10/6/24 /The Truth About Divorce Mark 10:1-12

E good morning church it's good seeing y'all this morning it's a beautiful Lord's day we're going to start out with baptism right [Applause] this morning we have Samuel gson coming forward and his dad's gonna baptize him and so well good morning I'd like to start off by just sharing us something you know a little bit you know close to the heart yesterday we had a really hard day as a family there was a lot of struggle with obedience a lot of struggle with Mom and Dad and patience and there was just a lot of turmoil in the house and I don't know if you've ever experienced this but you know it happened and just wanted to share that and but there's something neat that kind of came out of it and Samuel actually came to Dean and says mom I think I know why this is happening she's like why because I don't think Satan wants me to get baptized and you know with in the innocent there's some truth to that because what we're doing here today is we're proclaiming of victory over sin and death and you know we're we're the kingdom of God is on display in this baptism same thing with communion and even just coming to church on the Lord's day we are at this is a spir this is spiritual warfare and so in that I just it's a great joy to be able to do this with my son but Samuel I have some questions for you do you recognize that you have sinned against a holy God and that you are deserving of his wrath yes do you believe that God sent his only son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for your sins thus taking the sacrifice and punishment that you deserve yes Samuel do you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior yes

Well then Samuel upon this confession I baptize you in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit buried with him and his death and raised to walk in [Applause] new all right there's all right am I on Okay so here I am it's candy paloa time so here it goes I'm just a chick Asking All You Smarties for to bring in mounds and mounds because that's a king size of candy for this year's candy paloa getting enough candy can be a rocky road I'm not asking for 100 grand or even a big hunk of your payday we are asking you to be sugar daddies SweeTarts and maybe even a lifesaver to all the Skittles and baby roof in our community don't be a Milk Dud there's nothing goody about running out of candy leaving a bunch of sour patched kids who are crying baby tears okay I hope this announcements brings Good and Plenty amount of om joy and perhaps a few Snickers P.S the chick reference is just for me being able to buy one of my favorite candies but seriously we are looking for at least 1,000 pounds of candy that's a lot so we need your donations last year we did run out of candy let's not leave a bunch of sourat patch kids crying baby tears [Applause] well good morning everyone so good to see you all welcome here to First Baptist Church camon we're so glad you're with us to worship together this morning Our Risen Lord s Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I have some announcements next Sun yeah next Sunday October 13th at immediately after church there will be a potluck and it's if you're wanting to have some help and tools for safety leading your children your family in safety with technology our

Brother and sister the botato family will be facilitating that there'll be a pot lock so bring a dish to share Tim and Sarah will be leading that October 18th 6:00 pm 6:00 to 8:00 P.M is the youth event for October the choober so be aware of that parents and youth also Operation Christmas Child this month The Collection is for small stuffed animals October is also Pastor appreciation month so please make sure you extend your appreciation for our pastors p Pastor Cody and Thomas and the elders I also wanted to highlight it's in your notice in your bulletin a thank you from the wut family but I would invite you to continue to keep this family in your prayers as they just grieve the loss of their mom and grandmother and even for Gordon for his wife tomorrow night at 6 PM women on Mission will be having their an their meeting all ladies are by all means welcome and if you've not been a part of that why not check it out and find out what it's all about if you're visiting with us or if you're a regular attender or member please please use this it's in the pocket in front of you it's our way of connecting with you if you have a prayer request or a need please make it known on this we take these things very seriously and we'll follow up with them now as we prepare for worship I would invite you to Bow your heads and close your eyes as we prepare for worship father we thank you and praise you that we are in this room together as brothers and sisters this morning we thank you for those that are in other parts of this campus with children leading them in worship and in study of your word we thank you for this baptism just for this public Declaration of

Being reconciled to you and Lord we just thank you for all these different facets of worship that we get to enjoy together this morning Lord we come broken we come tired we come just weary of the various things and trials different things that's happened this past week perhaps Lord we've just entered this room this morning just not sure what you're doing I pray that father we would be able to open ourselves up to you this morning that we would be able to just allow your spirit your word through the preaching through the music through the testimony Lord that we would just drink deep and that we would leave here this morning filled and prepared and equipped for the week ahead whatever it might bring I ask for pastor Cody as he brings your word that Lord you would just give him Clarity and just the freedom to communicate what you have prepared through him we ask this now in your name amen Psalms 111 says praise the Lord I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart in the company of the upright and in the assembly greater The Works of the Lord they are studied by all who Delight in them Splendid and Majestic is his work and his righteousness endures forever he has made his wonders to be remembered the Lord is gracious and compassionate he's given food to those who fear Him He will remember his Covenant forever he's made known to his people the power of His Works in giving them the heritage of the Nations The Works of his hands are truth and Justice and his precepts are sure they are upheld forever and ever they per performed in truth and uprightness he has sent Redemption to his people he has ordained his Covenant forever holy and awesome is his name the fear of the Lord is the beginning of

Wisdom a good understanding have all those who do his Commandments his praise endures forever Christ has saved us so it is with joy that we join together and sing of his grace please stand and sing with us [Music] great is your faithfulness oh [Music] God you wrestle with the sin Restless Heart you lead us by Still Waters into mercy and nothing can keep us aart so remember your people remember your children remember your promise oh [Music] God your grace is enough your grace is enough your grace is enough for me [Music] Great Is Your Love And Justice God of Jacob you use the weak to lead the strong you lead us in the song of your [Applause] salvation and all your people sing [Music] Al so remember your people remember your children remember your promise of Christ your grace is enough your grace is enough your grace is enough for me your grace is enough your grace is enough your grace is enough for me so remember your people your children remember your promise oh God your grace is enough your grace is enough Your Grace is Enough For

Me Your Grace is Enough Heaven reaching out to us your grace is in enough for me your grace is enough I'm covered in your love your grace is enough for me for me [Music] take my life and let it beated Lord to thee take my moment and my days let them flow in ceaseless praise let them flow in Seas praise take my hands and let them mo at the impulse of thy love take my feet and let them be S and beautiful for thee Swift and beautiful for thee take my silver and my gold not a might would I withhold take my inct and use every P thou sh choose every Power as thou shal choose take my will and make it th it shall be no longer mine take my heart it is th it shall be thy roal Throne it shall be thy Royal [Music] Throne let's pray father we owe you everything nothing that we have is our own all of these gifts our bodies our health our intellect our will our hearts they belong to you as do the things that we own our

Silver our gold and yet Lord we do not withhold them from you give us generous Hearts they give cheerfully as we make these offerings back to your church we pray that they would be useful for the work of the ministry here we pray in Jesus name amen please be seated hey w men go around and collect the offering I just thought I would announce in case you don't know it is Pastor appreciation month and Elders will include them but you know I'm a father I only get a day Father's Day Mothers only get a day for some reason pastors get the whole month I don't understand but I just wanted to read a couple of verses says now we ask brothers and sisters to acknowledge those who work hard among you who care for you in the Lord who admonish you hold them in the highest Regard in love because of their work live in peace with one another so just this month you know consider praying special for the elders and the pastor send him a card with a note of encouragement wouldn't that be something or if you really feel am B bishes send him a card with a gift certificate or something to his favorite eery where is that by the way that's good anywhere that's good okay or just call them and say hey appreciate you thank you and praying for you know Peter talks about sorry sorry go ahead Peter talks about how pastors and Elders are UND Shepherds under a great Shepherd in Hebrews 4 14- 16 we learned something about our great Shepherd it says since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the son of God let us

Hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find Grace to help in time of need We Praise Jesus for the Salvation that he has bought us at the cross but we also Praise Him and we thank him for the work that he is now doing interceding for us at the Throne of his father as a high priest who lived here with us was tempted in every way that we were and yet did not sin and so yes we invite you to stand with us and sing in thanks to our great Savior Jesus [Music] The Mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend the agonies of calary you the perfect Holy One crush your son who drank the bitter cup reserved for me your blood has washed away my sin Jesus thank you the father's wrath completely satisfi Jesus thank you once your enemy now seated at your table Jesus thank you by your perfect sacrifice I've been brought near your enemy you made your friend pouring out the riches of your glorious Grace your mercy and your kindness know no your blood has washed away my S Jesus thank you the father's bre completely satisfied Jesus thank you once your enemy now seated at your table Jesus you L of my soul I want to live for you love of my soul I want to live

For you love of my soul I want to live for you your blood has washed away my S Jesus thank you the father's breth completely satisfied Jesus thank you your blood has washed away my sin Jesus thank you the father's wrath completely satisfi Jesus thank you once your eny now seated at your table Jesus thank you once your eny now seated at your table Jesus thank you [Music] father we can't thank you enough we give you our very lives Lord as we continue this morning with the preaching of your word we pray that you would teach us lead us and guide us help us to submit ourselves to your word will as you've revealed it in Scripture I pray for Thomas for Cody as they teach that you give them Clarity of thought and wisdom as they guide us into worship through your word in Jesus name amen y'all can be seated amen all right kids it's time for the children's lesson hey s hey sit down on the floor there all right oh good lots of kids lots of smiling faces today that's great I got a question for you guys how many you guys ever been to a wedding I've been in a you've been in a wedding what did you do in the wedding the flower girl very good what do they what why do we have weddings why do we go to weddings Sophia that's whenever people get married that's when they get married

Yeah what's what's happening in marriage what is that especially at the at the wedding Sawyer boy and a girl promise to live a boy and a girl promise to live together forever yeah that's right you know what we have we have actually the joining of a male and a female a husband and a wife and even those words have special meaning that I won't get into today but the point is there's a joining that takes place there where do we get this joining from why do we say that do we get it from the Bible I'm going to read a little bit a little bit from the Bible for you guys on why we get this idea of joining and we celebrate it in a at a wedding you know God when he created all the world what did he created plants and animals trees and at the end of it he said everything was very good until you get to the sixth day God creates a man and do you know what God say did God say after he just created Adam did God say it is very good no he didn't he didn't say it was very good he said this is not good and then you know what God did he brought a whole bunch of animals before Adam he said you're going to name them and we're going to look for a helper do you think God and Adam found a helper from the animals for Adam no he didn't and God said okay I know what I'm going to do I'm going to create a su suitable helper for you and I want to talk real briefly about what why we're helping because when God created the Earth he created it wild he then he created a garden out of it and in that Garden he wanted his likeness to tend that garden and he realized that Adam could not do that he couldn't he couldn't tend it properly with just himself and he couldn't fill it and multiply and make more image bearers of God so God said ah we're going to take a rib from your side he put him into deep

Sleep and then he fashioned woman from man and then you know what Adam did he sang a song yeah he's a romantic he sang a song this is bone of my bone and Flesh of My yes and here let's read that together for those of you who can read in Genesis 2 24 he said for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be United to his wife and they will become one flesh I have something here for you to look at look at this my brother got this for me for Christmas one year and I was like what are you crazy like there a paper weight come on you don't you love me more than that it's a bunch of bolts welded together he's kind of tacky he likes tacky things but I've kept it around all these years and I don't really know why until like today this is what do you guys see you see a man and a woman what's the man doing kissing oh he's kissing her what else is he doing hug hugging dancing very good yeah you see this at weddings too don't you and sometimes you see it at home too right and you know what it's a beautiful picture of when a man and a woman are emotionally and spiritually and physically joined together it's a beautiful thing I'm going to pass this around and I want you guys to try and do something for me I want you real quick just pass it around I want you to try and pull it apart can you pull that apart you think you can okay all right you try keep trying I'll give you guys a couple more seconds yeah no it's not going to happen it's not going to happen hey guys listen do you know why it's not going to happen because whoever made that took a hot torch and metal and he welded the man and the wife and the and the husband together and so they are now one it's one unit you can't separate them oh

You're bending the they're bending the hair okay you can't you can't SE you can't separate it here but you know what you know how you could separate it you know how you could separate it you'd have to take a really loud grinder with an more metal on it maybe a harder metal and it's going to spin really really fast and then you'd have to cut those welds apart and Sparks would be flying it'd be loud it'd be painful and it would be messy and you know what yeah you know what you could separate those but it would be very hard and here's here's here hey give that back to me now Sam give that back to me now yeah good try and you know what the point is the point is sometimes sometimes these these two do get separated and it's only because of sin and you know we celebrated a baptism today where God has rescued Sam from his sin and as an individual he saved him and he's restoring Sam he's he's creating something new in him and he's making him new each and every day and you know what though the Gospel which saves Sam is the same Gospel that can save and restore marriages and that's the good news it's powerful enough to restore any problem that sin creates okay and that's what I want you guys to take away today and listen to Pastor Cody he's going to talk more about this so let's let's pray if I could get someone to help me pass all candy when we're done and then we'll not you we'll get someone else all right let's pray dear heavenly father thank you so much for your Gospel thank you for creating US male and female and you know giving us this beautiful picture of marriage it is beautiful and it is good for us and we need you every day we need to be looking at you every day as soon as we look to ourselves we fall apart and Lord I just

Pray that you would bless us and help us understand what Pastor Cody has to say through your Holy Spirit replay these things in Jesus name amen well for those of you that maybe you're here and this is your first family worship Sunday this is what we call the organized mass chaos part of our service and so it's a wonderful thing that we have so many wonderful children in here and we thank the Lord for that amen we want we want nois you children there's no better place please know that if you're child is fussing praise the Lord for that we're so thankful that you are here that they are here and that they hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ there's nothing more transformative for your family than to be together and a prioritize the Lord Thomas as you were saying that I was just waiting for you to quote that scene from the office at phyllis's wedding when he says a wedding is the fusing together of two medals anyways I'm it's a great show it was stupid in the show is stupid now so whatever if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn to Mark chapter 10 Mark chapter 10 we're going to be in verses 1- 12 we are talking about marriage we are talking divorce if there's something a ceremony that humans participate in more often times than not it is marriage the joining together of two people physically emotionally mentally you know it is pleasing to God when humans marry one another in committed monogamous heterosexual relationships it is a part of God's good plan for creation in theology we would call this something called God's common Grace this is Grace that God has that is that is extended to every part of creation cretion okay when we take in a deep breath okay that's part of God's good grace when a friend Smiles at us or

You know our spouse holds our hand that's a part of God's common Grace towards Humanity that's very different than his special Grace his elective Grace but yet God he still has Grace upon Grace upon Grace and so when even lost couples even when kid couples that don't know the Lord when they join together in the ceremony of marriage and they do it God's way even though they may not be saved it is still something that is pleasing to God because it goes along with his good plan but if we were to look at the Scriptures and we were to ask what does God think about something like divorce it's pretty succinct we could just point over to Malachi 2:6 in the new King James it says for the Lord God of Israel says that he hates divorce pretty short sweet the list of things that God hates it's not very long and divorce is on that list and the reason is because it goes against his creation plan his creation order and today we are learning about divorce we're learning about marriage and more importantly we're going to learn about the grace that is available to you in Jesus Christ so let's stand together in honor of God's word as we read Mark 10 veres 1-12 God's word it says this and he left there and went to the region of Judea and Beyond the Jordan and crowds gathered to him again and again as was his custom he taught them and Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife he answered them what did Moses command you they said Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away Jesus said to them because of your Hardness of Heart he wrote you this commandment but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and

The two shall become one flesh so they are no longer two but one flesh what therefore God has joined together let not man separate and in the house of the disciples and in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter and he said to them whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her and if she divorces her husband and marries another she commits adultery so Lord God we do thank you for your word we ask that today that you would speak to our hearts Lord wherever we're at in our marriage Lord there might be marriages that are just really struggling right now I pray that this message would be useful to you to them and that you would use it to be a blessing to their life to their marriage to their sacred Covenant that they've made I also ask Lord and plead that you would continue to work in our congregation we do want to lift up to you our brothers and sisters out in East Tennessee and in Western North Carolina Lord as believers gathered together even right now where they don't have lights air conditioning or anything like that many of them may only have the clothes on their back Lord but still those Saints they gather and this is good and it's right and I pray for that to be a challenge to all of us as Believers Lord that we would prioritize you in spite of the things that go on in our lives and in the midst of the storms that we might be facing emotionally or anything like that Lord help us to always prioritize you as the first and the greatest God we want to continually lift up to you Vern and Denny Lord as they go through still continual treatments God at least Denny does we want to pray for your peace and your comfort in that situation we also want to lift up to you the many others in our church that are sick and going through various different things for Eddie Whitworth

Lord we pray for him we just surrender ourselves to you God and just ask that this local church body would be reflective of the glory and the grace that we've received by faith y'all can go ahead and have a seat he enters the region of Judea across the Jordan River which is in a Wilderness Area but yet it's a lot closer to Jerusalem and as Christ so often very did he taught the crowds as it was his custom as he gets crowds he taught them he blessed he ministered to them and yet there were also there was also another group that was there and these are the self-righteous very religious Pharisees that were there to ask questions not genuine questions not questions out of a desire to learn or to maybe adjust their view but in order to test Jesus Christ they ask these questions out of a selfish desire remember that these are the guys that are very soon going to be crucifying our Lord and they're still attempting to ensnare Jesus with difficult questions and the question's pretty simple is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife now there's two major rabinal schools of thought the first one is shamai and the other one is the school of H now the school of shamai said that phrase referred to things like indecent behaviors like physically okay these didn't include things like adultery because the punishment for that was death according to Scripture but all sorts of other things other sorts of actions and I'll leave that to your imagination to what I mean by that might be punishable with a certificate of divorce there's another school it's a school of Hil which was very much very broad okay for what was permissible for divorce you could divorce a wife if she wasn't able to Bear children that'd be sad if she offended you in her speech even if she didn't complete

Household tasks and I hope that we all scoff at that a little bit that you know the dishes aren't done therefore you write out a CER you know I'm very glad that we have a different culture nowadays but where did they get that from well it came from the book of Deuteronomy the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 24 is actually very vague in what it allows for divorce Jesus he asks what did Moses say and the Pharisees they use this as their scriptural foundation in Deuteronomy 24 it says when a man takes a wife and marries her if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house she departs out of his house and if she goes and becomes another man's wife and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house or if the latter man dies who took her to be his wife then her former husband who sent her away may not take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled for that is an Abomination before the Lord okay now where they got caught up on I'm going to go back to this is that phrase there's some indecency in her now for us that's pretty vague right there in our own language it's actually more vague in the Greek and the Septuagint which is what the Pharisees at that time would have been reading from it's translated as not finding Grace okay and in the Hebrew it does have a physical connotation in that language of being an uncovered body okay if there's there's something displeasing physically there okay what's interesting here is this law that God provides here is not about divorce okay it's about remarriage after divorce in other words if a man divorces his wife and she goes back after

Maybe that man dies the second husband the first husband can't remarry her okay that's what the law is there and instead of Jesus getting into this big legal battle using reasoning and Parables and all those type of things he goes back to the Scriptures specifically to the creation account so let's let's look at the passage and let's note God's original design for marriage what was God's original design but from the beginning of creation God made them male and female therefore they he a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh so there are no longer two but one flesh what therefore God has joined together let not man separate Jesus appeals to Genesis 1 as the found as the foundational teaching of what is most pleasing to Our Father in heaven a couple things before we get into here I want to note that Jesus affirms the creation account in Genesis okay so people say that Jesus does not affirm that creation account they're ignorant okay he believes in a literal Six-Day creation according to Genesis account he also affirms the Biblical teaching of marriage and the definition of two genders in this teaching male and female because God's plan is for one man and one woman and one relationship for one life lifetime in the marriage there's also a leaving that takes place from a son to join himself to a woman and a covenantal commitment to her and they become one flesh that is the teaching that Jesus lands on now Paul he instructs Us in Ephesians 5 that marriage is ultimately a picture of Christ and his bride the church Ephesians 5: 31-32 it says therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh this mystery is profound and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church the mystery of

Marriage it lies within that covenantal commitment that a man and a woman get to enjoy together it reflects the image of God by displaying Harmony by displaying Unity for people to see in your relationship in the beginning God didn't make man because he was bored or because he needed to be worshiped or anything like that God created man for his joy and his good pleasure and God made woman out of man as a display of that goodness and Grace toward mankind when God created woman he took the rib out of the side of Adam and he crafted her specially and specifically for Adam's pleasure when we look at Genesis 1:22 and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man then the man said this at last is bone of my bones and Flesh of My Flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh now there is a lie that says that men being the leaders of the home is the result of the Fall it's because of all sorts of skewed theologies and perversions to the clear teaching in Scripture the truth is that if you name something you have authority over it we've seen this in Mark on several occasions so I won't get into that but man named the woman and woman was created for him as a helper to be a blessing and the Judgment was not that man would rule over the woman the Judgment was that the woman's desires would be different than her husband's and he would rule over her so let me be FL Frank because this is not misogyny okay many times marriage or tension in marriage is caused because a wife is not willing to follow the leadership of her husband let's just put it out that way I also want to say that many

Times tension in marriage is caused by a husband not leading his wife well so let's just agree that both sides are at fault probably have a lot to work on waiting for a lot of a lot more of that but what makes a marriage well according to the Genesis account there is a giving of the Bride like what we see God doing in bringing her to the man presentation there's a statement of unity that's why Adam he sings this at last bone of my bones and Flesh of My Flesh and there is a commitment of leaving and cleaving of a new family unit when a man takes a wife for himself this doesn't mean that he gets to forgo the fifth commandment and say I'm no longer going to honor my parents at all but it does mean that his primary focus in Ministry shifts and becomes FOC focused on marry on ministering to his wife firstly and supremely early on in our marriage I think that we had maybe been married for maybe three or four weeks and my wife and I got a call from my parents they were raising my nephew he had I undiagnosed ADHD and Aspergers okay and so just really like we EGR right extra Grace required okay and he really was struggling with different things super high functioning he had other illnesses but they said we don't have a babysitter he's getting too old for having babysitters okay and we went to homeschool but we need to find someplace for him can you guys watch him for us until we can find someone it'll maybe take two weeks and so we said well yeah we can do that for two weeks and that was a very hard two weeks especially as a young married couple and two weeks stretched into three weeks and three weeks stretch in the four weeks and when we followed up with them it became well we haven't even started looking yet and so all of a sudden we became the de facto this

Is what we have to do unless I step in and so I called my parents and I said Mom Bruce you know we're not we're not going to be able to keep this up I've got a wife that she's my first Ministry I'm going to take care of her this is how it's got to be we can't do this and so y'all have to find someone by the end of this week because we're done and they did and they did that was a defining moment for our marriage because my mom and my stepdad they pushed back quite a bit like well you said that you would watch them for a few weeks always said to either either way either way it was a defining moment for us because because a husband and a wife they enter into a sacred Covenant that makes the two one metaphorically and literally upon consummation you see the act of marriage is the two becoming one flesh just as I am a part of my wife she is also a part of me and likewise so Christ is a part of the church the church is a part of Christ because Christ is the head of the church and the church is the body of Christ Paul he says in verse 32 of Ephesians five this mystery is profound and I'm saying it refers to Christ in the church in other words marriage is not the Ultimate Reality marriage is the symbol of the greater truth because it's not that Christ in the church is symbolic of marriage Christ in the church is the Ultimate Reality the marriage that you have with your wife with your husband with that symbol of the Covenant love that is placed is not nearly as great as the Covenant that Christ has with you and with me this means that the unity that we have the joy that we experience all of those things that we may receive in marriage the intimacy the closeness the joy

Love is very much real and yet it is to the in degree greater in Christ than even what the best marriage enjoys but notice what Jesus says in verse 9 he says what therefore God has joined together let not man separate because marriage is not just two adults consenting to agree to be with each other it's not a social contract it's not a common law marriage is God's idea and he's the one that gets to determine the rules because he's God and he has designed it and he has said this way is better my way is better now there's a big problem right it's because we have human sin and we have a big issue with divorce look at the passage again they said Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away and Jesus said because of your Hardness of Heart he wrote you this commandment Jesus he admits that Moses allowed for divorce but if we recall there that was created there for the protection of the woman because there had to be a justifiable reason for it I don't agree with that School of Hil where it was just anything displeasures it wasn't arbitrary it wasn't based on feelings or emotions that just come and go with a whim there had to be a writing to it there had to be something indecent and it had to be written on a bill stating out exactly why and that Bill had to be provided to her and she also had to be given protection by giving back to her father and yet God is clear that he also hates divorce and it seems as though God he allows it because we live in a sinful world but God's intent design is one woman and one man for one lifetime but we live in a sinful World sin has its tendrils and everything the good news is that back probably even you know seven or eight years ago the divorce rate was over 50% now it's at a 42% rate so praise the Lord that's

Heading in the right direction but we also see a steady decline in the rate of marriage as well if you regularly go to church did you know that your divorce rate Falls 30 to 50% just by going to church regularly which is good the divorce rate within the church is not the same as what's in the world did you know this is fascinating Christopher Ellison at the University of Texas in San Antonio he did some research said that if you are a married couple and you pray together daily your divorce rate goes down to less than 1% less than 1% truly God's ways and his wisdom is infinitely better than our own easy to go to a counselor and say give me some tips but praying means humility vulnerability honesty and a total dependence upon God and divorce is counter to that it's a concession to the desires of human sinfulness and it's against God's intention for marriage it's a Breaking of a covenant not only with each other but before Witnesses because that's how we take our covenants is before people and before God ultimately it's before God that's why God said what God has joined together let no man separate but what about Jesus's teachings on divorce let's look over at Matthew chapter 19 if you want to turn over there with me Matthew 19 you can read the whole passage it's the parallel Passage because the Pharisees they asked the question why okay why then if we look at verses 7-9 they said to him why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away and he said to them because of your Hardness of Heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives but from the beginning it was not so and this is what pastors and theologians call the exception CL Clause okay but I say to you whoever divorces

His wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery so there is explicit permission to divorce in the case of adultery because that marriage covenant was violated by another member of that Covenant and so the innocent party will call that they can in good conscience dissolve that Covenant and while it is permissible the ideal for the Christian reconciliation and we even see the same kind of language in the new in the Old Testament in Jeremiah 3: 6-14 the Lord said to me in the kings of Jose in the days of King Josiah have you seen what she did that faithless one Israel how she went up on every high hill and under every Green Tree and there played the and I thought after she has done all this she will return to me but she did not return and her treacherous sister Judah saw it she saw for all the adulteries of that faithless one Israel I' had sent her away with a degree of divorce and yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear but she too went and played the because she took her whoredom lightly she polluted the land committing adultery with stone and tree yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart but in pretense declares the Lord and the Lord said to me faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah go and Proclaim these words toward the North and say return faithless Israel declares the Lord I will not look on you and anger for I am merciful declares the Lord I will not be angry forever only acknowledge your guilt that you rebelled against the Lord your God and Scattered your favors among foreigners under every Green Tree and that you have not obeyed my voice declares the Lord return oh faithless children declares the Lord for I am your master I will take you one from a city and two from a family and I

Will bring you to Zion do you hear God pleading to return to return to return I mean perhaps your marriage is just in an awful state right now perhaps your spouse has wounded you broken the marriage covenant and while God may allow you to divorce in your specific circumstances the God honoring Christlike thing to do is to work toward reconciliation and healing it's hard yes so is the cross but I promise you it is worth it and don't forget the very end of Mark 10: 11-12 where Jesus states that divorce and remarriage is tant amount to committing adultery now of course if an unbeliever wants to dissolve the marriage and leaves you Paul he says in 1 Corinthians 7:15 but if the unbelieving partner separates let it be so in such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved but that's a whole different category in the kingdom of God we're just going to have to deal with the passage at hand but you as a follower of Jesus Christ you are called to faithfulness you know when I made my covenants with Amber I did not make them conditional I did not say I will love you if you love me I did not say I will be faithful to you if you are faithful to me that's not the Covenant the Covenant is I will love you I will honor you I will cherish you I will serve you I will lead you so in spite of what happens that's what you're called to and your marriage might be hurting it might be struggling you might be hanging on by a thread but remember the Covenant remember that you have a church family that loves you've got people around you that have walked through your situation that love you that want to see you grow and flourish in your walk and even more than that you have a great high priest

That can sympathize with you even in your weakness the Covenant of marriage is a serious commitment to one another the teaching is strict because the Covenant is serious and as Christians we believe that Christ's grace is sufficient to forgive all sins and all offenses whether you're divorced or you're remarried so what does it all mean well it means that for Christians we are called to live out God's design in a fallen world the rate of marriage is decreasing so is divorce more young couples more young married Christian couples are getting married and becoming serious about the traditions of the faith for the glory of God and I thank God for that this is good and right but I believe that marriage is aund hundred commitment and yet it falls primarily on the husband to get to that kind of commitment men the Bible says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her and that means that you are Christ's representative in your home as Christ's representative Christ he fulfills the three-fold office as Prophet priest and King and as such you are called to fulfill the three-fold office even in your home as a prophet you are called to speak the word of God over your home which requires you to know the word of God to read the word of God to apply the word of God to speak out the word of God with great wisdom this means that you should be a warrior in prayer full of zeal for God his people and his people as a prophet you don't sit back you don't react to the things that are happening in your home but you lead with seriousness and a Heart full of zeal and passion for God with your wife in mind as a priest that means that you serve your home with tender hands and a heart for God that means you seek to minister and meet the

Needs of people within your home you can do that work by providing physically if you do not provide physically for your home you're worse than an unbeliever according to Paul so read Scripture take your church take your family to church weekly because the Bible says to not forsake the assembling of yourselves together do Ministry alongside of them as a priest of the Lord in your home also you are King that means leading your home not as the first but as the servant leader you make decisions with your wife in mind and you carry yourself with dignity in a way that your children want to emulate it means going to war for them it means performing spiritual battle as a good King over your kingdom which God has entrusted to you a prophet a priest a king a provider a protector a pastor you are called to do that men husbands you are called to love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that means that your main Ministry aside from the primary thing of glorifying God and enjoying him forever is also loving your closest neighbor your wife and there are Godly men with good marriages that can walk with you through that if you're struggling because you're not alone however for the wives your calling is to submit to your husbands as to the Lord there is not a call to Mutual submission in Scripture the example is Christ in the church and Christ does not submit to his church if you're having trouble following your husband's leadership there's probably a heart issue going on and I would encourage you to seek Godly counselors about it and we've got some Godly women in here with great wisdom and I thank God for those women seek them out and do not lean on your own understanding but listen husbands wives those of you that hope to get married one

Day the Gospel is a Gospel message of redemption and renewal so you might get in a marriage and that marriage might have struggles there might be something terrible that happens like infidelity or Brokenness or something like that the Gospel of Christ empowers healing it empowers forgiveness it empowers restoration and as a member of the bride of Christ remember that you are a part of a bride that is so often faithless towards Christ when you pursue your sin your ways your own path when you decide to do life your way rather than God's way when you give in to Temptation when you're lazy in your walk with God it is a display of faithlessness to God thankfully Christ he is faithful even when we are faithless because he has purchased us at the price of his own life and he invites us to be cleansed and be made new in Revelation 19: 7-9 says let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and the bride has made herself ready it was granted to her to clothe herself with fine linen bright pure for the linen is the righteous Deeds of the Saints and the angel said to me write this blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb and he said to me these are the true words of God Church you are called to Holiness remember that God he hates divorce the ideal for the Christian couple is to remain faithful and to seek reconciliation because it follows God's plan so don't Harden your heart to the word of the Lord rejoice in the fact that even though you were faithless in your relationship with Christ he still pursued you he still loved you and redeemed you to himself and maybe you're here and you just discovered that you've sinned against God let me tell you that there is Grace for you too perhaps you've been divorced or you're with someone that you're not married to or maybe you have some other

Sin that the Lord's working on you in remember that the grace and the Forgiveness of Jesus Christ is extended to you as well in spite of everything he still invites you to come and purchase without price and to drink deeply of the Living Water to buy and sell without any issues that you would come to Christ fully and completely by faith alone in Jesus Christ's blood and you can receive that today by asking for God's forgiveness and if you want to talk about what that means you can talk to me you can talk to one of the other Elders you can talk with someone that invited you we would love to talk to you about what it means to follow Jesus Christ headart hand head God he wants you to know that marriage is a lifelong Covenant that is to be entered into without the possibility of Separation in our premarital counseling we always tell people divorce isn't an option if you treat it like it's an OP it's like you know the old phrase when the Spanish conquistadors were coming burn the ships just burn the ships get rid of that right there are permissions given by Christ and by Paul but the big principle is to remain in your marriage and work on it for the glory of Jesus Christ heart God he wants you to believe that marriage is was founded in Creation with the Union of two people becoming one flesh you are not your own as a spouse okay Independence ended the moment you said I do so you must consider them because you belong to them in marriage and they got the paperwork to prove it and that extends to almost every area of your life how you spend your money what you do with your time even your own body and hand God he wants you to not consider divorce but instead nurture relation your relationship by

Prioritizing the Lord and one another so go on a date spend time together talk obviously pray together because that clearly helps but most importantly seek the Lord together because there is no other Foundation that is secure other than the Rock of Jesus Christ at this time we're going to be transitioning into our time of communion and after that I'd like to just take a moment afterwards and just invite someone to come forward if that would be okay brother PJ if you would come forward and lead us in the Lord's Supper what a beautiful morning that we get to celebrate both ordinances in one service beginning with baptism and now concluding with celebration of the Lord's Supper I want to invite you if you're a believer in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ to by all means celebrate with this s celebrate with us in enjoying this supper if you're not a Believer or if you're not in fellowship or I would just ask that you let the symbols pass by and but don't stop don't stay there