to do? Said because if he took of the

Canaanites it would be no different.

Why? Because they serve other gods,

too. They don't subscribe to the

things that we subscribe to. They don't keep the holy law of

Moses. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They, they, they, they, they don't care about separation.

All the scruples that we told God that we were, you know, my

statutes, my commandments, my dad.

So all those he says they, they have no connection to that.

So what, what are we going to do?

Look, Genesis 28 verse #1 this is after the, the 27th chapter

there and Isaac called Jacob. So he calls Jacob in after this,

you know, speech from his wife, which sometimes those speeches

are important to pay attention to.

Guys, just telling you sometimes we're blind.

I'm just saying, all right, sometimes we needed that voice.

And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him and

said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of

Canaan. It's like, I know your brother

took daughters of the heath, but Canaan's off bounce too.

All right, in case you're thinking or wondering, thou

shall not take a wife of the daughters of Kingdom.

Verse 2 arise go to Pandana Ram to the House of Bethuel thy

mother's father and take the a wife from fence.

He tells Jacob fence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's

brother. Where?

Why did they keep this in the family type thing?

Again, it's because of the God factor, Amen, of what they

served and what they supported. Now look, look there at 28 verse

#1 look, he said the charge there, thou shalt not.

It's pretty plain. Thou shalt not take a wife of

the daughters of Canaan. He didn't just bless him, but he

charged him. Young people, we and we should

be open to both. We want the blessing, but we

should also appreciate the charge.

Because if we'll accept the charge, years down the road,

you'll look over your shoulder and realize that was.

Part of the blessing, too. Amen.

Look now at Genesis 28. It goes on in verse #5 And Isaac

sent away Jacob, and he went to Pandanaram unto Laban, son of

Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca Jacobs.

And Esau's mother looks at verse 6.

And when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob.

Wait a minute, what are we getting in here?

We're understanding something right now that as Isaac was

speaking to Jacob, there was a third party that was listening.

When Isaac was speaking to Jacob, there was someone

overhearing the conversation and seeing what was done.

Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to

Pandana Ram to take him a wife from thence.

That as he blessed him, he gave him a charge.

He heard all this. Saying, Thou shalt Nate not take

a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to

Pandanaram. Verse 8.

And Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan please not

Isaac his father. Then when Esau unto Ishmael and

took and took unto the wives which he had Mahalat, the

daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, and the sister of Nabajov

to be his wife. Here's something very troubling.

Esau's witnessing everything that took place between Jacob

and Isaac and the charge and the blessing that took place.

Amen. Everything, the words that are

spoken, thou shalt not taken to the a wife of the Canaanites.

And it's almost as Esau if you read it, really just take time

to read it. He saw, he heard the charge.

It's almost as though Esau. And Jacob may have never been

told or taught this before until this moment, that marriage to a

Canaanite, because look what verse eight said, Esau said.

Seeing the daughters of Canaan, please.

Not Isaac, his father. It's like it's never been talked

about before. As though that's the first time

he realized that wouldn't be pleasing to his father, that

that would be inconsistent with God's will or unsatisfactory to

the parents, parents, grandparents.

You can't talk about it early enough.

If you're going to wait to talk about it until you need to talk

about it, you probably waited too late to talk about it.

You, you, you can't talk about it early enough.

And so I I need to take my God-given role right in in my

home. And as parents, we need to in

our home in the admonition of our day to age.

You're going to be, you know, flirt, age, whatever you know,

children about what's acceptable, not acceptable in

God's eyes, right. Take the burden off yourself.

This isn't a harping mother. This isn't a harping father.

Let's see what God has to say about it.

Let's see what God's opinion is on.

Let's see what Scripture says about it.

Amen. Again, Scripture silent whether

or not Esau's parents ever share, shared their grief or

disapproval until after he had already got married to the

daughters of Heath. And now they're greed, Huh?

Now you're overwhelmed. And Rebecca, you don't know what

you're going to do with yourself because this happened.

Was anybody talking about it before it happened?

Commentators deduce that that Jacob and Esau was somewhere

around 77 years old when Jacob went to Pandanaram.

If that is the case and I understand the life expectancy,

you know, somewhat different then, but still yet if that's

the case, that's just a little bit late in life.

Telling your son about not taking a wife from the

Canaanites. Esau married a Hittite woman at

age 40. So if they're 77 now, there's 37

years that they missed. You know, you understand what

I'm saying. They're a little bit late.

Parents, grandparents, listen, we we got to be more proactive

than reactive. More I don't know what sometimes

why you know the. Pastor says stuff around there,

there's none of that stuff going on.

No, but it might. Sometimes you're just trying to

get a get a head of running before you know the big pack of

bulls, right? He's trying to run before him.

Look at look verse #9. Now Esau takes this withheld

information. All right, verse 9 and he

spitefully, maybe, perhaps out of rebellion, then knowing for

sure then that dad doesn't like us wearing canines already

married to Hitt tight. Well, I'm going for broke, maybe

even a little bit of rebellion by marrying more women who are

non believers. That's what he does.

He marries. He marries some that are of

Ishmael, which remember is the son that was really had against

God's purpose with Abraham and Sarah.

He marries some from that line. All right, again, not, not not

endorsing the things that that they would want to endorse,

because think about it, Ishmael and those that come from a son

of compromise anyway come from a son of compromise anyway of

Haggard, the Egyptian handmaid, and Abraham.

All right, whenever we look at the end, and I'm not saying all

things are connected like this so that we can draw a Direct

Line, I'm just saying it's something to think about.

But when we look at the end and the destinies of Jacob and Esau,

they are vastly different. Jacob is the inheritor of the

promise of God and the Esau, which is Edom, the Bible says is

a constant troublemaker for the children of Israel, even up to

this day through his lineage. I'm not just relating that

necessarily directly to who they married, but I'm saying it could

have some play into it. All right.

Definitely a factor to be considered.

So again, so we've seen it. We've seen it with Abraham and

Eleazar concerning Isaac, we soon Jacob and Esau and what

they should do, so on and so forth.

What about the children of Israel just going into the land

of Canaan? They're on the verge of taking

king and on the verge of taking the promised land, right?

They are this mighty nation that has been born out of Egypt, so

to speak. Did your years of wandering in

the wilderness. And now they're out about ready

to go into Canaanite land, Pagan land, idol worship land, and

these are the instructions from the Lord.

Right that Moses was to tell this group of people.

Deuteronomy 7 and verse #1 When the Lord thy God shall bring

thee into the land where thou goest to possess it, and have

cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the

Gergashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the

Perizzites, and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations

greater and mightier than thou, when the Lord thy God shall

deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly

destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with

them, nor shew mercy unto them. Verse 3.

Neither shalt thou make marriages with them.

By the way, marriage still is a covenant thou shalt make thou,

neither shalt thou make marriages with them.

Thy daughter thou shalt not given to his son, nor his

daughter shalt thou take unto thy son, for they will.

He gives us the reason. Does it leave us just out here,

No man's land? He gives us the reason.

For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may

serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord be

kindled against you and destroyed thee settling?

Well, you know, good thing God doesn't still do that.

Population of the world would be a whole lot less.

So the problem here was clearly marrying outside of their faith,

right? Marrying outside of their faith.

He said it'll cause Israel to turn away from the true Lord

because you're, as you invite them in, you're inviting what

they serve in, you're inviting what they worship in.

All right. And God was serious about this.

I have another passage of Scripture here.

He was very unyielding and adamant about this.

All right. This wasn't like suggestive God.

He's very plain during the time whenever Israel was committing

whoredom with the daughters of Moab and it was taking place

whoredom and, and, and, and they were embracing a lot of false

gods and false practices that we're following.

And it was really getting out of hand.

I mean, they were going beyond the lines of, of boundaries and

stuff. It's really getting out of hand.

This episode happened then in Numbers chapter 25, whenever

Numbers 25 · chapter mention

this type of things were happening, it's like, you know,

the Bible even talks about sin leading to more sin.

You know, there's like this increase.

It's a whenever you start, whenever you start making

negotiations, hear me today, when you start making

negotiations with truth, you think you have control over

that. And it's like, I know when I'll

stop, will you? Because when you start

negotiating with truth, you negotiate more with it.

Seen it for, I mean, I'm 46 years old, surely I could say

something now that I've said I've seen in my life, I've seen

it. And so when we get the numbers

25, this is how unyielding and how adamant God is about us

keeping, if you will, from being unequally yoked.

So to speak. Verse #6 Numbers 25.

Verse 6. And behold, one of the children

of Israel came, and brought into his brethren a Midnightish

woman. Midnightish woman in the sight

of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the

children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the

Tabernacle of the congregation. And when Venus, the son of

Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw it, he rose up from

among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand.

And he went after the. Now notice.

He went in after the man of Israel into the tent.

So a man of Israel has taken a Midianitish woman into his tent.

Number one, that's a male or female been in a different one's

tent in this age was no, it was taboo.

Didn't happen. All right, If it's happening,

it's because something's happening.

Shouldn't be happening. You hear me?

It's inappropriate. Yes, and so he went in after the

man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through.

Remember he took a spear with. Him it.

Was pretty severe thrust both of them through the man of Israel

and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed because

the plague had broke out because of all the iniquity that was

taking place then pushing the envelope on every hand a plague

had broken out all right as a result of this and he said he

did this so the plague was stayed from the children of

Israel and those that died in the plague.

It tells us 20 and 4000. Look at verse 10 and the Lord

Lord spake and the Moses saying Venus, the one who had done

this, the one with the spear, that is the son of Eleazar, the

son of Aaron the priest, have turned my wrath away from the

children of Israel. Why he while he was zealous for

my sake among them, that I consume not the children of

Israel, and my jealousy. Wherefore say, behold, I given

to him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it, and his seat

after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood,

because he was zealous for God and made an atonement for the

children of Israel. So here's Venus.

He is the son of a line of priest.

He's the son of the line of priests and priesthood.

And he was so zealous over Israel not being yoked up with

the Midianite or Moabite or whoever.

It was yoked up with someone that was going to pull an

Israelite away from the ways of God, that whenever this thing

happened that he went in with the spear and struck the

Israelite man and the and the Midianites woman through in the

tent among the tent. And God said that's a zealot act

that He did. He stood firm and it was key to

stopping the plague that was coming up on Israel for their

whoredoms and their sin that was taking place.

And God stops. You know what he basically says,

I honor you, Phoenix. I honor you, Phineas, for doing

what you did about something that was not to be yoked

together. That shows how adamant,

unyielding God was in support of Phineas in what he did and God

honors him, makes a coming to peace with him an everlasting

priesthood. He said throughout your

generations now folks, that's episode that sounds pretty

serious. That sounds like it matters to

God. Genesis 24 and verse 8.

I'm moving alone. I know.

How do I feel like I'm dragging my feet tonight?

That's all right. Let him drag.

Genesis 24 and verse 8. This is criteria #2 all right,

We're moving on from from that board.

And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, was

Abraham speaking to his eldest servant?

And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then

thou shalt be clear from this My oath only bring not my son.

Don't take Isaac thither again. Don't take him back there.

Bring her up here again. There may be something that

don't grieve me on this, and that's fine.

You have the right to be wrong. Just joking.

Second criteria Do not marry a person with a incompatible

spiritual appetite or continue dating them after you've learned

this. Abraham received a call from God

back there to tread onward to this Canaan that God had for

him, that promise that God had for him.

And Abraham was telling the servant, though, you may even

find this woman among our people.

Someone hear me right now, you can be Apostolic or church and

religious and still be spiritually incompatible.

He says, though you find this lady among our people, if she

isn't willing, if she isn't willing to advance in her

pursuit from where she is to where God has promised us, she's

not willing to make the trip. He says, then you just leave her

right where she is and you don't worry about the oath I gave you

concerning this. Everything's fine, everything is

OK, he says. Because I can't let my boy

revert back. Can you hear me?

Since this is what God has called us to, this is what God

has promised for us, and this is where we are, I can't allow my

boy to go back away from the promise, away from the promise

of God for her. People talk themselves out of

callings because of somebody potential they're going to

marry. No, no, no, no.

You can't go back from what God has called you to or to the

level that God has brought you. You don't need to dumb down your

prayer life. You don't need to dumb down your

worship life. You don't need to dumb down your

attendance to church because there's a possible way.

No, no, no. Find somebody that likes going

to church just as much as you do.

Find somebody that's living for God on fire just as much as you

are. Don't take me back away from my

promise. Let's.

Isaac can't go back and ignore the call of God on us and our

family. He has a promise of God on his

life. This is a he gets all.

He gets it all. I it's all his.

He can't go back. You know what, you know what you

want, Abraham still on the oldest servant.

I'd rather see my son remain a unmarried, single young man then

stoop to a lesser calling than what God has on his life.

My wife. I told my wife before we ever

got married. Sorry, God was dealing me with

evangelizing someday. Just in the wind.

Let her know up front, matter of fact, one of the first things I

ever said to her was this, just want to let you know, I'm a

minister, 14 years old. Just want you to know I'm a

minister. Might as well get it out there

on the playing field. So then three years after

marriage, you know, we started evangelizing all that.

But prior to that evangelism day, the camp meeting prior to

that, but the Carpenter was preaching that camping, you'll

remember this. I did this just to Alex and

Grace at camping because I felt compelled by the Holy Ghost to

do so. Brother Carpenter told me to

place my hand on her head and her hand on my heart.

And he said, Brother McGee said, I'm praying right now that she

will always follow your heart wherever you go and be

submissive to that. Leading folks I understand here

37 years later and a lot of ministry under under, under the

bridge. And we've we've went in a tip

post, a stake, stayed in some unlikely places.

She's been there. She went to Brother Boyd's those

nine months before we ever came home.

She came home with me. We've been to prison, all this

stuff. What is that?

Because whenever I would sit at camp meetings with her, we'd

find each of us both clapping her hand, saying Amen, jumping

up at the same time to back the preacher lingering in the altar.

Not one lingering the other one I know lingering in the altar.

But she was doing that before she ever met me.

You hearing? Listen to me.

She wasn't trying to conform to get on the good side of me, so

I'd be interested in her. Watch that.

Watch that if if they never prayed before but now that

they're in a relationship with you.

They're going to walk the walk of prayer.

Is that is that truly happening or is that just a facade in

order for you to stay with them? Discernment.

I've told you folks and I have stories I have stories of people

evangelist that evangelized even in our day minister's wife is

they're they're they're they never sink in their ministry in

days evangelism. There are a lot of horror

stories that follow them. It was because of dude a lot of

times to some of the antics of his wife a lot of disturbance

and havoc in their travels find some reason why she couldn't be

at church later came off the road.

She later in there divorced him. There was a incompatibility when

it comes just to spiritual matters.

Another pastor years ago was taught me at Jim seems

encouraging his daughter to go away to a Christian college

She'd already attended the Community College but he

encouraged her to go away from home.

Why he was just wanting to broaden her scope of Herman

Pool. I'm just being honest with you.

They had just so many there in the church and wonder broaden

her scope of her manpool. She'd been in a relationship

with a local man and he wasn't sure about that spiritual level

aptitude between the two and he was worried about it.

Positive thing about all that is that young man came to a place

of greater aptitude and now they're both married to now and

and life has went on. But he was just giving it some

time and he want his daughter to give it some time.

All right to seek these things out worried about entering into

that that type of relationship. There's going to be the same

type of spiritual aptitude for one another.

There are more things hinging on your mate than just a spouse.

Genesis 24 and verse 7 And I'm, I'm trying to hurry folks,

everyone, I've only got 3 weeks to get this done.

Just 24 and verse 7 The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my

father's house and from the land of my kindred, which spake unto

me, that swear unto me, saying, unto thy seed will I give this

land, You shall send his Angel before thee.

Thou shall take a wife unto my son from thence.

You see, there's more that depends upon a mate than just a

spouse, because possibility is you going to have children

together. You hear me?

You have children together. So what influences of your two

lives, if they're incompatible, what's being poured in the next

generation and what agreement and disagreement with that

incompatibility? What's the kids to listen to, to

be exposed to are. You hearing me right now?

Huh. There's a lot of children today

shouldn't even be messing with the things they're messing with,

but they're messing with the incompatibility of a union.

And he said the the land inheritance, he said it's going

to going to depend upon this. You, you said the inheritance,

it's going to come on to you. All right, I got to run.

We got to run, don't we? We got to run.

Let's go to the New Testament, First Corinthians 7, verse 32.

1 Corinthians 7:32

Apostle Paul speaking here, he says, But I would have you

without carefulness, he that is unmarried.

Care for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please

the Lord, but he that is married.

Care for the things that are of the world, or whatever is

natural, how he may please his wife. 34 There is difference

also between a wife and a virgin.

The unmarried woman care for the things of the Lord, that she may

be both holy in body and in spirit.

But she that is married care for the things of the world, how she

may please her husband. And this Paul says, I speak for

your own prophet. Not that I may cast a snare.

Upon. You but for that which is

comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without

distraction. So he says from both sides, male

or female, that those that are unmarried individuals carry care

for the things of. The Lord but a husband, there's

a new dynamic that enters his life now that he's married.

When you have children, there's another dynamic that enters now.

He seeks to please his wife. A wife seeks to please her

husband, all right. They're going to seek to please

each other emotionally and physically, all right,

spiritually. So when there's verse 35, Paul's

just saying. For their own good or their own

good. He's not saying what he says to

deter them from marriage. That's not the purpose of this.

He says, I understand, He said, I'm trying to, you know, I mean,

he's not trying to deter them from marriage.

And he's saying that as they're unmarried, they have all of this

time and all of these resources that they can devote totally

unto the Lord for the things of the Lord without any

distraction, right? He says, but whenever a wife

gets in the picture, then then there's some attention.

It's got to be shown there. Here's the thing.

If you don't have your spiritual life staked down.

When you get married. Listen to me Well, if you don't

watch it, your spouse can become your new God.

It's just all about. Them it's about what's important

to them, even if it compromises absolute.

Commands of scripture. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you want to marry someone with spiritually compatible?

That you're spiritually. Compatible with because after

married people after you get married, you have a tendency to

please your spouse. Here's the thing, if you have a

spouse that wants to be pleasing to God, then whatever she wants

pleased from you is and likewise going to then serve Him.

Are you hearing me right now? Huh.

You want to. Find someone that's pleasing to

God so that whenever they want you to please them, it's in step

with Him. But if that's all messed up and

skewed and they're worried about themselves and the world and how

they're perceived in the world. Can you join in that pleasing

them is not going to be for pleasing the Lord.

It's going to be about pleasing self then what they want to do.

Oh, he just goes to church all the time.

I just don't understand why he never stays home with me.

Remember, I don't really need to please my wife, you know, and

stay home with her and then just totally betrayed then Scripture

by doing so. Amen.

If a spouse is not particularly someone that's going to be a

mate is not comparable in spiritual ambitions.

It could really 'cause a stalemate for what God wants to

do in their lives as a couple. It's been a few years ago now.

We were preaching for a district and we preached them for a

district Superintendent or a pastor in the same area.

I preached on that Sunday morning altar service was taking

place and asked her son and a young girl was in a relationship

and I I was praying in the altar around doing things and, and

with her son, I noticed him involved in the altar service

and worship and all this stuff just bawling, just overtaken by

all these things. And I seen his significant other

and God spoke to me and said she's a Michael sitting on the

window seal for this young man's wife life Michael and David

despised his worship in her heart.

She's a this, she's a Michael in his life.

Talked to the pastor's wife later.

I ain't don't know how it came about.

I said sister so and so, so I'm just going to tell you what God

told me said God said that she's a Michael in your son's life.

I said because while he was all in this, she was totally just

total, just removed code and indifferent to what was going

on. 12 years went by. Now that relationship is no

longer there. He is now married, totally

someone different, totally else. What are you saying?

I'm saying spiritual compatibility matters.

Spiritual compatibility, it matters.

Let me read the same passage. We have it up there in the

message, don't we? Let's do it.

Paraphrase Bible message. 1st Corinthians 7 verse 32, I want

you to live as free of complications as possible.

When you're unmarried, you're free to concentrate on simply

pleasing the master. Marriage involves you and all

the nuts and bolts of domestic life and one to please your

spouse, leading to so many more demands on your attention.

And listen, I tell guys that I mentor and my arms sharpens

aren't thing in ministry. I tell them, hey guys, if you're

not married right now, you have all this time you can pour into

your ministry. You need to be studying your

brains out right now. You're not going to have any

more time in any more time in your life than what you do right

now as a teenager, before marriage, before kids, before

other obligations. I said invest now.

That's what that's what Paul's saying.

He said you have all the time, all the resources, all the

attention just to direct One Direction.

You're you're not divvied up for all these other things at that

moment. I'm that's really what Paul's

saying he said. So you have all the nuts and

bolts of domestic like, yeah, many more demands on your

attention, the time and energy that married people spend on

caring for and nurturing each other.

And that's important. And we should, right?

We should. The unmarried can spend and

becoming whole and holy instruments of God.

I'm trying to be helpful. Make it as easy as possible for

you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able

to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of

time together with the master without a lot of distractions.

In other words, I want you just to get it right now, because if

you don't have it right now, when you add more variables in,

if you don't have the Lord placed where the Lord needs to

be placed now as you add variables, it's most likely not

going to get better. There's some things you got to

settle the issue on. While you're single, Amen, he

says. So I'm, I'm trying to do this.

Amen. So again, we, we don't want

them. Boyfriend, boyfriend,

girlfriend, fiance. Don't let them become your idol.

If you can't be in a relationship with someone

without maintaining your relationship with God, you don't

need the relationship. And maybe it's you more than

them. I don't know.

But either way, you need to get it figured out.

You. You.

You. You.

You need to have that relationship with God showed up.

You need to find someone you could love, but you can still

love God, just with the same intensity.

And maybe it'll even be bolstered because they have a

love and affection for him as well.

They with me. Oh, but I'm so.

In love with the brother Mickey. The eyes, the hair.

Listen. Someday it might be here like

this. So you can't just love them for

who they are. Now you got to love them for who

they'll be. I've spoke at Christian schools

and done guys purity state sessions with guys and stuff

before when it's just guys. I probably won't go into any of

that right now because I could be brutal.

Yeah, but her carry three or five of your kids.

You still going to love her after the bodily changes that

may take place in her life? Lastly, listen to me, a single

life shouldn't just be viewed as a passage to married life,

shouldn't just be viewed as that.

You need to view that, as Paul said, it's a time to home my

relationship with God without any other distractions, without

anything else vying for my attention, so that I'll be so

spiritually sound that when it's time to find that lifetime mate,

I'll be ready, or at least hopefully be more ready than

what I would have if I didn't. I could say it like that because

there's still a lot of dynamics that come Amen with a mate.

Those are just the two principles, right?

To marry the Canaanitish, the Mobitish, women or men.

Find someone that is spiritually compatible with you.

Here's the awesome thing about that, folks.

Maybe today they're not, but maybe you hold your peace and

let the Lord fight your battle and you stay faithful to God.

Maybe they'll grow into an area that they will be.

Maybe they will, but don't. I wouldn't be saying no.

I do unless I do Amen. Let's pray tonight.

Hope I did the press everybody, God, we.