Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Let's begin by singing, I will praise Him.
Hymn number 166, I will praise Him.
And when you have found it, can you please stand.
Let's sing unto the Lord. 166, I will praise Him.
Hymn number 166, I will praise Him.
My heart was set aflame for thee,
I shall never cease to praise Him.
Glory, glory to His Name.
I will praise Him,
I will praise Him.
Praise the Lamb for sinner's sake,
Give him glory all ye people
Glory all ye people, for his blood can wash away each stain.
Blessed be the name of Jesus, I'm so glad he took me in.
He's forgiven my transgressions.
He has cleansed my heart from sin.
I will praise him, I will praise him, praise the lamp for sinners slain.
Give him glory, all ye people, for his blood can wash away each stain.
Glory, glory to the Father, glory, glory to the Son.
Glory, glory to the Spirit, glory to the free in one.
I will praise him, I will praise him, praise the lamp for sinners slain.
Give him glory, all ye people, for his blood can wash away each stain.
We want to thank you so much for being our Heavenly Father, for making us part of your family,
for giving us New Life Baptist Church, and a place to come and praise and worship you,
and to honour Jesus Christ, whom you sent to give us salvation.
Lord, we also uplift Blessed Out Baptist Church in Sydney as they seek to be in church as well, Lord,
and that you would receive praise and worship from all the churches here in Australia that name the name of Christ.
And Lord, we just ask that your Holy Spirit will work in our hearts and minds,
be attentive to church, and that we will learn great things from your Word.
We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen. You may be seated.
Alright, the next hymn, guys, is hymn number 328.
328, we sang this one on Wednesday, I Want That Mountain, 328.
Before we sing, I just want to publicly apologise to Brother Michael,
because I said Joshua had these words, I want that mountain, but Michael was right.
It was Caleb. You were right, Michael.
So I was sharply rebuked, and then I caught up with Pastor Stevenson during the week,
and he sharply rebuked me as well.
So out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established.
So after service, you can take me and stone me if you want.
This is why you're meant to go and check the Word of God.
Alright, I'm a human being.
Whatever I say behind this pulpit, you go back to the Word of God and prove whether it's true or not.
Alright, 328, I Want That Mountain, 328, I Want That Mountain.
There's still one verse short, so the last verse a cappella.
I saw the giants of molestous upon the mountain high.
He laughed so hard at my own mentally.
No longer in the wilderness I'll stay, and so I cry.
I want that mountain, it belongs to me.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
Where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of esco grow.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
The mountain that my Lord has given me.
There was a giant of laziness who said I wouldn't go.
And witness for the one who set me free.
I'll come from out the wilderness, I'll witness now I know.
I want that mountain, it belongs to me.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
Where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of esco grow.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
The mountain that my Lord has given me.
One faithless giant upon the breast of Hebrews laughed and cried.
As well that he's the one to make me free.
I'll come from out the wilderness and trust your oversight.
I want that mountain, it belongs to me.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
Where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of esco grow.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
The mountain that my Lord has given me.
Let every giant of distress and unbelief and sin.
Get ready now to vacate for you see.
I've come from out the wilderness, I know I'm going to win.
I want that mountain, it belongs to me.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
Where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of esco grow.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain.
The mountain that my Lord has given me.
It is the promise of God's full salvation to give.
And to Him whom on Jesus His Son will bearly.
Hallelujah, it is done, I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Hallelujah, it is done,
I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
May all the pathway be lonely and dangerous too.
Surely Jesus is able to carry me through.
Hallelujah, it is done,
I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Hallelujah, it is done,
I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Many loved ones have one in God's heavenly throne.
They are safe now in glory and this is their song.
Hallelujah, it is done,
I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Hallelujah, it is done,
I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
The crucified one.
There's a heart in that chorus for you and for me.
Hallelujah, it is done,
I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Hallelujah, it is done,
I believe on the Son.
I am saved by the blood of the crucified one.
Matthew 19.
And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings,
He departed from Galilee and came into the coast of Judea beyond Jordan.
And great multitudes followed Him and He healed them there.
The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him and saying unto Him,
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
And He answered and said unto them,
Have ye not read that He which made them at the beginning,
made them male and female?
And He said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother,
and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh.
Wherefore, they are no more twain, but one flesh.
While therefore God hath thrown together, let no man put a son down.
They say unto Him, Why did Moses in command
to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts,
suffers you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication, and shall marry another,
comitteth adultery, and whoso marrieth her, which is put away,
doth commit adultery.
His disciples say unto him,
If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
But he say unto them, All men cannot receive this saying,
save they to whom it is given.
For there are some eunuchs which were born from the mother's womb,
and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men,
and there be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs
for the kingdom of heaven's sake.
He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
Then were they there brought unto him little children,
that he should put his hands on them and pray,
and the disciples rebuked them.
But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me,
for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
And he laid his hands to them, and departed thence.
And behold, one came and said unto him, Good master,
what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
There is none good but one, that is God.
But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
He said unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder,
thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not bear false witness, honour thy father and thy mother,
and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
The young men said unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up,
what luck I am.
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect,
go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor,
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you,
That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed and said,
Who can then be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them,
With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all,
and follow thee, what shall we have therefore?
And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
That ye which have followed me in this regeneration,
when the Son of man shall sit down in the throne of his glory,
ye shall have seated upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or family,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
For many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
Dear Lord, please help everyone to learn something from the sermon.
Please fill my data with the Holy Ghost, and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Amen.
Okay, thank you Christian.
So, this morning we are coming back to the statement of faith that we've been working through.
And one thing I do want to say about the statement of faith is that,
obviously, as the pastor of this church, and having established the church from the very beginning,
these are obviously not just the church's beliefs, but these are my personal beliefs.
And, you know, as we go through the statement of faith, one thing I want you to understand is that,
if you have some difference of opinion, you know, I would appreciate if you could share that with me.
I'd like to know where you stand on certain things.
At the same time, I recognise that, you know, we're not always going to see eye to eye on absolutely every point of detail.
And what my hope is that, as a church, obviously, that we would always take the larger,
or the most significant parts, you know, of doctrine, and that we could be aligned upon that.
You know, not long ago I preached, one of the things on the statement of faith that I preached was about heaven, for example.
And, you know, I strongly believe that the Old Testament saints went to heaven.
And they perished, you know, they died and went to heaven.
But, you know, if someone has the belief, and they still believe,
well, no, I still think that, you know, they went to a paradise in the middle of the earth, or something like that.
Does that mean I can't be in your church? Of course not.
Like, obviously, the most important thing is that you understand and you believe that, you know,
if you were to die today, you know, we're talking about, we're operating 2023.
You know, if someone were to die today, and they trusted Christ, they would be in heaven today with him.
Or if they die without Christ, then they would then spend eternity in hell.
And, you know, these are the most important core things that are, obviously, that we're looking for union and having the same mind of.
And so, you know, as far as the big picture goes, that's what I'm looking for, that we would have union in the church.
But, of course, when it comes to some of the more minor issues or some of the things that there might be disagreements,
even within the IFB world, of course, I'm not going to have a go at you, I'm not going to attack you.
All I challenge you with, like I've always challenged you, is you make sure you go back to the Word of God,
and you have your personal beliefs, because you yourself have gone back and checked it and read it and understood it for yourself,
and that you're not just trusting a man, a man's opinion on certain things.
And so, I just want to make that very clear.
And, you know, if there is something significant that you feel, look, I am completely, you know, off base with you on this,
I'd like you to share that with me.
It doesn't mean you can't be part of this church necessarily, but I want to hear what you have to say, you know.
If you say to me, you know what, pastor, I've heard your statement on the statement of faith for the church,
but I still believe salvation is by works.
Look, to be honest with you, if you believe that salvation is by works, you're still working at this church.
You can sit in, okay, but if you start teaching that, you're out of the church, okay.
If you start to promote such a thing, you're out.
And, you know, I'll give you an example. Just down in Sydney, last Sunday, I did a couple of baptisms,
and two of the baptisms of a couple that have been attending our church for three years.
And for those three years, we really believed they were not saved, you know.
And, in fact, they were not saved when they started attending.
And, you know, some comments were made, and I think they felt a bit offended or something.
But, look, eventually, hey, guess what, eventually they believed the gospel, you know.
And come last Sunday, they got baptized, praise God.
And so, you know, I don't have a problem if someone comes to church and they're unsaved,
they're not trying to cause problems, they're just sincere, they want to learn God's Word,
they want to absorb as much as they can.
And if it just takes some time, and the issue with this couple in Sydney was language.
Language was the barrier.
You know, if it just takes someone time, well, praise God, it takes time.
And so you're welcome to church as long as you're not trying to teach contrary,
or you're not trying to cause problems.
But, again, if you have any major issues with what I'm teaching, saving the faith,
I'd like to hear that.
Okay, because, you know, I think it's important to be transparent with one another.
And so what we're looking at here, brethren, is Matthew chapter 19, verse number 3.
It says,
The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him,
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
And he answered and said unto them,
Have ye not read that he which made them, at the beginning, made them male and female?
And he said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife,
and they twain shall be one flesh.
Wherefore, they are no more twain but one flesh.
What therefore God have joined together, let not man put asunder.
And so we're looking at the topic of marriage and divorce.
The title for the sermon this morning is Marriage and Divorce.
And, as I said, we are going through our statement of faith.
I do, you know, not every church has marriage as a part of their statement of faith,
but I believe it's actually very important.
You know, it's an institution that God created before he created the institution of church.
Okay, it's actually the very first institution that he created.
It was husband and wife on day number 6.
I think it's a very important thing.
And I think it's especially important in 2023,
because the definitions of marriage has changed, okay.
And, you know, as a pastor, even though I'm not a marriage celebrant,
you know, I still have been involved in overseeing weddings.
And, you know, I want to make sure that people understand where I stand,
because, again, this world has changed, definitions of marriage.
And so under this statement of faith, under marriage and divorce,
we're going to have these words.
We believe that the only marriage recognised in scripture
is the lifetime union of one man and one woman.
The only and proper place for sexual activity is within the institution of marriage.
We believe that divorce, fornication, adultery, pornography and homosexuality
are perversions of God's intended purposes.
Okay, so that's going to be under our statement of faith, under marriage and divorce.
We have to put, I mean, it's strange to think that we have to have this in our statement of faith.
That we believe it's a lifetime union of one man and one woman.
We have to put that today.
Okay, because, of course, our nation has changed the definition of marriage.
You know, our nation is fine marrying a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.
No, it's one man and one woman.
This is a lifelong commitment, one toward another.
This is God's plan, okay?
And so we saw there in Matthew 19 that we saw, we know the Pharisees are the enemies of Jesus Christ.
They're trying to cause Him to slip up, and they bring this challenge of marriage before Him.
And I understand, I understand this scenario.
Like sometimes when I read the Bible, there are things that take place,
scenario situations that take place, and I'm like, how did that happen?
Like how does that come to be?
But when I see the Pharisees coming to Jesus Christ, tempting Him,
and asking Him about marriage and divorce,
I understand this because this is like the number one question that I get as a pastor.
Is, so what's your position on marriage?
What's your position on divorce?
What's your position on remarriage?
This is like the number one question that I get, so I fully understand.
And I also recognize that when I've had these questions,
people aren't always just genuinely looking for an answer.
They're trying to make you slip up.
They're trying to find an inconsistency, okay, to accuse you of something.
And so this is exactly what the Pharisees are asking of Jesus Christ.
Let's read it carefully.
What was His response in verse number four?
And He answered and said unto them,
Have ye not read, okay?
So brethren, when we understand marriage, what do we go to?
We have to go and we have to read the Scriptures.
We build our understanding of marriage from the Scriptures.
He asked the Pharisees, Have you not read the Bible?
Have you not read the Scriptures?
Because it is plainly there in the Scriptures.
In fact, it is there in Genesis 1 and it is there in Genesis 2.
You don't have to go very far in the Scriptures, you know, to understand what marriage is.
Have you not read?
And then it says that He, of course, speaking of God, which made them at the beginning,
look at this, made them male and female.
God made them male and female from the beginning.
We live in a society now where, you know, people have been told,
Hey, don't tell your biological boy that he's male.
He may feel like he's female.
Or your biological girl, she may feel like she's a boy.
You know, so there's gender fluid and you can just change genders
or you can be a bit of both maybe if you want to be a bit of both.
No, God made them at the beginning male and female.
Male and female.
This is in your genes.
This is within every nature of your being.
God has already created you male and female.
Then He says in verse number 5, and said,
For this cause shall a man leave father and mother.
There comes a time when a man must leave father and mother.
What is the cause of that?
And shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh.
Look, biblically speaking, what is the one scenario
that should cause you to leave mother and father?
University.
Got to go and stay at the university campus.
No, that's not what it says.
I've reached the age of 25 and, you know,
I just want to make my own life for myself now.
No.
Okay.
For what cause shall a man leave his father and mother?
For marriage.
To cleave unto his wife.
Wives?
No.
Wife.
Okay.
One wife.
And they twain two, right?
One male, one female.
They twain shall be one flesh.
You know, is it okay for a man to have multiple wives?
No.
Okay.
It's not right.
It's sinful.
You know, is it right for a woman to have multiple husbands?
No.
Okay.
Polygamy is against the laws of God.
Okay.
Hinduism teaches polygamy.
I know Islam teaches polygamy.
These are perversions of God's ways.
God's ways, one man, one woman twain, becoming one flesh.
And by the way, one flesh.
You know, once you're married, you are a team.
You do everything together.
You spend time together.
You talk together.
You come up with rules of the family together.
You make a life together.
You're not two individuals just living, you know,
your own lives under one roof.
No, you're together.
You're one flesh.
Verse number six, therefore they are no more twain.
You're no more twain.
Oh, this is what my wife does.
This is what I do.
We just live different lives.
No, no.
Oh, that's my wife's mistake.
No, it's your together mistake.
Oh, that's my husband.
No, no, that's you work together.
Okay.
You're a team.
You're together.
You're no more twain but one flesh.
Well, therefore, God have joined together.
Is anyone married this morning?
Say, yes, I'm married.
Okay.
Well, therefore, God have joined together.
God joined you together.
Let not man put asunder.
Don't break it.
Is God for divorce?
No, God hates divorce.
God has joined you together.
Why would God separate you?
Why would God divide you?
You're one flesh now.
Okay.
You take one flesh and you divide this flesh.
If I divide this flesh, I'm dead.
What benefit is that?
Look, divorce is against the laws of God.
There is one exception to divorce.
We're going to look at that in a moment.
Okay.
Or a bit later.
Okay.
But listen, you better make sure when you decide to get married that when you look at
that person, you say, I'm willing to be with that person for the rest of my life.
It's one person, you know, ideally in that scenario unless you're a widow.
We'll talk about that in a moment as well.
Okay.
For the rest of my life.
You're saying till death do us part.
And if you're unable to say those words, then don't commit.
Don't do it.
Okay.
And I've recently gone through a series on dating.
You know, as you're dating an individual, if you say, look, I can't, I don't see myself
with this person for the rest of my life, then why are you dating them?
Why are you with them?
Why are you spending this time, these emotions and these feelings?
Why are you wasting that time?
See, marriage is one time for the rest of your life.
Till death.
Okay.
And it's something that God has joined together.
Let not man put asunder.
Now, I recognize, of course, in our church and even down in Sydney, you know, there are
people that have been divorced, that have been remarried.
Okay.
Obviously, the plan A went out the window.
You can't chase plan A. Okay.
And if you've been remarried, guess what?
You're married.
God has joined that together.
Let not man put asunder.
Don't be like, oh, man, I messed up.
You know what, I got remarried, so I'm going to divorce here and then I'm going to get
back to that person.
We'll talk about that in a moment as well.
You're just creating more and more problems.
You're creating more and more issues.
Listen, the situation you find yourself in today, you know, praise God.
You know, if you've been remarried, well, make sure this one lasts till death do us part.
Give everything you can, you know, to make this the best that you can.
Now, if you can, please, you can keep your finger there in Matthew 19.
We will come back.
Come with me to Genesis chapter two.
Let's just quickly have a look at this.
When Jesus Christ says, have you not read?
Of course, he's referring back to Genesis chapter two.
Okay.
And look, if the Pharisees have not read Genesis two, then you know, they're not picking up
their Bibles.
And there's a lot of confusion on this topic of marriage and divorce and remarriage.
And the real reason is just people have not read Genesis one or two.
That's just, people don't read the Bible, you know, and there are preachers behind the
pulpit that don't read the Bible.
Okay, so let's just start there in Genesis two.
Look at verse number 21.
Genesis 2 21.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.
This is day number six of creation.
And he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof.
And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man.
How many women did God bring to Adam?
One.
Marriage is one.
One woman.
Okay?
You set your heart and your eyes upon one.
And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh, literally, in this case, okay?
Now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was
taken out of man.
And again, now these are the words of Adam.
Jesus Christ is reinforcing that the words of Adam are divinely inspired.
Okay?
Adam says, therefore shall a man leave his father and mother.
Adam, what mother and father did you have?
None.
These are divinely spoken words.
Adam did not have an earthly mother and father, did he?
But he's able to say these words by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife
and they shall be one flesh.
And then a further expansion of this one flesh there in verse number 25.
We are both naked, the man and his wife and we're not ashamed.
What is the proper place for nakedness between a man and a woman?
Marriage.
Okay?
That is the one and proper place for that.
Okay?
So physical intimacy, the right place for physical intimacy is marriage.
Okay?
We are against fornication as a church.
We don't believe in that.
Well, I believe it exists but we're not in favour of that.
Okay?
You know, multiple women or multiple husbands.
This is not God's way.
Divorce, it is not God's way.
Sex before marriage, it is not God's way.
And those desires are strong.
Okay?
Because they're natural.
Because God put them within you.
And so if you have those desires, then what ought to be your aim?
Marriage.
That ought to be your aim.
Marriage.
This is God's purpose.
God's plan from the very beginning.
Be fruitful and multiply.
How else are you going to multiply unless it's physical intimacy?
Okay?
So from the very beginning, this is God's way.
And that's what Christ says.
Have you not read?
Okay?
From the beginning.
This was the plan from the very beginning.
Now, there are people in our church that have made those mistakes.
They've been divorced and whatever.
Okay?
I'm not trying to make you feel horrible but you know, the most important thing is
that we teach what God's word says.
Okay?
We have a lot of young people in our church, you know, and we want to make sure they make
the right decisions.
We want to make sure when they enter into the marriage, they commend themselves for
life.
They know the seriousness of what they're entering into.
And again, if you've made mistakes, many people in the Bible have made mistakes in
this area.
Many, even great men and great women of God have made mistakes in this area.
So I'm not trying to tear you down.
Okay?
If you've ruined plan A in this side of life, we'll pursue plan B and make it work.
You say, I've ruined plan B, then make plan C work.
Okay?
God can use you in a mighty way.
I'm not trying to tear you down.
The most important thing, I think, in this church is that children understand the seriousness
of the decision of marriage.
Okay?
Of physical intimacy and where it belongs and what the Bible teaches.
Because you guys know that have made mistakes.
You ought to back me and say, you know what, past is right.
You know, when you start making mistakes and you start to not do things according to God's
ways, there are major consequences.
You know, there are major hurts and sorrows and confusion and you know what, just make
sure you do the best decisions you can in life.
Why did God create Adam and Eve?
Well, we know that, you know, or why did he create the institution of marriage?
Well, we know that in Genesis 1, he says, be fruitful and multiply.
You see, God loves multiplication.
God loves children.
God loves little babies being born.
But specifically for us as believers here in a church of saved believers, just in the
book of Malachi, the question gets asked.
I'll read it to you.
Malachi 2, 15.
And did not he make one?
Did God not make one, speaking of marriage here?
Yet had he the residue of the Spirit and wherefore one?
Why?
Why did God make one?
That he might seek a godly seed.
You see, it's one thing to have a seed.
It's one thing to have children and I applaud you for having children.
But it's not just having children.
God wants those children to be raised in a godly manner, in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord.
The Lord is seeking a godly seed.
He's not just looking for the procreation of people, but that people would have a fear
of God.
Our children are important that they understand the fear of God.
You know, it's so important to parents that we raise our children to be godly.
Okay?
And, you know, our children will do the right things when they're young.
Generally speaking, because they have a fear of mum and dad.
They have a fear of being chastised.
Okay?
But you don't want that to be the only reason they do the right things.
You want them to develop a fear of the Lord.
That you want them to understand that God is looking down at all the decisions and actions
they take in life.
Okay?
That's what you're seeking for.
Because your children, they're going to grow up.
They're going to become teenagers.
They're going to become young adults.
They're going to become adults.
And if they're only doing the right thing because of fear of mum and dad, they'll
eventually lose that fear of mum and dad.
And then they'll rebel.
And then they'll go into the world and you won't have the godly seed that you thought
you had.
You see, the key to having that godly seed is not only that they fear mum and dad at
the beginning, which is good, but that you point their eyes to the Heavenly Father, which
sees all things.
And that truly is when you're going to have young people that will not rebel, is when
they actually understand that God sees all and that God will judge every decision and
every action of their life.
God is seeking a godly seed.
The Bible says, if you want to turn there actually, come with me to Hebrews 13 verse
4.
Hebrews 13 verse 4.
I think you've still got a finger in Genesis 19.
Actually, we will come back to Genesis, I mean, sorry, Matthew 19.
We will come back to that, but I realise it's a bit later in my notes.
But Hebrews 13 and verse number 4.
Hebrews 13 and verse number 4.
Very famous passage.
The Bible says, marriage is honourable in all.
Marriage is honourable.
Marriage is a good thing.
And the bed undefiled.
The bed, of course, speaking of the marriage bed there.
You know, of the physical intimacy.
That physical intimacy.
That sexual activity is good.
It's undefiled.
It's pure.
But in marriage, it's pure.
Okay.
And then it says, but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge.
God will judge you.
Okay, if you pursue this intimacy outside of marriage.
Fornication before marriage or adultery.
You're going to hurt your life.
You might even destroy your life doing such practices.
God will judge.
Brethren, we need a healthy fear of the Lord.
God sees all things.
God created marriage to be a beautiful thing.
Okay, a beautiful thing.
In fact, marriage is so simple.
Marriage is so simple.
One man, one woman, to death do us part.
Let's raise a godly seed and that's it.
You know, if I was just going to teach on marriage,
we're pretty much done.
Like that's it.
Let's just close our Bibles.
We know what God says.
You know, let's pray for our young people that they would find a godly spouse.
You know.
But as simple as marriage is, divorce and remarriage can become very complicated topics.
Which is going to be the majority of my sermon today.
But if you can turn with me to another passage, come with me to Romans chapter 7.
Romans chapter 7 and verse number 1.
Romans 7 and verse number 1.
Just laying down the foundations here.
Romans chapter 7 and verse number 1.
Till death do us part.
Why do we say these words?
Say, pastor, there's so much divorce.
I don't know what divorce rates are like.
Is it like 50%?
It's something crazy now.
I don't know.
Okay, it's something crazy.
So maybe it's better to just take out that vow, till death do us part.
Okay, so we're not making those promises.
You know, till our fight, you know, do us part.
Until an argument do us part.
Until financial problems do us part.
Maybe we should say those vows instead.
The Bible says in Romans 7, 1.
Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law,
how that the law have dominion over a man as long as he liveth.
For the woman which have an husband is bound by the law to her husband,
so long as he liveth.
But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
What is the only thing that will loose you from the law of marriage
if your spouse passes away and you become a widow?
The other thing I wanted to draw your attention here
is that it's referring to this being a lawful thing.
Marriage ought to be accepted or, you know, acknowledged by our government.
Okay, some people have this view, well,
if the government's not going to honour what marriage is
and define it correctly, then let's just have a church marriage
where it's not, you know, accepted by the government.
Who cares about that? No, no, it needs to be lawful.
Okay, because even divorce requires a bill of divorcements.
It requires a legal documentation to acknowledge that divorce took place.
If that's what a divorce needs,
then, of course, the marriage will need a legal bill
to acknowledge that this took place.
It's a legal matter.
You know, if you did not get married in church,
you got married at the beach or you got married with a celebrant,
you know, an unsafe celebrant,
as long as it's been accepted by the government, it's legitimate.
Some people have this idea, like, get phone calls.
Will you marry me? I want to get married in the church
because I want God to acknowledge it.
Well, God's way is that it's legal, that it's lawful, okay,
that it's acknowledged by the government.
You know, if you go and do it with a celebrant, it's still marriage.
You're still married. You're still husband and wife.
I just want to draw your attention to that.
I mean, I prefer things being done in church,
but don't forget what church is.
Church is not a building. You know, church are the people.
So I think it's a great thing to involve your church in your marriage,
but that's not what makes a marriage, okay?
It's got to be accepted by law.
Let's keep going there. Verse number three.
So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man,
okay, so she got married and now she got married to another man,
she shall be called an adulteress.
But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law
so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
So if you've been married and your spouse passes away,
you're now a widow, you're free to get remarried, okay?
You're not an adulterer, okay?
And, you know, again, some people misunderstand this.
They think, well, you're a perpetual adulterer.
If you've been divorced and remarried, now you've got your second husband
and your first husband still lives or your first wife still lives,
every day of your life you're a perpetual adulterer.
Wow, that's pretty serious business.
No, no, you know what, the initial union was adultery, okay?
Now, you've got to make the best out of that situation now.
You know, God, I'll show you later on,
God still acknowledges that this is a legitimate marriage, okay?
But it's not God's initial plan.
That's not God's initial purpose, okay?
Unfortunately, people make mistakes, okay?
Okay, so we're talking about widows.
I'll just quickly read to you from 1 Timothy 5 verse 14.
This is about, look, I know it's not going to say widows here,
but if you read the context, it's about widows,
especially about young ladies that are widows,
that your husband passes away.
It says in 1 Timothy 5 verse 14,
I will therefore that the younger women marry.
Again, the context is widows, meaning that you're getting remarried.
You're taking on a second husband.
I will therefore that the younger women marry
bear children, guide the house,
give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
And of course, we can take the principle and apply that to any young lady.
But the direct context of this is the widowed lady, okay?
So, can I ever get remarried?
You know, would it ever be correct for God to allow me to get remarried?
Yes, if you're a widower.
If your spouse has passed away, okay?
Now you've been loosened from that law,
now you're free to get remarried.
Alright, I think you got a finger in Matthew 19.
So, let's take that, go back there,
but go to Matthew 22, we are going to come back to Matthew 19.
But come to Matthew 22, let's take another view here,
another challenge that Jesus Christ received.
Matthew 22 verse number 23.
Matthew 22 and verse number 23.
Because you might say, well pastor, yes, I was a widower.
My spouse passed away and I got remarried
and I guess I've had two husbands, I've had two wives.
What happens when I get to heaven?
Like, which one am I going to live with in heaven?
This is now getting a little bit confusing.
The Bible always has the answers, of course, for these things.
Matthew 22 verse number 23.
The same day came to him the Sadducees,
which say that there is no resurrection and asked him, saying,
Master, Moses said, if a man die having no children,
his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother.
This is correct.
In the laws of Moses, if a couple gets married
and before the lady is able to fall pregnant and have children,
the brother passes on.
The right thing, the next thing,
would be that the next brother in line would take her
and provide the children, provide the seed.
Take her as his wife.
It might seem a bit unusual in our society today,
but again, she's a widower and she's been committed
and so, of course, it's harder for other men,
so God had this plan in place to make sure this woman
would at least be able to raise a family, would have children.
Again, people could say, no, I'm the next brother in line.
I don't want her to be my wife.
That's fine.
There was a process behind that as well.
But anyway, they're bringing up an issue
and, of course, they're trying to challenge Jesus with this thing.
All right, so let's keep going there.
Verse number 25.
Now there were seven, sorry, now they're with us,
now they were with us, seven brethren.
This is just an example that they're given.
And the first, when he had married a wife, deceased,
so this woman's a widow,
and having no issue, left his wife unto his brother.
Okay, so the brother takes her as his wife.
Likewise, the second also, that means he died as well,
and the third, unto the seventh.
All seven brothers take her as their wife
and they all perish, they all die.
So she's been married seven times.
Like this is a ridiculous scenario,
but they're throwing this at Jesus Christ, okay?
And last of all, the woman died also.
Now she's dead, okay?
And they don't believe in the resurrection,
so they're trying to mock Jesus Christ,
teaching on the resurrection.
Therefore, in the resurrection,
whose wife shall she be of the seven?
For they all had her.
Jesus answered and said unto them,
Ye doer not know in the scriptures,
nor the power of God,
for in the resurrection they neither marry,
nor are given in marriage,
but are as the angels of God in heaven.
Meaning that the angels don't get married.
Meaning that the angels don't fall from heaven
and take wives on this earth and produce giants.
Anyway, that's a side topic, okay?
But in the resurrection, in heaven,
just like the angels, there is no marriage.
We're not given into marriage.
Again, reinforcing till death do us part.
Once death has taken place, the marriage does not exist.
In heaven, you are not married.
Look, I'm sure I'm going to love Christina,
even in heaven, for all eternity,
but she's no longer my wife, okay?
That doesn't exist anymore in that process in heaven.
And so, again, just the Bible is consistent, okay?
These Sadducees, they don't,
what did it say?
You doer not know in the scriptures?
They don't know what God teaches about marriage?
And then it says, nor the power of God,
they don't understand what God has taught
about the resurrection.
These guys are completely false religion, the Sadducees.
I mean, so are the Pharisees, okay?
That's why they keep coming to Jesus,
trying to challenge him on these things.
But again, brethren, if we just do it God's way,
life is simple.
One man, one woman for life, children, family, God's way.
If someone passes away beforehand,
you're free to get remarried.
Otherwise, you may decide not to for whatever reason.
Maybe you're too old and you feel like it's not going to happen,
you're just not interested anymore.
That's fine as well, okay?
But God's ways are always pretty straightforward and simple.
But because we're sinners, because we have the flesh,
because we're just at odds,
our flesh is at odds with the ways of God.
You know, people's lives are going to have divorces
and have divorces and remarriages.
So what does that mean?
Does that mean I'm a lesser human being?
Does that mean God does not care about me?
Does that mean I'm a perpetual adulterer
so I can't even be in church
because adulterers should not be in the house of the Lord?
Have I destroyed my life completely?
Well, obviously, you're going to face consequences.
Obviously, consequences to sin,
they're just going to be on this earth.
They're going to be challenges.
Families are going to be messy
and there's going to be step-dads and step-moms
and multiple parents and confusion.
It's just how it is.
It's just consequences.
And if you've grown up in a broken home
and you've had this kind of confusion,
how about you commit it to yourself and to the Lord
that I'm going to break out of this mold
and I'm going to make sure I make the right decision
when I decide to get married.
I want to make sure that the next generation
does not face the messiness and the brokenness that I've had.
That would be the right response.
But unfortunately, what happens is that many times
when people have made these mistakes,
they try to justify themselves.
Oh, but you don't understand, pastor,
this is my situation.
This is what happens.
I understand.
I'm a human being too.
If my wife left me, divorced me,
I understand that I would be a lonely man.
I know what God says, that I should not get remarried,
because if my wife leave, I understand.
I'm not trying to make excuses for God's word,
but I understand as a human being I'm going to be lonely.
I understand as a human being I may desire to get remarried.
But at the same time, I'm going to acknowledge and say,
you know what, that's wrong.
And if I do such a thing, I'm going against God's way
and I'm just going to go before God.
I'm not saying it's going to happen.
I'm just saying I just go before God and say,
God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
God, please hold your chastisement.
Lord, I've messed things up.
Lord, I don't know what to do.
I'm lonely.
I just can't live like this for the rest of my life.
I'm going to have to enter this union.
Lord, I know you're against it.
I'm not going to make excuses.
I'm not going to try to get people to celebrate it,
you know, this initial union that we have.
I'm just going to go, Lord, I'm a sinner.
Please forgive me.
I understand that from a human being perspective,
like just being a natural man with natural desires.
I completely understand it.
But I'm not going to try to make the Bible fit my situation.
Oh, you don't know, Pastor, my situation.
Yeah, I probably don't know your situation.
Okay, but my job is just to preach you what God's word says.
This is God's standard.
You know, and if it makes us feel bad,
well, every sin makes us feel bad.
Every time we preach about sin in someone's life,
it's going to make you feel a little bit bad.
Every time we preach on sin that you struggle with,
it's going to slap your face a little bit.
It's going to step on your toes a little bit.
It doesn't mean I hate you.
It just means we need to hear what God's standards are
so we can live a life that is holy and pleasing to Him,
so we can minimize the mistakes we make in life
and encourage our children not to pursue the same mistakes
that we may have made in the past.
So it's important that we preach on this topic.
And you know, if I offend you, I don't mean to offend you.
It's God's word that will offend you.
That's what it is.
And so be it.
That's just, again, part of the consequences of the mistakes you make.
So people make excuses.
You know, people make excuses even for the Old Testament saints.
King Solomon, how many wives?
Seven hundred wives.
I mean, let's take an extreme view there.
You know, 300 concubines.
David, a man after God's own heart, his father, had multiple wives.
You know?
Guess what?
Abraham took Haggai.
What's his name? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Jacob married two sisters.
Okay?
Look, do we talk about these men as great men of the faith?
You know that God was able to accomplish great things for these men?
We do, don't we?
But they've made major mistakes.
We know that the two sisters, Jacob's wives, they were basically envious of one another.
You think that was a happy home?
A happy scenario?
You know, sometimes I've seen this thing, I think it was on YouTube, was it YouTube?
I can't remember.
You know, of a Mormon leader with like 20 wives, and they all pretend to just get along.
Oh, it's all wonderful in this situation.
That's just my sister.
And you know, it's just amazing that we can all live together as one big happy family.
That's just for the cameras.
Behind the scenes, they're speaking evil of one another.
Behind the scenes, look, I don't know, I'm just telling you, I know, because that's what the Bible teaches us.
They're backstabbing one another.
There's envy, there's sorrow, there's hurt, there's pain, there's suffering.
And the children are all confused, and they're going to grow up confused.
Strange human beings, they're going to become.
And it's the same in the Bible.
There are things that take place in the Bible, and you're like, how did that happen?
To a godly so-called family.
How can this brother take his half-sister and rape her?
It's confusion, it's a mess when you do things contrary to God's ways.
The next generation has to break themselves out of that cycle and say, I'm not going to make that mistake.
Lord help me!
And look, again, if you come out of a broken home or a messed sort of situation,
don't just sit there and blame your parents.
We all have to take accountability for ourselves.
We all do. We all have our own life to live.
And have a fear of God.
Understand, if I make major mistakes, it's going to hurt me.
It's going to have consequences.
Don't excuse yourself. Just own up to it.
Yeah, Lord, I messed up. Sorry.
Just help me through these consequences now.
These natural consequences that have come my way.
Help me, Lord, to just make the best of the situation that I can right now.
Can you come with me to Deuteronomy 17?
Keep your finger there in Matthew.
Deuteronomy 17 verse number 14.
Deuteronomy chapter 17 and verse number 14.
I was saying people make excuses even for the Old Testament saints.
Some of the excuses are, well, the prophet Nathan came to David and said that God's given you multiple wives.
The prophet Nathan said so.
Well, you know, prophets and preachers make mistakes.
Do you know that?
Well, that was the custom of the day, pastor. You don't understand.
That was the custom. That's what everybody was doing.
Every man was taking 700 wives.
You'd run out of women pretty quickly.
I don't think it was that normal, like what people think it was normal.
No.
Look, even if it was the custom of the day, that does not make it right.
You know what the custom of the day is today?
Fornicate, sleep around, you know, till you're 30, 40 years old, then decide to get married.
Does that mean it's right because it's the custom of the day?
People make excuses.
There's no need to make excuses.
Deuteronomy chapter 17.
Deuteronomy chapter 17 and verse number 14.
Deuteronomy chapter 17, verse number 14.
The Bible says,
When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein,
and shall say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me.
Did this happen? This happened.
Where the people of the land said, hey, Samuel, give us a king.
We want a king like all the other nations.
So when this happens, God gives them some laws, some commandments around this.
Okay?
It says in verse number 15,
Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose.
One from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee.
Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
Verse number 16.
But he, speaking of the king, shall not multiply horses to himself.
So he's not to expand an army or anything like this, okay?
Nor cause the people to return to Egypt.
You know, that king is to cause them to stay on the land.
To the end that he should multiply horses,
for as much as the Lord hath said unto you,
ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
Verse number 17 is the important part.
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself.
Did God tell the kings, don't multiply wives?
Don't have multiple wives.
That is God's law.
That's what he said to the kings.
Don't multiply your horses.
Don't multiply wives.
Because marriage is one man, one woman for life.
This is the law of God.
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself,
that his heart turn not away,
neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold,
that his heart shall not turn away.
What happened to Solomon?
700 wives, 300 concubines?
The Bible says these women, these wives,
turned his heart away from the Lord.
So if God's law says don't multiply wives,
and then you have King David and King Solomon
multiplying wives, are they doing the right thing?
No, they've sinned against the Lord.
Don't need to make excuses.
They gave in to their selfishness, their flesh,
their lust and their desires.
Caused a lot of problems in their life, trust me.
You can read about that yourself in the Bible.
A lot of major consequences in their life.
But you need to understand God still used them in a mighty way.
Not because they're great people, but because they serve a great God.
Okay, and we can do great things.
Not because we're great, we're sinners.
We can do great things because we serve a great God
and saved by a great God.
Okay, so when Nathan comes to David and says,
oh, God's given you multiple wives,
look, as a preacher, you're wrong.
You've messed up.
God's law says not to multiply.
You see, you need to, when you have this struggle in the Bible
and you see, well, hold on, God said, but they did this.
Well, you go with what God said.
You don't go with the stories of the men, of the mistakes they made
and make that acceptable in your eyes or anything like that.
You know, there are many pastors,
and I've just heard recently of another pastor.
Pastors can be so filthy, so perverted.
And by the way, ladies, I'm never going to counsel you
one on one in my office.
Never.
Okay? Never.
In fact, I didn't want to, this is my counseling right here.
This is it, preaching God's Word.
Okay, in front of everybody.
Everybody hears the same thing.
Everyone receives the same message.
This is my counseling.
Pastors can become so perverted.
And you know what enters in their minds?
Well, King David.
King David was a man of God's own heart.
Surely, you know, I'm not seeking the multiple world.
You know, I'm not going to be like King Solomon.
But surely I can change these, you know,
chase these desires and still be utilized by God in a great way.
You know, because again, they're building their standards on a story,
the events that took place,
rather than building their standards on the Word of God,
what God clearly lays out in his laws.
Okay, so that is just a big takeaway that I want you to take from the Bible.
What does God say?
I'm going to line myself up with this.
And the stories that you read of men and women,
great men and women that have made mistakes,
don't pattern yourself after those mistakes.
Learn from those mistakes.
That's why it's in the Bible.
Learn from the examples.
Learn from the chastisement.
Learn from the bad consequences that entered into their life.
So yes, not even, you know, kings were to take multiple wives.
Now come back with me to Matthew 19.
We're finally back to Matthew 19.
Come with me to Matthew 19.
Let's talk about divorce.
Matthew 19, let's talk about divorce.
Matthew 19, verse number 7.
So we're continuing where Jesus Christ just finished telling them,
Have you not read?
He made male and female from the very beginning, etc.
And not to, you know, not to divorce, essentially Jesus Christ says.
So they challenge Jesus Christ here in Matthew 19, verse 7.
They say unto him,
Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement
and to put her away?
So if God's plan is marriage to death do us part,
why did Moses allow divorce?
Well, they're trying to taste Jesus.
That you're inconsistent with the Bible,
you're contradictive to the Bible,
you're contradictive to Moses.
That's kind of what they're trying to achieve.
Verse number 8, how does Jesus Christ respond?
He saith unto them,
Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts,
suffered or allowed you to put away your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
He says divorce is not God's plan.
This was never God's intention from the beginning.
But because mankind has a hardness of heart,
he allows for divorce.
But this is not a no-fault divorce.
You can't get divorced for any reason.
There is one exception and Jesus Christ explains it to them.
In verse number 9 he says,
and I say unto you,
whosoever shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication.
And again, this is where people just get confused.
What is fornication?
And look, I understand the confusion.
I was confused.
As a teenager I was confused.
I did not understand.
What's fornication?
Some people define fornication as any sexual perversion.
Like even as far as saying,
well, I caught him or I caught her looking at pornography or something like this.
So I'm going to divorce them.
Now they shouldn't be looking at that stuff.
But that's not what fornication is.
Well, he committed adultery.
He committed fornication so I can leave him and get remarried.
No, that's adultery.
If we had God's laws in place,
the government would put that adulterer to death.
Now you'll be a widower and you can get remarried.
You see, adultery is actually grounds for remarriage
but it's not grounds for divorce.
This is why God's laws are always the best.
But I remember getting confused.
And when you get confused, all of a sudden the Bible gets messy
and divorce is always messy, that's the thing.
But actually it's very straightforward.
Fornication is not adultery.
In fact, it says it here in the passage,
except it be for fornication
and shall marry another, commiteth adultery.
You see how even in the same verse we have fornication being referenced
and now adultery.
Let me read verse number nine once again just altogether.
And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife
except it be for fornication
and shall marry another, commiteth adultery.
And whoso maryeth her, which is put away, doth commit adultery.
So for those that have been divorced and remarried,
when you got remarried, you committed adultery.
But again, am I a perpetual adulterer? No.
That is your legitimate spouse.
And I want to say this because people ask me sometimes,
will you do our wedding? Will you be involved in our wedding?
If you've been divorced except it be for fornication,
I will not be involved.
And I can't celebrate that.
And I can't ask my church to celebrate it.
But once you're married,
and you're now serving the Lord as best as you can,
you've made mistakes,
now I'm going to make sure we do things right,
and you celebrate a wedding anniversary,
but I'll celebrate with you just as much as my own wedding.
Maybe not as much as my own.
But I'll celebrate with you just as much as anybody else's wedding anniversary.
If a child is born out of wedlock,
don't come to me before the child is born,
don't come to me,
hey pastor, can we have a baby shower for this child out of wedlock?
Can we do a church activity? No.
We don't want to celebrate.
We don't want to celebrate fornication.
We don't want to celebrate that and promote that
and try to make it look like a positive thing has taken place.
No, we're not going to.
But you know when that child is born,
I'll celebrate that birth as much as any other child's birth.
And I'll celebrate that child's birthday as much as any child's birthday.
It's just that initial act obviously was sin.
That initial union was the sin.
You're going to face the consequences,
you're going to face the chastisement of the Lord,
God be merciful to me a sinner,
Lord just help me serve you as best I can
after even all these mistakes I've made in my life.
And I'm not going to beat you down
and I hope nobody in our church tries to beat people down
that have made mistakes.
You know, people make mistakes, we're all sinners.
We're all sinners.
Some have made bigger mistakes than others.
And guess what, they're facing the bigger consequences.
You know, the hand of God's chastisement has already fallen upon them.
They don't need your chastisement.
So this is what the Lord says.
So the only exception to the rule according to Jesus,
which should be enough for us, that it's Jesus' words,
is fornication.
What is fornication?
Fornication is sex before marriage.
That's what it is.
Before the consummation of marriage,
before you've come together as husband and wife.
How does that make sense though?
How can you apply divorce?
You know, the bill of divorcement
or the right of divorcement in this scenario.
Well let me just show you that what Christ is teaching
lines up with what Moses taught.
Come with me to Deuteronomy chapter 24
where Moses wrote of this.
Deuteronomy chapter 24.
This is what the Pharisees are bringing forth to Jesus Christ.
Matthew, sorry, Deuteronomy 24.
Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse number 1.
Deuteronomy chapter 24 and verse number 1.
The Bible says, so these are the laws of Moses,
but don't forget who gave Moses these laws?
God.
We call them the laws of Moses, the writings of Moses,
but they're the writings of God.
They're the laws of God.
Okay.
When a man have taken a wife and married her
and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes
because he have found some uncleanness in her.
Honey, you put on weight.
I don't find favor in my eyes for you anymore.
Let's get divorced.
No, no.
What is this uncleanness in her?
Okay.
It says, then let him write her a bill of divorcements
and give it in her hand and send her out of his house.
So what is that he have found some uncleanness in her?
He's discovered that she's committed fornication.
It's what Jesus Christ explains it to us as.
So Jesus knows what he told Moses to write.
Okay.
This uncleanness is fornication.
That's what he found out.
Okay.
So now he doesn't have favor for her in his eyes anymore.
You know, he thought he was marrying a virgin.
And by the way, if you're not a virgin and you're getting married,
nothing wrong with that.
Make sure you let the person know that you're marrying,
that you're not a virgin.
At least love them enough to tell them that.
Okay.
And if they love you in return, even with that,
that's great love.
Praise God for that.
It says, then let him write her a bill of divorcement,
give it in her hand and send her out of his house.
How does this happen though?
You know, that's the question.
You know, in our Western society, we don't get it.
I'll explain to you very quickly what it is.
It's not that complicated.
But then it says in verse number 2,
do you try me 24 verse 2?
And when she's departed out of his house,
she may go and be another man's wife.
Oh, I thought divorce and remarriage was not allowed.
The exception is fornication.
Keep that in mind.
We'll talk about it in a moment.
We'll explain that in a moment.
And if the latter husband hate her and write her a bill of divorcement
and giveth it in her hand and sendeth her out of his house,
or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife,
her former husband, which sent her away,
may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled.
For that is abomination before the Lord,
and thou canst not cause the land to sin,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
This is saying that if a man and woman get married,
they get divorced, she marries another man,
and that man dies, and now she's alone,
and she gets back together with her first husband,
the Bible says this is abomination in the sight of the Lord.
This is wrong as well.
But I know in churches there are people in this situation.
I know in churches there are people that have done this abomination,
where they've been married,
then they've gone to be with someone else,
and then something's happened there,
they've gone back to their first husband,
or with their first wife,
when that happened it was abomination.
Okay?
One thing I want to make clear is when you're divorced,
you are divorced.
That is no longer your spouse.
Okay?
There are strange teachings in the Baptist world that say,
well that's still your husband, that's still your wife.
When I say there is no grants for divorce,
and if you've been divorced in an unbiblical way that was wrong,
it's still divorce though, you need to understand.
Okay?
It's still, that's not your husband anymore,
that's not your wife.
People make, you know, in churches,
people make individuals feel guilty.
It's like, well I know you got remarried,
but that person, that's still your husband.
That's still your wife,
you're still meant to be committed unto them.
And like that really complicates things.
No, divorce is final, it's settled,
you'll go with someone else,
now you're that person's husband,
or you're that person's wife.
Okay?
But you don't return back to the person you got married to,
because that's abomination.
But again, there are people in church that have done these things.
I'm not saying, I don't know about you,
I'm just saying in general, like out there.
Okay?
You know what?
God can still use you in a powerful way.
Okay?
You've made double the mistake,
you've done double the errors,
you're going to face double the consequences,
double the chastisements.
But you can still be utilized by God.
But it's abomination,
and I have to tell you it's abomination.
That hurts me, pastor.
It's what God's word says.
I'll hurt you more if I don't tell you what God's word says,
you understand?
But again, he found uncleanness in her,
so he puts her away, gives her a bill of divorcement,
Moses says this is correct,
and Jesus Christ says this is fornication.
Alright, come back with me to the book of Matthew.
Matthew chapter 1, verse number 18.
You say, how does this work?
Isn't fornication before marriage,
so therefore once I'm married,
it's not fornication, it's adultery,
this doesn't make sense, pastor.
Again, it doesn't make sense
because of our Western way of doing things,
which is not wrong, okay?
It's just we struggle as Australians to understand this.
I don't struggle with understanding this at all,
because I know what marriage is like in Chile,
in South America,
I know what even in some European countries,
I know what marriage is like.
So, I'll tell you and then we'll read the passage
to confirm this to be true, okay?
So what happens in Chile?
So before a couple comes before the church
and say their vows and do the whole ceremony,
the whole celebration,
they will go to a marriage celebrant, okay?
And they will be married,
like legally married, which is correct.
It needs to be accepted by the government.
They get legally married.
They are legally husband and wife at this point, okay?
But in Chile, especially if they're Christians,
they will not come together for some time.
They will not go and live in the same house.
They will be waiting for the ceremony,
where they can be before their family and friends
and witnesses and do the whole celebration,
the whole party,
then they will really recognise themselves as married
before the witnesses and such.
But from the time they get married by celebrant or legally
to the time they get married before the witnesses
and family and friends, maybe a church,
can be several weeks, can be several months,
because it takes time.
And all the pastors in Chile,
before they conduct a wedding ceremony,
they will say to the husband and wife
that were already legally married,
please show me evidence of your legal binding union,
and then he'll conduct the ceremony.
So there can be a time that takes place
before that husband and wife are actually together
as one flesh physically in that sense.
They've not consummated the marriage.
This again happens in some European countries.
Now what happens if one of those parties,
that husband and wife, goes and sleeps with someone else?
They commit such a sin.
Now they've committed fornication,
because they had not yet consummated
that marriage.
So there's a period of time,
if one goes and cheats on the other,
it is not adultery, it still falls under fornication.
And if that happens,
and like, oh man, this is my wife and my husband,
and I found that they've cheated on me,
they've slept around,
now I don't have favour in my eyes,
there is uncleanness in them,
this is when Moses allowed divorce,
before the marriage was consummated.
Say, pastor, is this your opinion?
Well let's look at a story here in Matthew chapter 1.
Matthew chapter 1 verse number 18 please.
Matthew chapter 1 verse 18.
We do have a story in the Bible about this.
Okay, and it's a story of the birth of Christ.
It's a very famous story.
It says in Matthew 1.18.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on the wise,
when as his mother Mary was,
look at this, espoused to Joseph.
Are they just dating?
Are they just engaged?
No, they're espoused.
Joseph is her spouse.
To Joseph, Mary is his spouse.
When his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,
look at this, before they came together,
before they consummated the marriage,
we know that Mary was a virgin.
Okay, so they are legally married,
but they have not yet lived together
and consummated that marriage.
Okay, before they came together,
she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
So let's say we lived in the time of Joseph and Mary,
you're excited to get married,
and you find, oh, hold on,
the woman that I have married her,
she's my spouse.
She's pregnant.
What?
What do you mean you thought she's treated on me?
How could she?
You know, Moses allows in this situation
to get divorced, to give her a bill of divorcement
and to send her away.
Okay, we've not consummated the marriage,
and this is now the cause of fornication,
that you can be put away.
That's his natural response.
He's not expecting this to be some miracle,
a virgin birth.
Okay, verse number 19.
Look at this.
Then Joseph, her husband.
Were they married?
What's a husband?
It's a man who's, you know, taken a wife.
Okay, then Joseph, her husband.
It's not just engaged or boyfriend or something.
It's her husband.
They're already married, legally married.
Then Joseph, her husband.
Look at this.
Being a just man.
Was Joseph a just man?
Yes, that's what the Bible says.
He does the right things, okay?
Being a just man and not willing to make her a public example
was minded to put her away privily.
He goes, I'm going to divorce her,
but I'm going to make this quiet.
You know, I don't want to embarrass her.
I guess he still loves her.
You know, but I'm going to divorce her.
And by making this decision,
the Bible says that he's a just man.
He's doing the right thing as far as the laws of Moses goes.
He says, I'm going to divorce her.
I'm going to put her away.
The Bible uses that language, the putting away, as divorce, okay?
Verse number 20.
But while he thought on these things,
behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream,
saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife.
Okay, take her, your wife, okay?
For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost,
and she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins.
And then we know the great story, okay?
And of course, after she gave birth,
they did consummate the marriage, et cetera.
They had more children, all right?
She did not remain a virgin.
Okay, so I want to show you just an example in the Bible.
That is an example of fornication.
They are legally married,
but they have not yet consummated the marriage.
Joseph believes his wife has cheated on him,
so as a just man, he was getting ready to put her away,
thinking about putting her away, thinking of divorce, okay?
That is the exception of the Bible, okay?
That is the only time, if you ever get divorced for any reason,
you do it that way, you say, I did it God's way,
I did it the Bible way, okay?
We say, pastor, I've been divorced for other reasons.
Again, that was wrong, that was sinful, that's not biblical.
We're not going to try to justify, you know,
as difficult as your situation may have been,
and you may have been driven to the point of saying,
look, I have no option but to get divorced.
Still, we're not going to try to make, change what the Bible says,
or make you feel more comfortable, you know,
by changing what the Bible says.
We can't do such a thing, brethren.
Just acknowledge, we're sinners.
Or maybe it's not even your fault, the other person divorced you.
He's a sinner, she's a sinner, whatever it is.
Okay, but don't try to justify, Lord.
Every time we sin, don't justify yourself.
You're messed up again, Lord.
Again.
You know, woe is me.
You know, I'm a chief of sinners, Lord, please forgive me.
I just want to challenge, I don't want to make excuses.
Again, I've told you before, when I get phone calls,
and I'm going over time,
but I get phone calls and I feel like just people are constantly trying to make me
to justify their sins somehow.
You know, and I've been told, pastor, you know,
I've been told by someone that I thought would know better,
pastor, you're meant to make people feel comfortable.
Like, yeah, they've messed up their lives,
and, you know, you can't preach these things,
you can't say these things, they're going to get hurt,
they're going to be what?
What?
They come to church to hear God's word, I think.
Like, if you come to church not to hear God's word,
then you better not be in here.
You're going to hear God's word.
And the reason I do this is because I actually love you, that's why.
I actually love you.
I want you to, you know, to just, yeah, Lord, I messed up.
I better make sure I don't mess up anymore.
And for the young children to go, you know what,
yeah, my mom and dad may have made mistakes,
but, you know what, I'm so determined, Lord,
to make these same mistakes.
You know, this is love.
You know, a pastor that loves his people is going to tell you the truth.
Say, well, does that mean I got divorced for other reasons?
Does that mean, you know, my divorce is not legitimate?
No, your divorce is legitimate.
Okay, if the legal system has legitimized it,
your divorce is legitimate.
Okay, should the legal system have done it?
No, they shouldn't have done it either.
Okay, they've made mistakes.
There are mistakes all over the place.
Okay, but instead of just living in regrets,
say, this is my situation now.
Lord, help me to make the best of my situation.
Come with me to John chapter four, please.
We'll end on this one.
John chapter four, verse number 16.
Now, I've been going through the book of John chapter by chapter,
so this is probably fresh on your mind.
But this is like, this is like,
when it comes to the stories of the Bible,
I mean, I don't know.
Sometimes it's, you know, we talk about top five, right, brother Jason?
These are top five things.
Like, this is like one of my top five stories in the Bible, okay?
You know, the Samaritan woman at the well.
I love this story.
One of my top five stories is like the thief on the cross, you know?
There are different stories in the Bible that just, to me, are just amazing.
And we have this woman at the, you know, at the well,
and we know that she gets saved.
Jesus Christ teaches, you know, about taking the water of life
and speaking of himself and salvation that he offers.
You know, he confesses to her that he's the Christ.
And then he says in John chapter four, verse number 16.
Jesus saith unto her,
Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
See, he asks, well, what about, you know, the guy you live with there?
You know, bring him here.
He needs to hear.
He needs to also hear what I have to say, right?
Verse number 17.
The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
So she's not married to this guy.
Look, she's a fornicator, and in fact, she's not just a fornicator.
She's actually an adulterer.
We'll keep going through this story.
Like, she's messed that up pretty badly, guys.
This woman's messed that up pretty badly.
I'd be surprised if anyone in this church has messed up as badly as her.
The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
Jesus saith unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband.
You're right about that.
He's not your husband that you live with.
That's not your husband that you're sleeping with.
Verse number 18.
For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou hast is not thy husband.
In that saidest thou truly.
You said the truth.
You've had five husbands.
You've been divorced five times.
And the one you're living with now is not even your husband.
You know what?
If this woman was in our church today, I hope not, because I think better of you.
But if this woman was in a church today, I guarantee you people would be looking down on her.
You know, just not wanting to talk to her, ignoring her.
Right?
This woman, she gets saved.
She wants to get into church.
Right?
She's got a messed up life.
Why is she here?
Her life is messed up.
You know, I can hate church for things like this.
You know, I've hated church.
Not because I hate the institution.
I hate the people in the church.
Like the way they treat people.
What does Jesus say to her?
Right?
Like he just acknowledges you've been divorced five times.
You've messed things up five times.
And this one is not even your husband.
Like you're just getting worse.
It's just getting worse and worse and worse.
Now let's drop down to verse number 27.
It says, and upon this came his disciples and marveled that he talked with the woman.
They're like surprised.
Why are you talking to this woman?
Yet no man said, what seekest thou?
Why talkest thou with her?
The woman then left her water pots and went her way into the city and saved to the men.
Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did.
Is not this the Christ?
What is she doing?
She goes back to a city.
Look, guys, Christ is here.
Let me point you to Christ.
She becomes the sole winner.
Drop down to verse number 49.
It says, and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him.
Believed on Jesus.
For the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did.
Reverend, I don't know how much you've messed up your life.
I don't know.
I don't know how hurtful things are for you.
How complicated, how messy your life has become because of divorce or whatever it is.
This woman's been divorced five times and she's living in adultery or fornication,
however you want to think of it.
Okay.
You know what?
She's left and she goes and preaches Jesus Christ and many of the city believed on him
because of her.
What a great woman.
That's a great woman.
Okay, yes, she's messed up things on the outward but she's got her new man within
her and she's already on day number one of her salvation laying up treasures in heaven,
doing the work of God.
That is a great woman.
So again, if you've messed things up, I don't want you to feel horrible.
I don't want you to feel horrible.
Just ignore, yeah, I messed things up.
If I've been trying to justify myself, I'm going to stop justifying myself.
Yes, Lord, I messed things up.
But Lord, just like this woman, you can utilize me.
Lord, use me.
Help me.
You know, show me what I need to do to live a life that pleases you and help me not to
make those same mistakes again.
So brethren, marriage and divorce.
You know, marriage is easy, isn't it?
Like marriage is straightforward, always straightforward.
Like I said, the first 15 minutes, we could have just been done with the sermon.
I've gone overtime because I've got to talk about divorce because it becomes so messy.
But don't forget, young people, young people, don't make this mistake.
Make sure when you start dating someone, you quickly assess, is this someone that I can
be with for the rest of my life?
Don't waste your time, okay?
And when you make those vows to death do us part, you mean it before God and witnesses
and you do all you can to live like that.
You know, with your heart set for that one person for the rest of your life.
And for those of us that have made mistakes, you know, just support the teaching.
Teach our young people not to make these mistakes, okay?
Because you know the consequences, you know the hurt and pain that you've gone through.
Why would you want that repeater in others?
Okay, so get behind the teaching.
You know, when you get behind the word of God, that shows that we love one another, okay?
Alright, let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word.
Lord, thank you for this teaching.
Thank you for allowing us to get married, Lord.
What a beautiful thing to not be alone.
Lord, you saw Adam, you did not want him to be alone, you gave him his wife.
Lord, there are singles in our church that desire to get married.
Lord, I pray you'd open those doors.
Lord, I pray that they would seek to serve you, to seek the kingdom of God first
and your righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
You promised us, Lord.
Help us to hold onto these promises.
Help us to do the right things even if mistakes have been made in the past.
And Lord, please utilize us.
As messed up as our lives can be, please utilize us to point people to Jesus Christ.
And Lord, I just pray for every marriage that is in this church today,
that it would be stronger than it's ever been.
Lord, please help us.
Help us to love one another.
Till death do us part, Lord, to make sure that our marriages are strong and happy.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
Alright, let's take our hymnals.
And let's turn to hymn number 315.
315. 3-1-5.
Let's sing Take My Life and Let It Be.
3-1-5. Take My Life and Let It Be.
Take My Life and Let It Be.
1-2-3-4-5. Take My Life and Let It Be.
Take My Life and Let It Be.
1-2-3-4-5. Take My Life and Let It Be.
.