Declare Your Love for A Lifetime, Part 1

Psalm 127 verse number one says that unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain. Who build it? In other words, it's the Lord who builds. It's the Lord who strengthens. It's the Lord who allows us to be able to live the way he wants us to live. Our Lord is the divine designer of everything. He's the divine designer of your life, your physicality. He's the divine designer of your marriage, everything. And so we come to him because he is the master architect of our homes. We can't build our homes without him.

And so we're looking at certain building blocks that help us formulate the kind of home that God wants us to have. And they're really practical precepts that the scriptures give us that help us understand how to build brick upon brick, the kind of home that God wants us to have that will bring glory and honor to his name. Very important for us to understand that. And so we have begun to talk to you about them by telling you that, first of all, you acknowledge Christ as Lord.

That's where it all begins. He is the Lord of all. He reigns supreme. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of lords. And so we acknowledge him as such. And not only do we acknowledge him as Lord, but we want to build intimacy through biblical love. In other words, intimacy doesn't happen with just any kind of love. It's a particular kind of love. It's God's kind of love. It's a biblical love. And so you must understand what that biblical love looks like in order to build a home that glorifies the name of Christ.

And then thirdly, it's commit yourself to growing spiritually. You must be able to grow up in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord, because your relationship depends on your spiritual growth. And therefore, you must be growing spiritually in your walk with the Lord. The depth of your marriage will only be as deep as you are spiritually. If you are shallow spiritually, you're going to have a shallow, superficial marriage. But if you're deep spiritually, then you can have a deep, significant kind of marriage.

But it all stems from your spiritual growth. And today we're going to look at that fourth building block, and that simply is this, that you want to declare your love for a lifetime.

What does that mean? Declare your love for a lifetime. Declare it openly, publicly, strongly, appropriately, in a way that truly is forever and not for a while. I have stood on this stage on many occasions over the last 29 years that we've been together, marrying many people, realizing that, for the most part, they've stayed married. That's a great thing. But there are some who have only been married for a short time, and then their marriage is over. And that is so incredibly sad to me. In fact, I was in the mall a few weeks ago with my daughter, and we were, of course, shopping.

That's what my daughter loves to do. And we came across a young lady who came up to me, and she goes, Pastor Lance. And, of course, when somebody calls me pastor, I think they're from the church, right? And so I look at her, and I just can't figure out who she is.

And so I had this blank stare, and she says, You don't remember me, do you? I said, I'm trying to, but I don't remember you. Please forgive me. She goes, Well, my name is so-and-so, and I married my husband. You married us 20 years ago. I said, I am so sorry. I can't remember what happened 20 minutes ago, let alone 20 years ago. And so as she began to talk to me about her husband, I began to realize, Oh, yes, I do recall you now.

I said, Well, how is your husband? And she goes, Well, we divorced about 13 years ago. I said, Oh, I am so sorry. What happened? She began to explain to me the downgrade of the marriage over time. They were married here at our church. They were on this platform. They had declared their love in their minds for a lifetime, but it only lasted seven years. So what happened? How does that come about? How is it that two people can walk up these stairs and give their vows of commitment before the Lord and before the people of the church and say, I'm here to declare my love for a lifetime, and yet it only lasts for a short time?

What happens? How do we get to that point? Well, I want to be able to share some principles with you this evening and not next week because I'll be in Indiana, but the following week we'll pick it up again and share with you some of the principles that will help you understand how it is that you can declare your love strongly, publicly, fervently, forever for the rest of your lives. For some people, their love for one another grows dull, and their marriage becomes ho-hum. The spark is gone, and they kind of stay together because there's nothing else left to do.

And so they kind of wait out the years until one of them dies off. That does happen. That's unfortunate. It doesn't have to be that way. So how is it you are able to declare your love for a lifetime, and there be this passion and drive and desire one for another? There is a lady in the scriptures who does do this. She makes a very public statement, and she declares it openly so others will know because she wanted others to understand her commitment. And that lady is found in the Song of Songs, in the Song of Solomon, in the 8th chapter.

So if you've got your Bible, let's begin there this evening. The Song of Solomon, chapter 8. Now, you have to ask yourself the question, is the Song of Songs an allegory, or is it to be interpreted literally? If you are Jewish, you read the Song of Songs every feast of Passover. Why? Because Israel looks at it allegorically. They are the bride-to-be, and the Messiah is the bridegroom. In fact, in Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse number 9, it says that the bridegroom stands behind the wall. That's a very significant statement.

Why? Because in the 2nd century, Rabbi Akiva convinced the Jews that they needed to go to that retaining wall, which we call the Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall, or better yet, the Waiting Wall. All three can be said about the wall. But it's a retaining wall. It's not a retaining wall from the old temple because all those walls have been destroyed. But the retaining wall is a retaining wall that's up against the mountain itself, Mount Moriah. And so it's a retaining wall for the mount, the temple mount itself.

And when you stand in front of that wall, that retaining wall, it does not look toward where the temple once stood. That is down and to the left quite a distance. But what the retaining wall does face is the Mount of Olives. That's very important. Why? Because Rabbi Akiva convinced the Jews that to go to this wall, this retaining wall, and to pray for the coming of the Messiah, because beyond the walls of Jerusalem, beyond the valley called Kidron, is the Mount of Olives. And in Zechariah 14, verse 4, when the Messiah returns, he's going to stand on the Mount of Olives and split the Mount of Olives.

It's called the Mount of Separation if you're Jewish. It's also called the Mount of Olives, but it's called the Mount of Separation. So he convinced the Jews that they should go to this wall. Why? Because Song of Solomon is allegorical, and they are the bride, and he is the bridegroom. And because the Messiah is behind the wall, the bridegroom is behind the wall, he is telling them, you pray, because behind the wall is the Mount of Separation. And Zechariah 14, verse 4 says that when he comes, he's going to split the mountain, so you keep praying three times a day for the arrival of the Messiah.

So if you ever wonder why the Jews go to this wall, this western, wailing, or better yet, waiting wall, that's why they go there. They go there to mourn the fact that, yes, the temple was destroyed on the Temple Mount. Yes, that is true. But they are waiting specifically for the bridegroom to arrive. And they know that as they face that wall, they face the Mount of Separation, and that the Messiah will come, he will stand on that mountain, he will separate that mountain, and they will be saved. That's why they do that.

But, I don't believe the Song of Solomon is allegorical. I believe it's literal. I believe it's literal. It's a literal woman who is the bride of Solomon, and he is the bridegroom. There are a lot of people who think that it represents the church and the coming Messiah, or the second coming of the Messiah.

Again, it's allegorical. I think it's very literal. In fact, the Song of Solomon is a literal book about romantic love. And so, if you're able to understand what is being said between Solomon and his bride, and what she is saying to him, it's very significant. The question is, who's the woman? A lot of discussion about that, too. I would tend to believe that's Abishai, who was the caretaker of David toward the end of his life. 1 Kings 1 tells us that she was a virgin. And Solomon watched her take care of her father toward the end of his life.

And he grew very fond of her. But so did his brother, Adonijah. Adonijah went to his mother to ask for her hand in marriage, and Solomon was so upset as king, because Solomon was now king of Israel, he had his brother executed and killed. That's how much love he had for Abishai. And so she was killed. Was Song of Solomon written before Solomon's 700 wives and 300 concubines? Probably so. I don't know. But he had a fond love and care and concern for this woman. But she now was going to declare her love, her commitment to her man.

So in Song of Solomon, chapter 8, verse number 6, it says, Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm. Now, that's a very significant statement, because it gives you free access, a seal gives you free access to all that the person has. So she wants to be a seal over his heart, seal over his arm. She wants free access to all of his affection, all of his attention, and all of his power, and all of his strength. This speaks of an intimate commitment. She says, Put me like a seal over your heart, like a seal over your arm.

I want full access to your heart. I don't want anybody else stealing your heart. And that's a great way for a woman to act, right? I want all of your affection. If your affection is going elsewhere as a man, right, then she doesn't have all of your heart. She's only got parts of it. And over your arm, because she needs the strength and protection of her man. And there's nothing wrong with this, because she wants to possess what he is. She wants to possess him. Which, if you read 1 Corinthians 7, you realize that it parallels exactly what Paul says when he says that the woman's body is not her own, and the man's body is not his own.

Why? Because now you're one flesh. And the wife owns the husband's body, and the husband owns the wife's body. Why? Not in a selfish kind of way, not in a self-centered kind of way, but there is this possession that you have of the one fleshedness that is evident in your marriage that makes you intimate one with another. And so all the bride is asking is that she has access to the heart and strength of her man. She is declaring her love publicly, vehemently, passionately, strongly, without reservation, forever.

So it's an intimate kind of commitment. But it's also an intense commitment. Look at what he says. For love is as strong as death. Jealousy is as severe as Sheol, or the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. There is no more powerful emotion, negatively speaking, than death. It speaks to the intensity of her commitment. For love is as strong as death. And when you think about the emotion involved when death happens, it's so intense. Because sometimes it just takes you totally by surprise.

But her love for Him is as strong as death. But she also says jealousy is as severe as the grave. That's the opposite side. But she's not talking about jealousy in a bad way, but jealousy in a good way. Because God is a jealous God. Exodus 20, verse number 5. He is jealous for His own people. He is jealous that His people worship Him. And she is jealous for her man, and only her man. She doesn't want to share her man with anybody else, and neither should she. And so you have this extreme, intense commitment that she voices for Solomon.

It says its flashes are the flashes of fire, the very flame of Jehovah. As if the jealousy behind her life is the jealousy that comes from the fire of Jehovah Himself. Then she says, many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it. Not only is her commitment intimate and intense, her commitment is indestructible. Indestructible. Many waters cannot quench love. No matter how deep the water, no matter how severe the rain, it cannot dampen my love for my man. Boy, I wish we could all say that.

Because true biblical love is that way. There is nothing that can quench and dampen the love you have for your spouse, if it's a biblical kind of love. But so many times, our love fades so easily, so quickly. That's simply because we don't understand what love really is. We don't understand the biblical nature of the agape kind of love, the self-sacrificial kind of love that gives itself away for the benefit of someone else. If we did, we could say as Abishag said, that many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it.

And then she talks about her commitment being invaluable. Not just intimate, not just intense, not just indestructible, but that kind of love is invaluable. Look what she says. If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised. Why? Because material things don't replace true love. You can't buy your wife enough things to satisfy her love craving. This doesn't work that way. It might work for a day. It might even work for a week. But it's not going to work for a lifetime.

Because love is so much more valuable than material possessions. It's so much more valuable than money. And so she speaks to the fact that the love she has for a man is absolutely invaluable. And Solomon was a king. He was rich. Abishag was a woman of the country. If you understand the nature of who she is, and as you read through the Song of Solomon, you begin to realize what kind of woman she was. She wasn't a wealthy woman at all. Solomon was, though. He was the king. He had all the riches. But none of that, none of that meant anything to her.

Because the love she had for her man was invaluable. She could not be bought. Why is it our relationships aren't like that? And what hinders us from having that kind of attitude, that kind of passion, that kind of drive, that kind of enthusiasm? Can you imagine her stating these words, and Solomon, of course, writing them down? It's the inspired Word of God. God is speaking in a way that only He can. And she's saying these things, and you begin to realize that she's declared her love for a lifetime.

It's indestructible kind of love. It's an intimate kind of love. It's an invaluable kind of love. It's an intense kind of love. So what happens when two people walk up the stairs, and they exchange their vows, and they realize this is forever? And then a year later, or two, or three, or four, or five, or six, or seven, or eight, or nine, or ten, or twelve, and God forbid, even 20 or 30 years later, they say, you know what? I just don't love them anymore. What happened? What took place in the heart and life of those individuals?

Well, I want to give you some principles so that if practiced, those kind of things will never happen in your relationship. Okay? So principle number one is this.

For that not to happen, you're going to need to purify your mind. You're going to need to purify your mind. Our minds are the battlefield for Satan. And our minds are more shaped by culture than they are the Christ. Our minds are more shaped by social media than they are the Scriptures. We spend more time on social media, reading, watching, whatever comes across our Twitter feed, or our emails, or whatever it is we've got going on, than we ever spend in the Scriptures. In fact, you need to just look at your phone and figure out how much time you spend on Twitter, on Instagram, and ask yourself, how much time am I actually doing this, versus how much time am I actually in the Word of the Lord?

I mean, you'd be astonished at the amount of time you spend on social media, or anybody spends on social media. Because we can be there and caught up in this web of all kinds of intrigue that just captivates our minds. In 2 Corinthians 10, we're to bring every thought into captivity to Christ. But we don't. And then we wonder why we begin to think things that are not biblical. We begin to go the way of the world. Paul said, be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewal of your minds.

Because he knew how easy it was to go the way of the world. He understood that. Peter says, if you've got your Bible, turn with me to 1 Peter 1.

Listen to the words of Peter. Peter says in 1 Peter 1, verse number 13, therefore, therefore based on the fact that your salvation is so great and so secure, that God has granted you just a wonderful inheritance. Therefore, prepare your minds, gird your minds for action. Keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts, which were yours in their ignorance. You remember how it used to be?

How easy it was for you to be conformed to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. How easy it was for you to mold into those kind of things in your former lifestyle, before you were saved. He says, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts, which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who has called you, behold yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, you should be holy for I am holy. You see, our minds need to be delivered, because man's mind is captivated by Satan in our unbelieving state.

In fact, the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 4, that our minds simply are dark. It says, so this I say, Ephesians 4, 17, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer, just as the Gentiles also walked, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart, they being callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity, with greediness.

But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed, or since indeed, you have heard him, and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus. Then in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind. So Paul would go back, as Peter does, and say, remember how it used to be? Before you walk in a unique and distinct way, because you've been delivered, your mind was dark.

Those former lusts only drove you further and further away from God. And a dark mind needs to be delivered. And the Bible says, over in the book of 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, I'm sorry, 1 Timothy chapter 6, he says this, that there's a constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth who suppose that godliness is the means of gain.

So an unbelieving mind is not just a dark mind, it's a depraved mind. And not only is it a depraved mind, it is a defiled mind, for the Bible says, in Titus chapter 1, verse number 15, to the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure.

But both their mind and their conscience are defiled. So in an unbelieving state, you have a dark mind, you have a depraved mind, you have a defiled mind, you really have a dead mind. Because Romans chapter 8 tells us these words in verse number 5, for those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. In other words, a dark, depraved, defiled mind is a dead mind.

That mind needs to be delivered. And the only one who can deliver that kind of mind is God himself. Why? Because Satan is after the mind of the unbelievers. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse number 4, it says, or verse number 3, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. In other words, the unbelieving mind is blinded to the glory of Christ.

He's blinded to the deity of Christ. He's blinded to the fact that Christ is God in the flesh. Satan blinds the mind of the unbeliever. That's why it's so dark and depraved and defiled. It's a dead mind. That mind needs to be delivered. Once it's delivered, it becomes positionally pure in Christ. But every moment of every day, there's this constant cleansing that must take place in my mind. Because both Paul and Peter would warn about the former lusts, the former lifestyle, the way it used to be.

Don't be captivated by that. It's so easy to slip back into those things. Our minds need to be pure and holy. So, Peter says, gird your minds. Prepare your minds. Well, how are you going to do that? The word gird is a word that speaks of gathering together and tying together. In Bible times, they didn't have jeans. They didn't have shorts and T-shirts like we do today. They wore long flowing robes. If you're going to do some kind of strenuous activity or you're going to run someplace, you've got to gather everything together so you wrap it around your legs and tie it together so that you can run and do all kinds of activities.

Peter picks up on that and uses the analogy to say, look, this is what you need to do with your minds. You don't want loose ends hanging around so you tie them all together. You don't want loose ends in your mind dangling all over the place. The loose ends of aimlessness, the loose ends of carelessness, all those things, your minds need to be prepared. Then he says, keep sober in spirit. Stay sober. The opposite of being sober is being what? Intoxicated, right? And so he wants you to keep your mind clear because so often we become so inebriated with the things of the world.

And all of a sudden, an intoxicated man, he staggers, doesn't talk clearly, he starts showing affection to the wrong kinds of people, talks too much, right? You need to be sober. Paul says over in Ephesians 6, a similar analogy, where he says these words, he says in verse number 14, Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with the truth. Same phrase. Gird your loins. Prepare yourself for battle. And not one Roman soldier would go into battle with his robes just flowing down so that when he began to run at the enemy, everything would be dangling and flowing.

You got to gird it all together. Tie it all up together. Seal it. You do that with truth. Truth is what does that. It's the belt of truth. So Paul would use the analogy of a Roman soldier when it comes to the believer's life because there are so many things that are in our minds just hanging out there, dangling all over the place. Some of you right now are just wondering about the Dodger score. Right? The Dodger game is on right about now and they're probably in about the 4th or 5th inning. You're wondering what the score of the game is and your thoughts are out there dangling around, right?

Peter says to you, Prepare your minds. Gird up your minds. Take all those loose thoughts and bring them all together. Some of you are thinking about what you're going to do for dinner after the service tonight or what you're going to do tomorrow when you go to work or what's vacation going to be like this weekend or you begin to think about those things. We are so undisciplined in our minds. Are we not? We just kind of let them run rampant. We think about all kinds of things. We just can't shut off our minds thinking about all kinds of things and yet Peter says if you want to be holy as God himself is holy, you've got to gird your minds.

You've got to be sober in spirit. You've got to fix your hope, your gaze. Finally, upon the hope that's to be revealed at the coming of Christ.

You've got to do that. It's about the purity of the mind. Purify your mind. Remember what Paul says in Philippians 4? You know these words. Philippians chapter 4 verse number 8. Finally, brethren, whatever is true and whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Ponder on this. Think on this. These things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. He says first of all, you've got to rejoice always.

You've got to praise God. Second of all, you've got to pray to God. Be anxious for nothing but everything of prayer and supplication, thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. So once you praise God and once you pray to God, you need to ponder all your thoughts upon God. And then you need to practice the things of God. But notice what he says.

Finally, brethren, whatever you've got to do, think on these things. You see, he wants you to think theologically, not logically. But we tend to think logically. You say, well, wait a minute. Isn't theology logical? Yes, it is. But when you don't think theologically and you think logically, you are thinking humanistically instead of divinely. And you need to center your thoughts and minds above, not below. That's what Paul says in Colossians chapter 3. Fix our gaze above. But we tend not to do that.

We tend to really focus on things around us. And then we wonder why our minds are all messed up. Why I think the way I do about my marriage or I think the way I do about my kids or the way I think, the way I do about my work or my church or whatever. All that is just so important that we think in the things that are true. True. But we know the Bible's true. Right? Psalm 119. Psalm 119 tells us in verse 160, the sum of your word is truth and every one of your righteous ordinances is everlasting. Psalm 119, 151, you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.

Verse 142, your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and your law is truth. So what are we supposed to think upon? What are we to dwell upon? What are we to ponder? We're to ponder the truth. God is true. The Spirit is true. The Son is true. The Bible's true. And Christ said to Pilate in John chapter 18, these words, John chapter 18, verse number 37, Pilate said to him, so you are a king? And Jesus answered, you say correctly that I am a king. For this I was born and for this I have come into the world to testify to the truth.

I've come to testify to the truth and everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. What truth did Jesus testify to? The truth about his identity, right? Because he is the son of the living God. The truth about his ministry because he came to seek and save that which is lost. The truth about mercy. The truth about grace. The truth about love. The truth about heaven and hell. The truth about life and death. Think of things that are true. Life and death is true. Heaven and hell is true. Love, mercy, grace, justice are true.

God is true. His word is true. How much time do you spend pondering those kind of things? And the only way you can do that is to be in the truth of God's holy word. And if you don't do that, all of a sudden your mind is going to be cluttered with everything on the outside of the truth. It's going to be enamored with the things of the world. And all of a sudden, the things of the world are going to become so big to you. When in reality, they pale in comparison to eternity. So Paul says, think on the things that are true.

You want a pure mind? You want to purify your mind? You've got to think on the things that are true. Jesus came to purify your life. He did. I was asked a question by my son the other day. And he asked me, he says, tell me again, what are the implications of the first miracle of Jesus?

Turning water into wine. Of course, you know, you've heard me say this many times before. People say, well, you know, Jesus turned water into wine, so wine must be good, so let's drink wine. That's not the purpose of the miracle. At least the very first miracle Jesus ever did.

You get one chance to make a first impression. So the impression he makes is turning water into wine. Why not the resurrection? Why not raising somebody from the dead? Why not make a big splash? Why, at a wedding, turn water into wine? Because it sets the tone for his ministry. It's in John chapter 2. On the third day, which would have been a Tuesday in the Jewish calendar, he would turn that water into wine because that's what he came to do.

He took that murky water, that filthy water for the purpose of ceremonial cleansing that was so dirty, he took it, he cleansed it, he purified it, he made it the finest of wine. The first miracle sets the tone for why Jesus came.

He came to purify defiled, depraved, desecrated, dead minds. What's the very next story in John chapter 2? The cleansing of the temple. Why? Because Jesus is into cleansing. So he cleanses the temple. Oh, by the way, what's the very next scene in John's Gospel? The conversation with Nicodemus. Right? Because it was with the washing of the water of the Word that he would be cleansed and born again. You see, everything about the ministry of Jesus is about purity, holiness, and cleansing. He wants your minds to be pure and holy.

So when he delivers your soul from a dead, dark, defiled, depraved existence, he cleanses your life. And so positionally before him you're clean and pure. But sin creeps in and because we tend to move in that direction, there needs to be this constant purification of our minds away from the things of the world. And so we go to the Lord and we dwell on the things that are true. You want a pure mind? Philippians 4, 8 is the only way to get one. There is no other way. There's no magic formula. No magic pill you take and all of a sudden, boom, you're clean.

No, you've got to meditate upon the Word. You've got to study the Word. You've got to be in the Word. John 15, 3, you've been made clean through the Word which I've spoken unto you. The only way that Jesus cleanses you is through His Word. How can a young man keep his way pure? By taking heed to the Word of God. Thy Word I treasure in my heart that I might not sin against thee. So Paul says, I want you to ponder on these things. One, truth. Two, that which is noble or honorable. Hebrews 13, 4 says the marriage bed is honorable, undefiled.

The marriage bed's honorable. You want to think about things that are honorable, things that are sacred, things that are worthy of adoration? The marriage bed is worthy of that. Marriage is honorable and the marriage bed is undefiled. And marriage is an honorable, sacred institution designed by the Divine Architect Himself. You want a pure mind? Dwell on your marriage. Think on your marriage. Think of your spouse because that's honorable. It's sacred. The communion table, it's honorable, it's sacred.

Baptism, honorable, sacred. Right? The Lord, He is certainly worthy of honor and adoration. You think on the things that are true and noble and right or righteous. Righteous things, not unrighteous things. Righteous things. Things that meet the Divine standard. God has one standard. And that one standard is His righteousness. No one else has the standard. Christ has the standard. It's a righteous, holy standard. Think on the things that are true, noble, righteous. Things that are pure, morally clean.

Things that are holy, that are undefiled. Think on the things that are gracious or lovely. Maybe the text says lovely. Things that are generous, sweet, amiable. Things that are of good repute or praiseworthy. Things that are highly regarded, well thought of. In other words, the Bible says in Proverbs 23, 7, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

The heart is the center of your mind. Even though your mind is in your brain or in your head and your heart is in your chest, they really are the same thing. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Your heart is the center of the thought process. Because out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Christ said in Matthew 12, I speak not what's on my mind, I speak what's in my heart. You say, that's the first thing that came to my mind.

No, it's the first thing that came out of your heart. But both are true. So as a man thinks within himself, so is he. That's why Solomon would say, guard your heart. Because out of the flow, all the issues of life, everything about life flows from your heart. Everything. So guard it, protect it, watch over it. Set a guard over it. How are you going to do that? Think of the things that are true. Think of the things that are honorable. Things that are pure, holy. They're right. They're lovely. Think of that which is in the Scriptures.

And your mind will become cleaner and clearer with each passing moment. So what happens to people's lives who make this commitment to love one another for a lifetime and declare that love to an assembly that comes to watch them, their minds become very unclean. And they begin to think things that are not true because they're not in the Word of the Lord. They begin to think things that are not right or righteous. They begin to have impure thoughts. They begin to think about things that are not lovely, rather things that are unlovely, vengeful thoughts, getting back at the spouse, thinking about things that will turn things around instead of thinking about the things that are true and pure and holy and lovely that our mind are to dwell on these things.

Because Peter says, or Paul says, things you've heard and seen in me, you do practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. Why isn't there peace in our marriages? That's because you're thinking on the wrong things. Your mind's impure, not pure. I'm not talking about your position in Christ. I'm talking about your practice every single day. And all that needs to be dealt with from a biblical standpoint. So if you want to declare your love for a lifetime and you want your love to be intimate, intense, indestructible, invaluable, forever, you're going to have to purify your mind.

You're going to have to deal with your thought life because, as the Lord said, I want you to be as holy as I am holy, as pure as I am pure. I want you to be holy in all your conduct. He doesn't say I want you to be holy on your Sunday conduct. He doesn't say I want you to be holy in your church conduct. I want you to be holy in all your conduct at home, at work, at church, at play. No matter where you're at. I want you holy in all your conduct. I want you holy even in the private conduct. I want you holy.

So prepare your minds. Keep sober in spirit. Spirit. Fix your hope on the coming of Messiah. Don't get trapped in your former lusts. Don't do that. Purify your mind. That's all I'm going to get to tonight. I have several more, but I'll pick those up in two weeks. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for our time together this evening and the opportunity you give us to study your Word. All of us, Lord, have thinking that's unbiblical, and that's not right, and yet you've given us a pattern which we are to follow, that if we do, our minds will be cleansed and purified.

May we think upon the things that are true. So many things in social media that's untrue. They seem to captivate our thinking, our thought life. We've become enamored with the things of the world. Those things ought not so to be with those of us who love you. So our prayer, Father, is that you would go before us and cleanse us from all defilement. Now, Lord, we might be able to say as Abishag said to Solomon, set a seal over your heart and over your arms. I just want all that you are and all that you have.

I want you. That love is as strong as death. It's passionate. It's intense. So much so that we're jealous for the one that we say we love. And rightly so. It's a godly jealousy. And that many waters can never quench our love. Satan will try to do that, but no matter how high the water comes, it can never quench the love I have because my love for my spouse is indestructible. It's invaluable because nothing can draw me away. No amount of money, material possessions can ever draw me away. Why? Because it's a biblical love.

That kind of love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13. You said it, Lord, this love, love that's patient, love that's kind, never fails because it's God's love. And that love has been shed abroad in our hearts. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.