here in just a moment. I consider it a great privilege
that God has blessed me to know some of the greatest preachers
that God has ever given. I mean, I'm astounded at the
grace of God toward me that I've been able to hear the gospel
for so many years and very thankful to have friends. preach the gospel,
what an encouragement they are. Pray for him. I know the burden that he has.
And pray that God will bless his message that he has given
him for our hearts. And I'm kind of concerned. Terrence
said we heard enough gospel for a week. I'm wondering if I'm
preaching too long now, Terrence. I just said a few words. I don't
know. God's Word is so full. God's
Spirit is so powerful. Without the Spirit of God, none
of this is going to make any sense to me. I read that text this morning.
I received a text from a young lady who was experiencing persecution. at the hand of people that love
her, that she loves. And the persecution is because
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray for those who are persecuted.
Ridiculed. Mocked. And I know it's painful, but
our Lord didn't leave us without this warning that the world will
hate you. I don't know why I'm surprised
when it hates me. I am, though. I'm surprised that
they don't love this message. I'm surprised that grace isn't
the message that everyone who is a sinner would long to hear. But it's not. And it does break my heart that men
won't hear it. that men despise. Salvation by grace. But I'm thankful God has opened
my heart. It wouldn't be any different between me and them.
And God not open my heart to see it. And I pray you open the
hearts of people today. Let's go to Him in prayer. Gracious Father in heaven, I'm
so thankful you've given us prayer. What a misery life can be without
communion with you. I'm thankful when there is no
human hands to help. You are always here to help your
people. Because you've promised, not
because we are worthy, but because of your grace, you've promised
to help us in our time of need, time of persecution and grief
and sorrow. And this morning, Father, we
come empty of ourselves. And if we're not, I pray that
you would empty us of ourselves. That every soul would lean all its weight on Christ. That
every soul that hears the word would believe and find true rest
and peace. Set our eyes upon Him. Magnify
His name and His word. Forgive us our sins. Let us never
take it lightly, Father, concerning what He has accomplished for
us. May it be said as in preeminence,
Father, in our minds and our hearts. Bless our brothers and
comrades. Fill him with your spirit and
your word. Then fill our hearts with it according to your grace
and love that's in Christ. We pray this in his name, for
his sake. Amen, amen. Brother Walter, I'm
gonna preach the gospel to you. Thank you, brother. Good morning. Pardon me just a moment. I'm
not ready to start the message yet, but you'll be turning to
Romans chapter 7. That's where I'll... That'll
be my text for this morning, Romans chapter 7. I think I first met your pastor,
I don't remember, I don't remember the year, Brother Mike Walkers
at Millsite Baptist Church. Mike had Fred come preach for him for
a weekend three day meeting and for some reason he had me come
too. That's where I first met your pastor and fell in love
with him. And of course I think we had him come preach for us
and we've, we were, both ways, that's right. Ask me later, I'll
tell you about our massive building we have with two wings, an east
and a south wing. Yeah, you have that. I thank you all for the hospitality
and everything yesterday and thank this group for the accommodations. My brother, Paul Pendleton, who
is also my brother in Christ, sends hellos. Let me read a song
to you before I start my message. The title, let me find it here. The title is How Deep the Father's
Love. Some of you may have heard it.
It's a fairly recent song compared to a lot of other songs, of course.
This is what the writer wrote. How deep the father's love for
us, how vast beyond all measure, that he should give his only
son to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain of searing
loss the father turns his face away as wounds which marred the
chosen one bring many sons to glory. How deep the father's
love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he should give
his only son to make a wretch his treasure. How great the pain
of searing loss the father turns his face away as wounds which
marred the chosen ones bring many sons to glory. Behold the
man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear
my mocking voice call out among the scoffers. It was my sin that
held him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought
me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything,
no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer, but
this I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer, but
this I know with all my heart. His wounds have paid my ransom. I'll be honest with you, I don't
know if the man that wrote those words and sang that song even
knows what he really wrote, but they blessed my soul. They blessed
my soul. All right, if you would, you
should be there, Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. I'll read just the first six
verses as my text this morning. And Paul, of course, is continuing.
And he wrote 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 loosed 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 free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore, you see that? Here's why Paul is writing this. Not simply to discuss the nuances
of the law. 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 that 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 held,
that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness
of the letter." To me, this is an astounding thing. astounding
thing. God's law is clear. It's never changed. Never will
change for that matter. God's law is clear. Only death
severs the marital union. The law is clear. Only death
severs the marital union. As a matter of fact, even of
the legal provision about divorcement suffered by Moses for fornication. You remember the Pharisees came
tempting the Lord and was asking about this thing. Even the legal
provision about divorcement suffered by Moses for fornication, that's
the way it's put in Scripture by our Lord. Our master said
this concerning that. Now he said, the law's still
there, it's valid. God suffered this to be so because
of the hardness of your own hearts. If you have a spouse to be, you
find out she's already been with another man, you can divorce
her. That lets us know that in God's eyes, engagement is as
binding as what we call marriage. Christ said, now that's certainly
a provision, but this is what our master said. But from the
beginning, it was not so. That's what our master said about
it. And you can find that, of course, Matthew 19. specifically
verses 3 through 9. But our brother Paul points out
another caveat of the law in this matter concerning the death
of a spouse. Let's see it again. Look. Verse
2. For the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. Here's that caveat. But if her
husband be dead, she is loosed. Do you see that? That's the first
caveat. She's loosed. His death looses
her from that first marital union. The law says so. Look, she is
loose from the law of her husband. So then, if while her husband
lives, she be married to another man, she shall be called what?
An adulteress. But, if her husband be dead,
she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, and
here's the second caveat of that, though she be married to another
man. She's not just freed by this
husband's death from the husband. She's free to marry another. You see that? Not just free,
free to marry another. That's the caveat. Now let me
try this morning to unpack, so to speak, four facets of this
beautiful thing of Christ's salvation for us in our text. And if I
were, you know, more trained and learned, I could probably
make this all rhyme and sound, but I'll give you my four points,
but then we'll go back and look at it. Here's number one. Here's
the first one. I want to look at the foundation
of this freed to marry another, and that's my title. That's my
subject. Freed to marry another. That's the first, the foundation
of this, free to marry another. Number two, the freeness, the
freeness of this married to another. The third one is this. Hang on to the saddle horn now
because we're going to jump a creek on this one. The incitement to
sin in our first legal right here, the incitement to sin in
our first legal union. Number four, the impetus, the
motivating factor, if you will, the impetus of this married to
another service. So those are my four things I
want to try to unpack this morning. So let's look at this. The foundation
of this, this what now? freed to marry
another. First of all, according to Paul
in our text, Christ's death is the foundation. Why? A death has to be the foundation. We all, by God's ordination,
are under God's holy law in the flesh. We're married to it whether
we like it or not. Isn't that the way a lot of marriages
are today? Two people get together and they find out, well, I'm
married to somebody I really don't like now. Christ's death is the foundation.
Because think about it. His death was a real death. Just as real as this woman spoken
of here who has this husband and he dies. I mean, he dies. So she's freed from him. She's not just freed from him,
she's freed of what? She could marry another. Christ's death
was real. It's an actual death. It's not
metaphysical. It's not a make-believe. It's
not a theory. God in human flesh died in that
body. Died. Christ, it's a real first
union-severing death. There's the death. Jump ahead. The law didn't die.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also become dead to the law. It doesn't
say the law is dead. The law is still very much alive.
But a death has occurred. And that's what the law said
needs to take place. Right? A death. A death. Not my death. Though I'm dead
to the law, but it's not by my death. It's by the body of Christ. You see that? You see that? If
you do, you see a whole lot more than what most folks out here
in this world who are religious see. There's a second thought
under this foundation of this freed to marry another. It's
proved in our text in verse 4. Again, I said the law is not
dead. And we're not dead to it by something we do. Ever. Ever. God doesn't enable us to
die to the law. We're dead to the law by the
body of Christ. And we know this is a death because
it says what? 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 that is raised from the what? Dead. When he died, he severed that
first legal union for me. I wasn't even born yet. When
I was born, I didn't even care about it. I still thought about
and loved that first union. Thought I was pretty good at
it for a while. Made a profession when I was young, walked the
aisle, prayed the prayer. Did well for a while. Thought
I was pretty good in that first legal union, not knowing a death
had already occurred. I had been severed from that
by the body of Christ. You know what this tells me?
I'm going to give you, this is going to be the summary before
I even get to the rest of the message. If you're trying to
be joined to the law and Christ at the same time, you are an
adulterer or an adulteress. See that? That's what the law
says. That's what grace teaches as
well. I'm telling you, a death occurred,
and it severed the first legal union. It's over. It's over. Does that mean that
everybody is separated? No, because those for whom he
died for, he severed that union. He did not do this for everyone. So remember, the foundation of
this freedom to marry another, Christ's death. God help us to
always remember this because not just about this subject brother,
but every subject in scripture Jesus Christ Suffering and dying
on Calvary's tree is the sum and substance of every other
subject in the scripture You don't understand none of it rightly
you don't even begin to understand it rightly till you start to
God gives you a little bit of eyes and ears and a heart to
say I see the Lord of glory crucified on Calvary's tree for sinners,
for sinners. Think about it. Christ's death
reconciled those he died for. Romans 5, 10, Colossians 1, 21,
22. It was not an attempt to reconcile. It was not making
reconciliation available. It was not making reconciliation
possible. When he died, he reconciled those
he died for. Go back and look at it. Again,
Romans 5, 10, Colossians 1, 21, 22. According to Hebrews 9, verses
14 through 17, Christ is called the testator of God's will. That is, God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and I cannot explained this,
before time ever was, drew out, metaphorically speaking, drew
out a wheel. Here's what we're going to do,
the great three-in-one, here's what we're going to do. And the
sun will die to ratify this wheel, but we will not leave it up to
man to see that the wheel is carried out. The very testator
who died to ratify the will will be raised from the dead to see
that the will is carried out. There's the foundation. I don't
know if that rings your bell, but that rings mine. Here is
God's will, enfreed to unmarried another. That is in our text. Look at verse four, that, it's
said twice, the word that is used. Look, wherefore my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that,
here it is, here's the will, that, what, ye should be married
to another. You see it? That was God's will,
that's what God purposed before the world was. Look, even to
him that is raised from the dead, here's the second part of it,
that, we should bring forth fruit unto God. I'm glad God purposed it and
didn't leave it up to me because I would miserably fail in both
of those. And I prove it. I prove it to
my shame and disgrace. I prove it every time God lifts
his restraint from me just a little, so to speak. Start like this And I do not stop until I hit
rock bottom in God by his grace and mercy raises me back up Now think about it. We're not
freed to serve self We're not freed to serve Antichrist religion
We're not freed to serve the flesh were freed to be married
to Christ and to bring forth fruit unto God. Right? Right? Paul says you've been called
unto liberty. It's okay to smile about that.
It's okay to smile about that. I know sometimes I got this sour,
serious look on my face, but it's okay to be happy about this.
It is. It is. We're freed to marry Christ
and bring forth fruit unto God. And God didn't leave either one
of these up to us. You've been called unto liberty,
but here is our instruction, only use not your liberty for
an occasion to the flesh. And again I say, I emphasize,
I do every time, if he does that just a little. I'll start using even my liberty
for an occasion to make to this world, to this world. Number
two, the freeness of this married to another. Of course, it's free
because Paul put it to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1 through 9. You
don't have to turn there, but this grace, this grace and purpose
of God was given us in Christ before the world began. I had
done nothing good or evil to either demerit it or merit it.
God did it, had purposed it, he willed it at his sovereign
pleasure. That makes this old sinner happy. This makes me happy. It doesn't make me want to do
evil. It makes me want to do good.
But even when I want to do good, I find I have no power to do
it. I find no power to do it. The freeness of it. Paul told
Titus basically the same thing, Titus 3 verses 5 through 7, that
he were justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Note the language of our text.
Ye are become dead. I'm not a English major by any
stretch of the imagination, but God has taught me a few things,
and I am reading this here. We are become dead. We did not
die, too. We are become dead. Do you see
that? We've been acted for. Someone else did the doing. Someone
else did the dying. Someone else did this all. We
didn't do Anything or if you're from like me from West Virginia.
We didn't do nothing whichever way you want to put it We're become dead to the law
by the body The body if not even through
the body of Christ, it's not I use his death for something
his death did the deed and His death severed the legal union. That's a good thing because now
I'm freed to marry another, but a special another. The Lord Jesus
Christ himself, the one who was God manifest in the flesh, the
one who died, was buried, rose again, but didn't just stay here. He ascended back to glory and
sat down at the right hand of God the Father. I'm free to marry
you. I love you, baby. But I like
that one. I like that one. You see, it
become dead to the law by the body of Christ. It's by the action
of another. Bless God, it's free. It's free. How much do I gotta pay for this?
Absolutely nothing. Just enjoy the relationship.
Uh-huh. Yeah, just believe it. Believe
what God said about his son, the record God gave of his son,
and just enjoy the relationship. I bet you my wife wishes I could
do that with her. Huh? That's where we are in Christ. But here's more language. That
ye should be married, not get married. That's simple seems
like it's playing with words. Maybe it is playing with words,
but it's a reality. We don't get married We be married
be made. It's like people today talk about
getting saved I used to say it years ago, and I got saved I
got saved until God saved me and then I said I've been saved
God saved me that you should be married to another not get
married you I Was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto them
that didn't even ask for my hand in marriage. He just come and said, I've died
in your mind. Enjoy me. Now if that's not a good deal,
you really don't see who he is. That's the problem. Because when
God begins to show you who he really is, let's walk down the aisle, so
to speak. Pardon me just a moment. We are now at number three. Number three, remember the incitement
to sin in our first legal Union I'm going to read to you what
God said Not what Walter thinks? Not what the people at Sovereign
Grace Chapel thinks not what the people at Redeemer's Grace
Church thinks Though I pray we all think this this is what God
says Okay, what God says? Remember, we sit at the foundation
of this freed to marry another, the freeness of this married
to another. But now we're looking at the
incitement to sin in our first legal union. It was, now do you listen to
what this says? Listen, what I'm going to say,
I'm going to show you that from this book. It was the law itself
that stirred the pot. Do you hear what I just said?
Oh, antinomian, if that is so, so be it. So be it. Look at thus saith the Lord. For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins which were by the law. That's what it says. Yes or no? That's what it says. Did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. That's strong language. I understand
that's strong language. That's language that a religious
person, a person who thinks he or she and Jesus worked together
to kind of get all this thing done, that's offensive language.
Well, I may not keep all the law, but at least I give it my
best shot. You're freed from that. Or either
you're married to that. One or the other. Either you're
still married to the law and you've got to do it all. What
was it, 600 and some we talked about, yeah. All of it, from
the beginning. Not a starting place. Not you
decide to start keeping God's law. You have to have kept it
from, wait a minute. Inside here in your mommy's belly
till you come out till you die You're still married to that
or you're freed by the death of Christ To marry another now. It's one or the other Because
God is not raising up a bunch of adulterers and adulteresses
It's one or the other Look at it Again for when we were in
the flesh the motions of sins which were by the law Again I say strong language look
at verse 8 same chapter, but seeing Look at what it says but
sin taken occasion by the, not the flesh, that's certainly true,
but by the what? Commandment. You know one way
to get your kids to do something? Tell them not
to. Yeah. Just tell them not to. It may not happen right like
that, but that'll boil and fester in their mind. And it'll boil. Who are they to tell me what
I can and cannot do? And any of you that's got any
age on you, if you're honest, you'll say, I understand that.
I don't like somebody telling me what I can and cannot do. People say that's an American
thing. No, that's an Adamic thing. It goes way further than the
United States of America. It goes all the way back to our
daddy Adam, who was God to tell me I can't eat of one fruit in
this garden. It started right there and we
still do it today. Look at it. Verse 8. But sin,
taking occasion by the commandment wrought in me, all manner of
concupiscence. But without the law, sin was
what? It's dead. But when the commandment came,
sin revived, and I died. You see that? When Paul then,
let me paraphrase it. When Paul said, one time he was
a law man. He loved the law, but he didn't
even really know what the law was saying. But when God opened
his eyes, and all of a sudden he seen the law, it's like, whoa,
all the breath just went out of him. Now I'm gonna try to
illustrate this to you. Look at verse 7. What shall we
say then? Is the law sin? You see, I'm not misinterpreting
what Paul wrote there in verse 6. He meant what he wrote, and
he knew there'd be backlash. Is there, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Now, he goes on, and you can
look at the words, but let me try to illustrate this for you. It's going to be a little, I'm
going to illustrate, it's going to be a little disgusting. Most
everyone here has probably experienced what I'm going to mention. You
ever drove down the road on a really cold, one of these cold Indiana
winters, and there's a poor little old beast dead on the side of
the road? There he is, this little old dead beast. And you just
think, man, that poor thing. And you drive right on by it,
and you can tell that thing's just, it's dead. It might even swell a little
bit. But you drive by that, and you
don't even really, you just see the poor little beast. Drive
by that same little beast in the dead of summer. When that
Indiana 100 degree sun is beating down on that little old dead
beast. You smell him before you even see him. Right? Now he's still just as dead.
He's still just as corrupt in the winter as he is in the summer.
What's the problem? It's that thing up in there up
in that sky called the sun beating down with it's Wonderful, glorious
warmth. There's nothing wrong with the
sun. Anybody ever smelled that poor
little beast and stopped there beside the road and stepped out
of your vehicle? Dagon you son, why did you do
this? You ever blamed the sun for that
poor little beast and that corrupt smell? No, it ain't the sun's
fault. It's the corruption of the dead
carcass of the beast that's the problem. I've just explained
to you with this illustration what Paul gives you down to that.
The problem ain't the law. The problem is who? It's me. It's you. And when God's holy
law really shines down on us, boy, we start to swell. And anybody
with a true spiritual nose says, phew, they're bad. You know what really rocks your
world, though, is when you smell that smell and you think, who
is that? Oh, wait a minute. That's me. That's me. It smells
like that. And then you realize everybody
else does, too, even though they might not know it. But here's
them. thing that scares you out of
your wits. You realize that God smells that too. But we've been freed to
marry another. Our death, which was real too,
doesn't matter. It's his death that mattered.
You see that? That death, his death, freed
me to marry him. and to bring forth fruit into
God. Fourth thing, the impetus, the
motivating thing of this married to another service. Verse six,
but now we are delivered, wait a minute, what's that? Wait a
minute, let me stop for a moment, wait. But now we are delivered
from the curse of the law. Is that what that says? But now
we're delivered from the condemnation of the law. Is that what that
says? No, that's true, and that's spoken of in other places, but
that's not what that says, is it? But now we are delivered
from the law. Bless God, don't you see that?
We're delivered from the thing itself that held us where we
were because of our corruption, not its corruption. It's holy. and the commandment holy, just,
and good, but when it shines its heat on us, it manifests
what our flesh is. We're delivered from that itself.
Now, I cannot make it any clearer other than to say you cannot
court the law and Jesus Christ together. You can't do it. You can't be wedlocked to the
law in Jesus Christ at the same time. It's illegal in God's sight. You either believe that Christ's
death severed the first legal union or you don't believe Christ
at all. Is that too clear? I hope not. You understand what Paul, not
what Walter's saying, you understand what Paul's saying here? were delivered from the law that
being dead wherein we, aren't you glad I said were held? Were
held, I'm not held there anymore. That we should serve in newness
of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. That's the impetus
of this married to another service. Pardon me again. I want to make sure I say this
right. We're not freed to break the law. We're accused of preaching that.
You say people are freed to break the law. We're not preaching
that any more than we say that when a woman is widowed that
she is to badmouth her former husband. Right? She's not freed to badmouth him
and marry another. No, she can still honor him.
Fred, she can take flowers to his grave. But bless God, when
she sets out two plates for dinner, one for her and one for her second
husband because the first one's dead, don't set out a third plate
for the first one. Did that ring a bell with you?
Don't set out a third place for the first one. Why? He's dead.
You can honor him. But he don't sit at the table
with you. That's gone. He don't lay in the bed with
you. It's gone. Why? Because your second husband
took care of that by death. He severed that first union so
you're free to marry him and be devoted to him and bring forth
the fruit unto his father who is also your father as well. You are one with him and isn't
that what the book talks about marriage being after all? Right? The two shall be one flesh. That's how united we are to Jesus
Christ and I really don't know what I just said. I can't really
give you something to illustrate that because this union between
me and this lovely lady right here just don't cut it. It mirrors
it a little but it don't cut it. That's the impetus. You see it's
This impetus, this motivating factor in this married to another
service. Isn't that what it says? But
now you are delivered from the law that being dead wherein you
were held that we should serve in newness of spirit and not
in oldness of the letter. Of course, what is the oldness
of the letter? The law. That's the context. Think about it. Here's the first
thought here under this. It's an inner motivation. It's
an inner thing. See, most people think that serving
God is what you do out here. I'm not saying it has nothing
to do with out here, but unless it starts inside here, out here
is nothing but adding to my condemnation. Even our righteousnesses are
as menses cloths. Did I say that out loud? That's
what it means. You see, our second husband.
Can I call him that, Fred? I'd call him that, right? He's
our second husband. He's all the beauty and all the
glory. Our beauty comes from, according to our brother Isaiah
the prophet, comes from him. From him. He's my beauty. I'm
just, now listen, I'm just the old hag that he loved and decided
to marry. That's right. It's an inner motivation, and
yet, in our day and age, people who claim the name of Christ,
they use his name, say they're a part of him, they love him,
they believe him. They think it's all out here, and they can
take it or leave it, right? When he joins himself to you,
so that you understand you are also joining yourself to him,
it starts down in here. You understand? It's in the immaterial
man. It's in something you cannot
see. It starts in the spirit inside. One, someone says, well,
should that be capital S or not? Both apply. Because you got nothing
down in here in your spirit unless God, the capital S spirit, does
something for you first. Says, And you say, there's my husband.
I love him. Look at him. Look. Look, him
whom my soul loves. Boy. But now let me ask you something. Aren't you thinking, maybe some
of you are, maybe some of you're not. If you're not, I'm not meaning
to criticize you for it, but aren't you thinking, well, Oh,
I wish I had a few examples of what Paul meant there, what that
preacher just said. Okay. I'll give you some. And I'm not going to make these
up with some poor little beast dead on the side of the road.
Turn to Ephesians chapter four. I'll give you some examples.
I'm just going to give you examples of three. Three. Ephesians chapter four. I want
you to get your place there. While you're getting a place
with me, Have a drink of water. Remember that we're talking about
now the impetus of this married to another service. What does
the law say? It still says it. It hasn't been
changed. Christ didn't come to change
the law, but to do what? Fulfill it. He didn't come to
kill the law. The law is not dead. We're dead
to the law by the body of Christ, right? What does the law say
about lying? Thou shall not bear false witness. Is that not what the law says?
And that means from the get-go. And I'll even bring it into,
from the first time you can kind of recognize anything about wrong
or right. I'll take it even out of the
womb, but when you start, you start growing up and you start,
okay, this is right, this is wrong, you start to understand
some of those things. You know you're supposed to tell the truth.
We don't have to teach our children to lie. My mom and dad never
had to teach me to lie. It just flowed from me. It flowed
from me. Now maybe it didn't from you.
Maybe that wasn't your problem at all, but mine was. That tongue, somebody still tells
me my tongue still likes to do this a lot. Thou shalt not bear
false witness period Okay, now look at what grace says Ephesians
chapter 4 verse 25 wherefore putting away life Do you see
the big difference? Grace acknowledges you are a
liar and Grace deals with you where you are, not where you're
supposed to be as the law does. The law tells you where you're
supposed to be and you ain't never been there yet. Grace deals
with you where you are. Wherefore putting away, like
you don't need to put away what you ain't got, right? You see
the difference? And that has to start where?
Down in here. that you begin to abhor it enough
that you just strive not to do it. You see it? Wherefore, but
look, it's more than that, wherefore putting away light speak every
man woe, truth with his neighbor. I know a lot of people in this
world, they wouldn't lie for you for nothing, but they wouldn't
tell you the truth either. You talk about the truth of who
God is and who man is they don't want to hear that They wouldn't
tell you a lie for nothing, but they don't want to tell you the
truth either The law doesn't demand you tell the truth Because
the truth is a person right it's your husband. He said I am the
way the truth Speak every man truth with his
neighbor for we are members of Now, I know we think, well, we're
joined together. No, we're all liars. That's what he, we're
all members, one of another. We're cut of the same cloth,
as we say. That's one. That's one illustration,
but we're still inefficient. What does the law say about theft?
Thou shalt not steal. Right? Period. Right? If you ever do, if you ever have,
you done broke not only that law, James says you're guilty
of the whole thing. You've shown your disregard and
your disdain for the whole law. It's not the laws of God, it's
the what? Law of God with many commandments. But look at what it says here.
Theft, look at verse 28. Let him that stole Steal no more. How do you see
that? You see when it says thou shalt
not steal and then I realize, ooh, I have. I'm already in the red. How do I make up for that? Well,
I'll do more good works. That's exactly what this world
is engaging in. And no matter how many more good
works you do after that, you don't care. You don't take care
of that one time you stole that one thing. You are guilty before
God. That's where the law meets you. That's where that first relationship
meets you. That's where that first marriage meets you. Right
there. Here's where the Savior meets you. Let him that stole
steal no more. But it's more than that. You
see it? But rather let him labor working
with his hands to the thing which is good. And look. that he may have to give to him
that needeth. You don't even do all this for
yourself. Now how many times have I? But grace instructs me, don't.
Don't, but here's the glorious thing about this inside thing,
it's God that works in us both to will and to do with his good
pleasure. We will bring forth fruit unto
God. Not always, because there are times he lifts that restraint
and reminds us of how much we're like that poor dead beast laying
on the side of the road in the heat, that 100 degree Indiana
sun. He'll remind you of that every
once in a while. And you know what that's for? It's not to
make us feel bad. It's to show us the loveliness
of our second husband. He knows we're that. He knows
we are. But he died to sever that first
union so that we could be married. Be married to another and bring
forth fruit unto God. One more. What does the law say
about love your neighbor? It says to love your neighbor.
I remember that years ago Henry Mahan I don't even remember what
the message was. I just remember him making this
statement. It doesn't tell you to love your neighbor. It tells
you to love your neighbor as yourself. And I have deceived
and deluded myself at times into thinking I have. I never have
loved my neighbor as myself. I haven't. But look at Ephesians 4 verse
31. You see all of these, these are
not just, he doesn't just deal with the glorious things of election
and predestination, redemption by blood. Now I need to throw
in some rules. That's what most people think,
right? He deals with some of these election things and they
don't even believe most of that. They don't mind this part because
they think they're pretty good at it. Now he throws in some
rules on how to live. No, this is not rules how to
live. It's not. Hold on, let me, let
me. It's not the oldness of the letter,
it is newness of the spirit. It's God motivating you inwardly
because you love for your second husband. Look at what he says.
If I'm a spot efficient concerning they said love your neighbor
as yourself. That's what the law says Here's
what grace says chapter 4 verse 31 let all bitterness wrath and
anger and clamor and evil speaking Why does he tell us this because
we got so much of it in us? We are so prone to it And yes,
I'm including you with me Yeah, that's it. Yeah. I know you good
church folk. You're pretty good AJ All right Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and evil speaking what be put away from
you. Grace makes you acknowledge what
you still are in the flesh. If you ever rise above that,
you pretty much figure your second husband, you don't even know
how glorious he really is. If you think this is, I'm so
good. Do you think that you add to
the glory and perfection of Jesus Christ? Or does everything you
have that's glorious and beautiful and sweet and good come from
Him? Which one? Which one? Look! Be put away from you with all
malice, and be ye tied one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving. You see how grace
acknowledges what we are? The reality, huh? Forgiving one another even as
God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. He's already done the forgiving. He's already done it. John Chapman mentioned this year's
conference at Kingsport last year. He said, people say Jesus
died for my sins. Jesus died for my sins, right?
Okay, you know what that means? That means you will have to commit
each and every one of them if he died for them. Yeah. Well, that gives me license. You don't need a license. You're
going to do it. You don't have to have no license.
You're going to do it. But if you're his, Christ died
and forgave you when he died. Look, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you, be ye therefore followers of God as
dear children. Where is a follower's position? Always. Behind. Right? We are not leaders of
God. We're not walking hand in hand
with him here. We are followers. It's okay. And I'm not trying
to be funny or cute. It's okay to follow around the
Lord Jesus Christ like your little puppy dog did when you first
got him or her. And that puppy dog would just
love you so much and when you'd move, what'd that little puppy
dog do? Huh? Follow right along. Follow
right along. That's what it says. Be you therefore
followers of God as dear children and walk in love. Just walk in
love. But you know what? We're going
to fail. That's why the other was mentioned first. Forgiving
one another. Because we're going to mess up
in this thing. It's what we are by nature. And
I don't care if this religious world calls me an antinomian
or you're just loose. You're right, I'm far more loose
than I want to be. I am far more willful against
God in my rebellion than I want to be. And the more I try to stop it,
the more it happens. Thank God there are those times
when he works in me both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
And you know what the tough part is? Sometimes I don't even know
the difference. Huh? There's times I've stood
up, especially years ago when I was under my dear, beloved
Pastor Earl Cochran. I get up and I preach. Boy, I
think I did pretty good. Well, when I stepped down off
the podium and he and I would talk afterward, he would give
me a little fatherly instruction. It's like, whoo-wee, it hurt. Fred, it made me angry. But the rebuke of a friend is
better than the kisses of an enemy. The rebuke of a friend is better
than the kisses of an enemy. There's just three we could go
on and on and on let me just sum this up Christ in dying And
remember it's a he had a real body, and it was a real death
Right you don't believe that You are Antichrist He had a real
body, and it was a real death. He gave up the ghost If he died, that means what?
My first union to the law is severed. Severed. Need I say it again? Severed. Don't go back on the grave at
the headstone of the law and just boo-hoo and oh, I miss him
so much. Huh? No, I'm delivered from him. He was robbed. Huh? Now he's holy. His name is death. He's a glorious condemnation
of death. That was my first husband. And
you're not bad-mouthing him when you call him that because that's
what he is. Right? But my Lord died to sever me
from that. A real death and a real body.
And Paul puts it this way. Don't turn to it. Just listen
to the Word of God. If you have to, it don't matter.
If you have to, close your eyes. Listen to my voice as I read
the Word of God. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. who being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as
a man." You think about that. Now, Paul is telling us here
that we need to imitate our Lord. Be like him, this man was in
him, let this be in you too, but then look at how he sums
this up. and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself. I don't know that I can say I've
ever done that. I have been humbled many a time, but I don't know
if I've ever really humbled myself. But look, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto what? Death. That was for us. He was severing that first legal
union that showed us how rotten and corrupt we were. He humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, but it wasn't just any
kind of death. Even the death of the cross. He hung there as the sinner. the greatest sinner that ever
hung on a tree. Greater than the two that hung
beside him, because he was there bearing our sins in his own body
on the tree. When he hung there, he called
my sins and your sins his own. He said to one of the psalmists,
my sins are ever before me. How's that? He didn't have any.
Yeah, he did. Even the death of the cross wherefore
God hath highly exalted He did that for me he did that
for you if you're a real sinner If you can relate to that old
possum or that old raccoon, remember that one laying out there on
the road? Can you really, can you say that's me laying there?
I can tell you, if you're really, hold on. Now listen to it, listen
to it. Here's, I'm going to tell you
who Jesus Christ died for. They are without strength. They are ungodly. They are sinners. They are enemies. Romans chapter
5. That's who he died for. Can you
take your place there? Can you really take your place
there? I'm telling you Christ died for you. He died and severed that first
union. Now you're what? Freed to marry
another. And you know what? You will bring
forth fruit unto God. Because according to Paul in
Ephesians chapter two, verse eight, nine, and two, God's foreordained
that we should walk in those good works. Do you think you're
gonna miss one? You might not know you're doing
it, but bless God, you ain't gonna miss one. You might even
at times try to take a little credit for it, but God'll show
you better. He'll show you better. Boy, look what I did. And then
you realize, whoa, my brothers and sisters, we all get to glory
and Christ brags on what we did. We're going to say, well, when
did we do that? If you ever wonder, how can I do that? I do so much
bragging on myself now because we ain't perfect yet. We still
will brag on the very grace that it takes for us to do what we're
supposed to do. Bless God, when we get there,
we'll say, oh, that's what it is. I don't even remember all
that. Huh? Who are we going to be looking
at and remembering? The one sitting there before us. Maybe even the one, I don't know.
This is just water. Maybe even the one that comes
over here. wraps his arms around me. He
says, Walter, I still love you. Even in spite of what you was
after I saved you. I didn't say before he saved
me. It was after he saved me. I guess it's just for you. Do
you want to just be religious? Or do you want to be married
to another? Very thankful for that. Thankful
God is taking care of all of this. He said, in Hosea, I will
betroth thee unto me in righteousness. You're mine. You've always been
mine. That's an astounding quality. Yes. You've always been mine.
Now I bought you. Now I showed you. Yeah. I'm thankful. Let's remember, we'll eat together
here in just a few minutes. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.