I'm sure I'm loud enough, it'll
pick me up, that's for sure. Good morning everyone. If you
would please be turning to Romans chapter seven while I do a couple
things here and then we'll get started. Romans chapter seven, verses
one through six. I will try to bring us a Bible
lesson from that this morning. Romans seven. one through six. Let me read the six verses, and
then we'll go at the lesson in earnest. Paul, of course, is
continuing here, and he writes these words. Know ye not, brethren,
for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath
dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which
hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as
he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she
is loose from the law of her husband. So then, if while her
husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is freed from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, Ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should
be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in
the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work
in our members to bring forth fruit unto death, but now We
are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein we were healed,
that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness
of the letter. According to the Apostle Paul
and according to all of the scripture for that matter, God's law is
clear. Marriage unites one man and one
woman for life. Now there was a stipulation given
in the law by Moses that allowed for divorce or the putting away
for the cause of fornication. But our Lord himself made it
clear that from the beginning, God's original order, it was
not so. But I'm not here to talk about
the law in marriage and divorce. And neither is that what Paul
is talking about here when he begins chapter seven, verse one. He uses the law of God, God's
holy, just law to establish the principle of truth in God's ordained
order. So as I said, God's law is clear. Marriage unites one man and one
woman for life. Thus, to be married to another,
that is to another person, while the first spouse lives is, according
to the law, adultery. No ifs, ands, or buts. It simply
is what it is. Yet, Paul lets us know here in
our text that even God's holy law is clear. It is clear. If the first spouse dies, If
the first spouse is dead, the survivor is free. Free from that
first spouse, but not just free, but they are free to marry another. And even though they marry another,
they cannot have adultery charged to them, period. So what is Paul
trying to say here? As I mentioned, he's illustrating
the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ by even using
the stipulation of the law itself. Now let me just give you a little
illustration. Let me give you the illustration
of a surviving widow. Let me just use that as an illustration,
a surviving widow. Here you have a woman and she's
married the husband of her youth and they were married for years
and then he passes away. And here she is, she's a widow.
Well, she remarries. She's perfectly fine according
to the law. And every evening after work,
her husband goes to work day after day. after day, and honestly,
and lovingly, and caringly provides for her. All she has to do is
stay at home, take care of the home, take care of any kids they
may have had. Every evening after work, she
prepares her new husband's bath when he gets home. While he's
taking his bath after work, she is preparing the dinner. And
while she's preparing, after she prepares the evening meal,
and they have their evening meal and relax, and after that, She
always goes in the bedroom and turns down the bed and lays out
the bedclothes for her and her husband. One day, he comes home,
the bath is made, tub is filled, he begins to take his bath and
when he's done, she comes in behind him and refills the tub. This is not normal for her, but
he goes into the kitchen, and there's the dining room table
still all set. Now, the bath water's running,
the dining room table, everything's set, and he asks his wife, why
are you running water in the tub again? She said, that's from
my first test. And he looks at the kitchen table
there, and there's not two place settings with food on the table.
There's three place settings with food on the table. And he
says, well, my love, what, you say you're filling the black
bath for your first husband? Well, why is there this third
plate on the table with food? And she said, oh, that's for
my first husband. Anybody start to wonder if maybe
she's had a bad day? So they finish their meal. He
shrugs it off, goes into the bedroom. And there is normal
as the bed turned down. His bedclothes laid out and her
bedclothes laid out, but guess what? There is her first husband's
bedclothes laid out on the bed as well. Anyone here suspect
that there is a total disconnect with reality from this woman?
Now that may seem to be an odd example, but this is exactly
what happens. This is exactly the case if you
and I as believers in the Christ of God return to the law. We are filling up the tub for
our first husband when death has separated that union. We are putting a plate full of
food upon the table for our first husband when death has separated
that union. We are laying out the bedclothes
for our first husband when death has separated that union. Paul is clear in our text. Romans 7, even just verses 1
through 6. Paul is clear. Grace. free grace, reigning grace. God's grace declares that a death
has occurred, a union separating death, wherefore my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. Christ, that ye should be married
to another. Brothers and sisters, let us
not be filling up tubs and laying out plates and laying out bedclothes
for the law. That union has been legally severed
by our hand, the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone says, you're against
the law. No, I am not against the law.
But the law was against. The law showed me my sin. The law showed me my sinfulness. But Jesus Christ, my federal
head, died in my room and stead, and a death occurred. and that death severed that union
the law had with me from the beginning." Yet I say, Paul is
clear. Grace, free grace, reigning grace,
God's grace declares that a death has occurred severing the believer's
union to the law that they might be married to Christ. Isn't that
what we just read? Let's read it again. Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law. Now we'll look
at some details here in a moment, but I must move along. Wherefore,
my brethren, you are become dead to the law by the body of Christ
that you should be married to another, even to him that is
raised from the dead. That is, of course, Christ. that
we should bring forth fruit unto God. But then again, in verse
six, but now we are delivered, or that is saved from the law,
that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in
newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Now
here's what our text declares. And I have three things that
we'll finish out this morning's lesson, just three things. Believers,
now listen to me. I'm giving you what this says.
Believers are not dead to the law by something we have done,
but we are dead to the law by something Christ has done. Do you see that? It says a death
has occurred, but it's not our death. We're not dead to the
law in ourselves. We're not dead to the law by
anything we have accomplished. We're dead to the law by the
body of Christ. In other words, Christ died,
that severed the union. Is that even not what the law
teaches? woman and a man come together
and holy matrimony as we call it and one of the spouse dies,
that other spouse is legally free to be married to another. Paul lets us know a death has
occurred. It's the death of our Redeemer. And that death severed that legal
union that God Almighty, even God Almighty had ordained. And that death of our Lord severed
that union that we might be married to another. Think of it. We are
dead to the law by Christ's body. My brothers and sisters, that
happened before we ever even existed. That happened before
we ever even existed. We are dead to the law by Christ's
body. And we're dead to the law by
Christ's body, according to Paul here, that we should be. Notice the wording. Often my flesh says, well, you're
being too picky. No, I'm not being too picky.
This word is picky. It is inspired of God Almighty
and every jot and tittle matters. Notice, we're dead to the law
by Christ's body that we should be married to another. It does not even say that we
should marry another. It was not up to us. We were
promised to the Son by God the Father before the world began. My brothers and sisters in Christ
were in a fixed marriage. And I was going to say whether
we like it or not. I know in the beginning, I did not like
it. There's no way God could choose that I be married to Christ. Well, he did. Then he joined
me to his holy law. Even before that, no doubt, but
I can say even in my mother's womb. and I was brought forth
united to that law, but I was a very poor wife at best. Yet my second husband, ordained
by God before the world began, came into this world in the human
body and died in my room and stand. And he severed that legal
union that I had with Sinai. And he said, now I take you unto
myself. Notice what Paul says. We're
dead to the law by the body of Christ. That we should be married
to another. Not marry another, but be married
to another. Our new husband is the very one
who made this all legal. It's all legal. It's legal. God, in joining us to Christ,
never offended his holy law in one jot or tittle. As a matter of fact, God, in
the way that he was pleased to redeem his people and join them
in vital marital union to Jesus Christ, totally upheld his holy
law. That makes me smile, at least
in here, if I'm not smiling out here. That makes me smile. So
remember, remember, believers are not dead to the law by something
they do. We're not dead to the law by
something we do. It was all done for us. And that legal union having been
severed, he didn't even leave it up to us to seek after the
second husband. He sent that second husband to
find us where we were and to woo our hearts in love and compassion. And I am glad to run after Christ
now. I am glad, but here's a second
thought. God's law dealt with and deals with for that matter.
Think about this. I've been preaching for almost
40 years, trying to preach the gospel for almost 40 years. It's
just been in the past several years that God finally hammered
this truth home to my soul. God's law dealt with our flesh. Do you understand that? God's law dealt with, it deals
with our flesh. It deals with the old man. God's
law does not deal with the new man. The new man is created in
righteousness and true holiness after the image of him that created
him. There is no law over that. But that law deals with our flesh. Our flesh. And when that dawned
on me, I realized that my flesh is never going to be subject
to God's law. It cannot be, indeed the book
says, it cannot be. Even after God redeemed me, saved
me, and called me by His gospel, my flesh is still in opposition
to God's holy law. So this is the second point,
God's law dealt with our flesh. And because of the continual
corruption of the flesh, This flesh, and I'm gonna read it
to you. We done read it, but I'll read
it again. This flesh is incited to sinning, incited to sinning
in the thrones of spiritual death because of the law. Illustration. Don't mean to be too blunt, but
a carcass on the side of the road. Say a raccoon or a possum
or something. And that thing sits there and
it just kind of begins to deteriorate. It's rot. It's a stink. And it'll do that even on a cold
winter day. Ever stop beside the road and
not realize there was maybe a dead animal laying there? Even in
the winter, and you roll down the window, it's like, whoa.
But what happens when the sun comes out and begins to bake
down on that rotting carcass. It makes the situation even worse. But is it the son's fault? Is
it the son's fault? Not at all. The fault does not lie in God's
holy law. The fault lies in our rotting,
stinking, corrupt flesh, our old nature. And the more the
holy law shines upon that old flesh, the more it stinks with
the rot of my corruption. And this is exactly what Paul
says. For when we were in the flesh, You see that? For when
we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law,
you see. Now it's not the law's fault. The law's holy and the commandment,
holy, just, and good. The problem is with me. The problem is with you. us by nature. For when we were
in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law did
work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. Another
illustration. Many years ago we were at a family
reunion on the Pendleton side and We had all gathered together,
the ladies were gathering all the food together, and the kids
were outside playing. It just had come a pretty good
downpour. The road was an old gravel road
back up in West Virginia. It had some potholes in it, and
there was water beginning to form. And some of the women said,
us men were sitting outside on the porch, you know, drinking
tea and talking and doing things that men do. And the women, some
of the women stepped up and said, don't y'all let those kids get
in that mud hole. Like we're supposed to stop those kids from
getting in that mud hole. The only way we could have really
done that is all of us men banded together and got around the mud
hole and physically kept them from doing that. But my papa,
or my grandfather, Pendleton, he hollered at those kids and
said, kids, I want all of you all now to run and jump in the
mud hole." You know what they did? They all turned and went
away. Now, I think he got lucky, as
we say, but the very fact that he told them to do it made those
little rebels say, I'm not going to jump in that mud hole because
he said so. And that's what happens when
God's holy law comes along. It tells our flesh, thou shalt
not. And my flesh says, yes, I will.
Yes, I will. God's holy law comes along and
says, thou shalt. My flesh says, no, I will not. And you know what? It still does
that today. It still does that today. You
know what incites that? God's holy Somebody says, I don't
like that. That's your flesh. That's your
flesh. But here's the third thought.
God's grace. Think of it now. God's grace
has actually saved us. The word translated here in the
KJV is delivered. It's a fine word. I'm not throwing
off on the word. It's the same word in many other
places. For by grace are you saved. It's delivered. God's
law has, God's grace has saved us from the law because we were
in bondage under it. And now we can serve God according
to Paul in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the
letter. Verse six, but now are ye delivered
from the law. Not because the law's bad, but
because I'm bad. The problem again has never,
ever, ever been the law. It's always been me. Me. But now are we delivered from
the law that being dead wherein we were held, you see. We were
stuck there. Stuck there. But somebody came
along and did what? Delivered us. Just like a Lazarus
in a tomb. That's where I was. And that second husband. For me, for me. Having actually
died in my room instead, he came along and said, Walter, come
forth. And I did. Of no power or volition
of my own. And he commanded his preachers,
loose him and let him go. How's that happen? By preaching
Christ. You know what, when he loosed
me and let me go, I said, I got a husband. I got a husband. And he's more beautiful than
all the other husbands of the world. I want him and him only. I must move along. Think about
this. We'll try to give you another
illustration. I realize the illustrations can be shot full of holes. I
understand that. But my first one was not going
to work. And that lady, beautiful lady right back there helped
me with this one. Let me illustrate this. What does it say? That we should serve in newness
of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. It's the difference
between When I was young, and I fought with a sibling, and
my parents demanded that I hug and make up. You ever had that
happen? Did you have siblings, and you get in a fight, and your
parents said, you two are gonna make up now. You're gonna hug,
you're gonna make up. And sometimes I would do it,
but you know why I did it? Just to keep from having more
trouble. I didn't do it because I really
wanted to. In here, I did it because of
outward constraints and warnings out here. Do you understand what
I'm saying? Now maybe you and your siblings
were perfect siblings and never had any problems, but I had my
problems of mine. But as I became older and began
to mature, something was different. I now have an inward desire to
get along. Just do what you got to do, get
along. But even that don't always work.
But even if we fight now, we are striving to hug and make
up because we're not little adolescents anymore. We both know and understand
everyone's weaknesses and their faults. It's the difference between
being outwardly told you must and being inwardly enabled to
say, I desire to do. Turn to Titus chapter three. Wind this down. Think of it, Titus chapter three.
Verse three, I'm just gonna read, make a couple comments. For we
ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving divers lust and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating one another, but, do you see that word? That three
letter word, but something changed, right? something happened. But after that the kindness and
love of God our Savior toward man appeared, and I want you
to know Paul doesn't even get to the different thing of the
but. He simply states the foundation
of why the but's true. He didn't say but now you're
not like that anymore. He doesn't even go into that.
He just gives us the reason why it's not like that anymore. You
see, now in other passages, he tells us how this all works,
but here he says, but after that, the kindness. and love of God
toward our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being
justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the
hope of eternal life. How much of that did we do? Huh? How much of that did we
do? Nothing. And that's what brought
me from serving in oldness of the letter to serving in newness
of the spirit. But hear me now, I'm not serving
my first husband. I'm dead to him. I'm serving
my second husband. the Lord Jesus Christ. Heavenly
Father, encourage us, comfort us by the truth of thy word,
in Christ's name, amen. Okay.