Introduction:

2. Introduction: • This fact is not unknown to Satan, that is why he has attempted to sabotage the marriage even from the beginning, trying to destroy the first couple’s relationship • Satan wants to destroy it, God wants his people to preserve it.

3. Great and Godly Marriage is Possible

4. MONOGAMY • One man, one woman ( God design it this way) • Some of the first behaviors to be accepted culturally • -- Adultery • -- Cohabitation(live-in) • -- Pornography • -- Abortion • -- Prostitution • --Homosexuality

5. MONOGAMY • -the Old Testament men who had more than one wife • Abraham (Sara and Hagar), • Jacob (Rachel and Leah), • David (Michal and Bathsheba) • Solomon (700 wives and 300 concubines) • The Bible informs it but doesn’t support it • The Bible describes it but doesn’t • prescribe it for us

6. MONOGAMY • -the Old Testament saints who preserved the monogamous marriage • Adam and Eve, Noah, Job, Isaac and Rebekah, • Moses and Zipporah, Mary and Joseph. • God has a unique mate for you

8. FIDELITY -a man and woman in marriage will become one flesh ” There is the “leave,” then comes “cleave,” and becoming one flesh, we can call “weave.”

9. LONGEVITY • Cleave and never leave. • That word cleave means • “to glue.” • The couple is glued or stuck together and • cannot come apart • Romans 7:2 • Ecclesiastes 5:5

10. Learn what the data reveals about who is getting married, when they're getting married, and who is most likely to divorce.  The average age of a woman getting married in the United States is 27. — Bride's Magazine  The average age of a man getting married in the United States is 29. — Bride's Magazine  88 percent of American men and women between the ages of 20 and 29 believe that they have a soul mate who is waiting for them. — University Wire, Louisiana State University

11. 59 percent of marriages for women under the age of 18 end in divorce within 15 years. The divorce rate drops to 36 percent for those married at age 20 or older. — "Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the United States," M.D. Bramlett and W.D. Mosher  60 percent of marriages for couples between the ages of 20 and 25 end in divorce. — National Center for Health Statistics  50 percent of all marriages in which the brides are 25 or older result in a failed marriage. — National Center for Health Statistics

12.  65 percent of altar-bound men and women live together before getting married. — Bride's Magazine   Research indicates that people who live together prior to getting married are more likely to have marriages that end in divorce. — The Boston Herald  A recent study on cohabitation concluded that after five to seven years, only 21 percent of unmarried couples were still living together. — The Boston Herald  55 percent of cohabitating couples get married within five years of moving in together. Forty percent of couples who live together break up within that same time period. — Annual Review of Sociology 

13.  Children of divorce have a higher risk of divorce when they marry, and an even higher risk if the person they marry comes from a divorced home. One study found that when the wife alone had experienced a parental divorce, her odds of divorce increased to 59 percent. When both spouses experienced parental divorce, the odds of divorce nearly tripled to 189 percent. — Journal of Marriage and the Family   The likelihood that a woman will eventually marry is significantly lower for those who first had a child out of wedlock. By age 35, only 70 percent of all unwed mothers are married in contrast to 88 percent of women who have not had a child out of wedlock. — "Finding a Mate? The Marital and Cohabitation Histories of Unwed Mothers," Lawrence L. Wu and Barbara Wolfe Dr. Phil

14. Rank   CountriesAmount # 1   United States: 4.95 per 1,000 people  # 2   Puerto Rico: 4.47 per 1,000 people  # 3   Russia: 3.36 per 1,000 people  # 4   United Kingdom: 3.08 per 1,000 people  # 5   Denmark: 2.81 per 1,000 people  # 6   New Zealand: 2.63 per 1,000 people  # 7   Australia: 2.52 per 1,000 people  # 8   Canada: 2.46 per 1,000 people  # 9   Finland: 1.85 per 1,000 people  # 10   Barbados: 1.21 per 1,000 people  # 11   Guadeloupe: 1.18 per 1,000 people  # 12   Qatar: 0.97 per 1,000 people  # 13   Portugal: 0.88 per 1,000 people  # 14   Albania: 0.83 per 1,000 people  # 15   Tunisia: 0.82 per 1,000 people  # 16   Singapore: 0.8 per 1,000 people  # 17   China: 0.79 per 1,000 people  # 18   Greece: 0.76 per 1,000 people  # 19   Brunei: 0.72 per 1,000 people  # 20   Panama: 0.68 per 1,000 people  # 21   Syria: 0.65 per 1,000 people  # 22   Thailand: 0.58 per 1,000 people  # 23   Mauritius: 0.47 per 1,000 people  # 24   Ecuador: 0.42 per 1,000 people  # 25   El Salvador: 0.41 per 1,000 people  # 26   Cyprus: 0.39 per 1,000 people  = 27   Chile: 0.38 per 1,000 people  = 27   Jamaica: 0.38 per 1,000 people  = 29   Mongolia: 0.37 per 1,000 people  = 29   Turkey: 0.37 per 1,000 people  # 31   Mexico: 0.33 per 1,000 people  # 32   Italy: 0.27 per 1,000 people  # 33   Brazil: 0.26 per 1,000 people  # 34   Sri Lanka: 0.15 per 1,000 people  Weighted average: 1.3 per 1,000 people  

15. INTIMACY • God designed marriage to be the most intimate of human relations • It includes • Emotional intimacy • --closeness that comes through shared feelings • Mental or intellectual intimacy • --when a couple has a mutual understanding of who they are and where they’re going—life goals • Spiritual intimacy • --the couple share beliefs and observe practices together • Recreational intimacy • --when you enjoy doing things together • Physical intimacy • --when couple share the power of human touch

16. Conclusion Do you want your marriage to be great and Godly? Great and Godly marriages are worth that kind of dedication because Great and Godly marriages are the beginning of Great and Godly families . And Great and Godly families will have great and Godly Church and help to keep the world focused on our Great God.