Alright, let's open our Bibles
to Malachi chapter 2. Malachi chapter 2. I'll begin with verse 11 tonight. And we're still on the subject
of seeking godly seed. Seeking godly seed. And as I said last Wednesday
I took that title from verse 15 where it's talking about why
God in his wisdom set apart the children of Israel why he sanctified
their marriages under the old covenant and seeking a godly
seed that he might seek a godly seed that they might have children
raised unto the honor and glory of the Lord But this whole passage
here, it's difficult. There's some difficult language
here. Not everybody agrees on how to interpret all the Hebrew,
original Hebrew, and I've done a lot of study on it. I believe
I have a handle on it, but there's also some emotionally charged
issues here. Things that people are so emotionally
attached to concerning tradition and what they might believe the
Bible teaches that it really gets kind of very emotional in
that way. And I don't understand that always.
I know I want to go by what the scripture says. That's my intent. That's my desire. But as you
know that the main issue of any scripture is simply and very
simply to drive sinners to Christ for all salvation by the grace
of God and to bind us together on that truth, the sovereign
grace and mercy of God in Christ. There may be passages of scripture
that we differ on as far as understanding the translations and the meanings,
as long as what we understand does no damage to the basic kernel
message of the gospel. And so much of what we hear today
about religion that calls itself Christianity does deny Christ,
denies his person, denies the power of his finished work. But
let's just climb into the scripture here. Look at verse 11 of Malachi
chapter two. He starts off, I dealt with these
verses, I'm just gonna make just a few general comments and then
run right through this till we get to about verse 14. He says, Judah hath dealt treacherously,
that's falsely, that is unfaithfully. So what he's talking about here
is a nation that is unfaithful. It's a picture of fallen man.
Sinners by nature. That's what Judah was. A nation
of unbelievers on the whole. There was a remnant. Always remember
that. When you look at Israel as a
nation under the old covenant, we're talking about a rebellious
people, a sinful people, a stiff-necked people. But by the grace of God,
and that's what we all are by nature. You understand that. You know, we're not separated
or set apart from the world because we're better or less obstinate
or less rebellious than anybody else. We are, if we're saved,
we are what we are by the grace of God, period. We can't look at ourselves and
say, well, I know God chose me because I'm a loyal American.
No. Or I'm a Baptist or anything
like that. It has nothing to do with that,
or I've tried to do my best. Our best isn't good enough. The
Bible teaches that. We need a righteousness we can't
produce. And that's why we need Christ.
But here's Judah, the unfaithful Judah. God had joined himself
to this nation at Sinai under the old covenant. He actually
joined himself in Abraham because he made this promise to Abraham.
But the actual accomplishment of that in time was at Sinai.
He said in Jeremiah 31 he was a husband to them. There was
a marriage relationship here between God, the Lord God, the
covenant God, and Judah. Now it was a temporal relationship.
It was never meant to last forever because this covenant had a beginning
and end. I'll show you that in just a moment. But what he's
saying here, Judah hath dealt unfaithfully. And it says how
she did it. An abomination is committed in
Israel and in Jerusalem for Judah hath profaned the holiness of
the Lord which he loved. He married the daughter of a
strange God. Now you read about that, Ron
just read about that in Nehemiah chapter 13. If you want to see
the historical setting of Malachi, read Ezra and Nehemiah. Nehemiah
the governor was the author. the human instrument, rather,
of that passage that Ron read. And you notice they were doing
other things. Now here he's talking about marrying the daughter of
a strange god, marrying idolatrous women. And these priests and
the people were divorcing their Jewish wives. Whatever reason
they gave, and marrying idolatrous women. Remember over here in
Nehemiah 13 in verse 23, he said they married wives of Ashdod,
of Ammon and Moab. And that was wrong. Why? Well, it had nothing, as I mentioned
last week, it had nothing to do with ethnic purity. It had
nothing to do with keeping a pure Hebrew-Jewish bloodline. All
that was was a matter of pride. You remember Paul, the apostle,
mentioned that in Philippians 3. When he was lost and looked
for things other than Christ to recommend him unto God, one
of the things he had on his list was, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews.
And basically when he saw his sinfulness and he saw the glory
of God in Christ, he saw the fact that he was a Hebrew of
Hebrews, a full-blooded, pure-bred Hebrew, was nothing but dung. Nothing. I count it but loss. In other words, what he's saying
there, as far as salvation, as far as the forgiveness of sins,
as far as being justified before God, me being a Hebrew of Hebrews
meant absolutely nothing, less than nothing, even dung. The
only thing that means something in that area is Christ and Him
crucified. That's it. The blood of Christ. So who you are, where you come
from has nothing to do. In Christ there is no Jew nor
Gentile. But Judah dealt treacherously
when they married idolatrous women. You see, it wasn't a pure
bloodline, it was purity of faith. It was purity of worship. And
I mentioned to you, you read Matthew chapter one, the human
genealogy of Christ. There are two Gentile women who
are mentioned there. Rahab the harlot and Ruth the
Moabitess. But you see Rahab and Ruth were
sinners saved by the grace of God. They forsook their idols
and turned to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You see what
I'm saying? The problem here is Marian idolatry. And that is the problem. Now
we know from Nehemiah, that passage that Ron read, they had other
problems too. They were defiling the Sabbath. for one thing, and
that Sabbath is a picture of our eternal rest in Christ. And
all that shows that they're marrying idolatrous women, they're defiling
the Sabbath, the priesthood defiling the sacrifices. You remember
they were bringing blemish sacrifices. It shows not only their contempt
for the covenant, the Old Covenant and the stipulations and the
rules and the regulations and the directions of the Old Covenant,
but it also showed their contempt for the promise of God to send
Christ to be the Savior, the Redeemer of his people. And that's what they did. And
so when we look at passages like this in Malachi 2.11, we see
not only an application to their present state of that day and
what they were doing. This is also prophetic. You think
about it. When the Lord Jesus Christ actually
opened in his public ministry in Judah, what happened? What did Judah do? Well, Judah
dealt treacherously with him. What did Judah do? Well, an abomination
was committed in Israel and Judah, in Jerusalem. What was that abomination? They turned thumbs down, they
denied, and they sought to accuse and murder the Son of God incarnate.
Now again, I'm not just blaming the Jews for that. I mean, that's
all, all of us. And he says, Judah hath profaned
the holiness of the Lord which the Lord loved. Who is the holiness
of the Lord which he loves? That's Christ. God loves his,
it's the son of his love. And Judah profaned it. Judah
called him accursed. That's what we did in our unbelief
before God brought us to a saving knowledge of Christ. Judah married
the daughter of a strange God. They said, we will not have this
man to rule over us. What did they say to Pilate?
They said, we have no God but Caesar. Married themselves to
a strange God. That's the prophecy, their treatment
of Christ by betraying and delivering him up into the hands of the
Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified. And it was the
priest in that day, just like it was the priest here in Malachi
2 that were causing the people to stumble, it was the priest
of our Lord's day that caused the people to stumble then. The
Sadducees were mainly in control of the priesthood. They took
the true Messiah with wicked hands, condemning him and putting
him to death, even the shameful death and accursed death of the
cross. And that was done in the land
of Israel and in and near the city of Jerusalem. Christ the
Holy One. And you know, I think about this. When God the Holy Spirit inspired
the apostle Paul to describe the relationship of his elect
people, God's chosen people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue,
and nation redeemed by the blood of Christ and brought to faith
in him. Remember, Paul was inspired by
the Holy Spirit in 2 Corinthians 11. He said, I'm jealous over
you with a godly jealousy. He said, I've espoused you to
one husband. Church, we have one husband,
and that's Christ. And we're never to divorce him
and he will never divorce us. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. Look at verse 12. He says in Malachi 2, he
says, the Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master
and the scholar out of the tabernacles of Jacob and him that offereth
an offering unto the Lord of hosts. God is going to cut off
the man who forsakes him, the woman who forsakes him that commits
such treachery. And he's talking about the whole
Jewish nation here in opposition to Christ now. He mentions here
the master and the scholar. That's a difficult phrase to
translate. The closest we can get to it has to do with, probably
literally be something like this. Him that is awake and him that
is aware. Somebody who's awake and aware.
And what I believe he means is he's talking, these are people
who know better. The master and the scholar. All
right? That's like the teacher and the
pupil. He that is awake and he that
is aware. In other words, these are things
that they know. Ignorance is no excuse here.
Ignorance cannot be used here. You know better. That's what
he's talking about. In other words, Judah, you're
sinning against light. You know what you're doing is
wrong. And he says, I'm going to cut
you off out of the tabernacles of Jacob. He says, even those
who offer in an offering unto the Lord of hosts. In other words,
just bring, listen, just bringing a sacrifice won't do it. Religious
exercise, religious ceremony will not wipe away this sin.
The sin that cuts us off, what does it take? to take away our
sin. What does it take to wash away?
Well, going to church, joining church, getting baptized, doing
all these religious things? No, it's the same thing in Judaism.
It won't work. What does it take to put away
sin? It takes the blood of the Son
of God incarnate. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin. Nothing else will do it. I've
told you about the preacher I heard on television talking about how
repentance is the condition man must meet in order to gain forgiveness,
and that's not so. That's not so. By nature, what
are we? We're an unrepentant people.
So what's God gonna do? Is he gonna take away the sins
of those who are better than the rest, those who will repent?
No, we won't repent if left to ourselves. We won't do it. If
you think you will, you don't know yourself. You haven't really
been convinced of sin yet. You see, there's only one condition
for forgiveness, and that's the blood of Jesus Christ. That's
the condition. Look at verse 13. He says, and
this have you done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears?
See, crying won't do it. Tears won't do it. And with crying
out, you see different degrees. I heard a preacher say one night,
if you haven't cried all night over your sin, then you're not
forgiven. Well, you can cry a week, a month,
a year, and it will not put away sin, insomuch that he regardeth
not the offering any more, or receiveth it with goodwill at
your hand. You may have the best intentions,
You may say, I'm just as sincere. You see, sincerity is not their
problem. It was disobedience, it's unbelief.
Nothing will do it but the blood of Christ. And then look at verse
14. Now he says, yet you say wherefore. Now this shows the state of their
heart. You say, well, why is all, you
know, it's almost like somebody today say, well, why, you know,
God, why are you so strict? Why is all this coming down upon
us, this cursedness? You remember he said, I'll curse
your blessings. And they were in a day of great
famine here, and that God was punishing the nation. Well, why? Why is it? Look at verse 14,
he says, because the Lord hath been witness between thee and
the wife of thy youth. He's talking about marriage.
Against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, unfaithfully. Yet she is thy companion and
the wife of thy covenant. That's the marriage covenant.
Till death do us part. That's what he's saying. He says
in verse 15, and did not he make one What's he talking about there? That's when a man and a woman
are married. Two become one. One flesh, isn't
that right? And when he instituted marriage
for Adam and Eve, he created man, and then he created woman. Now how many women did he create
for Adam? One, look at the next line. Yet had he the residue
of the spirit, that word residue, You may see in your concordance
it says excellency. It's talking about power. And
the word spirit there is the Hebrew word for breath. God breathed
the breath of life into Adam. God put the breath of life in
Adam. He did the same with Eve. But he had more. He had power
to make more. He could have made two men, three
men, four men. A thousand women, but how many
did he make? He made Adam, he made Eve. He had the power to
make many wives for Adam, but he didn't do it, did he? He made
one, and he brought them together. One flesh. That's the institution
of marriage, way back in Genesis chapter 2. Now he could have
made more, but he didn't. So he says, therefore take heed
to your spirit. Consider your heart, your spirit,
and let none deal treacherously or unfaithfully against the wife
of his youth." What's he saying there? He's saying don't put
away your wives. Simply it. Now, their broken
marriage vows before the Lord show the state of their hearts.
And again, listen to what he's saying now. He made one. God instituted marriage. And
he made man and wife, one flesh. Yet he had the residue of the
spirit. God had the power to make many, but he didn't. He
made one. Now I want you to listen to me
very carefully here. There are other scriptures, and
we don't have time to go into them. But polygamy, having many
wives, was never instituted or condoned for Israel by God. Never. I had a man tell me one
time, said, well, he said, he's talking about he wouldn't listen
to a divorced man. And I said, well, you better not read any
of the Psalms of David, because he was both divorced and he committed
the sin of polygamy. And right away, he said this,
he said, well, now, the sin of polygamy was not a sin in the
Old Testament. Oh, yes, it was. You know, I like Mark Twain as
far as his writings go, but his theology stunk. He was not a
believer. But there was a Mormon one time
who was talking to Mark Twain, and Mark Twain was just trying
to get at him, and he said, he said, well, you fellas have more
than one wife. He said, the Bible doesn't condone
that. And the Mormon asked him, he
said, well, name me one scripture that forbids a man having more
than one wife. And Mark Twain, in his own inimitable
way, he said, I'll give you one. He said, no man can serve two
masters. Well, now Mark Twain was wrong. But the Bible has never condoned
polygamy. I told this individual this,
and I want you to listen to this. I told him, I said, well, God
tolerated it because of the hardness of their heart. And he looked
at me like a deer in the headlights. He threw up his arms and said,
oh, God never tolerates sin. And I said, well, he tolerates
you, doesn't he? He tolerates me, doesn't he? That's right. Now you think about that. He
said, that's sinning with a high hand. And I said, well, define
for me what sinning with a low hand means. Does that mean you
try to hide it or something? You see, people use this reasoning
that is unscriptural. God never condoned polygamy.
The institution of marriage was always the same. And I'll tell
you one thing, I won't go to this scripture, it's in Deuteronomy,
but he forbid the kings of Israel to marry more than one wife,
specifically. Now he did. And what did he say
about Solomon over here? Verse 26, did not Solomon, king
of Israel, sin by these things? You see, it was a sin. Now, I'm not saying that just to get
away with anything or to condone anything or to excuse anything.
No, sir. Throughout the book of God, marriage
is held before us as a holy, blessed union. And here's the
main thing about marriage that you've got to see. It's a picture. It's a picture of Christ and
His church. That's what it is. You can read
about it in Ephesians chapter 5. When he talks about husbands,
the role of husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.
Wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands as unto the Lord.
He said, I'm talking about Christ and His church. That's a marriage
union. And there's never any divorce
between Christ and His church. He'll never leave us nor forsake
us. And then he says here, look back
here in Malachi 2. He says, and wherefore? Wherefore
one? You see that? Wherefore one,
God made one. And I told you, God intended
to keep that Hebrew line pure and separate, again, not as a
matter of racial purity or bloodline, but as a matter of the purity
of faith and the purity of worship. There is in the... And why did
he do that? Look at verse 15. And did he not make one? Yet
there is the residue of the Spirit. He had he the residue of the
Spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. The seed of God. That's it. God... There is in this word...
Now think about this. God kept that... You remember
he kept the line of Judah intact throughout that generation until
the Lord came. Because he was born of the seed
of David according to the flesh. And in that line was a woman
that David committed adultery with. That's not to excuse adultery
or promote adultery. And I'll tell you what, anybody
who uses things like that to promote sin does not know the
Lord. You see, you don't have the wisdom
and I don't have the wisdom to overrule those things for good.
Only God does. And he does it in his way, at
his time, according to his power. But here's the picture. Think
about this. This godly seed. There is in this world a chosen
people who must and shall be saved. In the Bible, they're
called God's elect. God's chosen. They're called
his church, his people, his sons, his children. That's his seed,
spiritual seed. And they're referred to throughout
the book of God as the seed of God. Look at Psalm 22, the Psalm
of the cross. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ
in prophecy on the cross crying out, my God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? What's he doing? He's dying for
his people. In Hebrews chapter two, he called
them his brethren, but they're also called his seed. But look
at Psalm 22 and look at verse 30. It says in Psalm 22 and verse
30, and this is all based on his death on the cross. It's
not based upon their pedigree. It's not based upon their goodness
or their works. It's based on one thing alone,
the son of God incarnate dying on the cross to put away our
sins. and to establish righteousness.
And listen to what it is. It says in Psalm 22 and verse
30, A seed shall serve him, and it shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. That's his generation. And they
shall come and shall declare his righteousness, the merit
of his obedience unto death, unto a people that shall be born.
That's talking about born again by the Spirit of God. That he
hath done this. There's that godly seed. You
realize that if you're in the Lord, born again by the Spirit,
that means you've been redeemed by the blood. You're the godly
seed. Look at Psalm 89. Psalm 89, the
covenant song. Talking about God's everlasting
covenant of grace. And Psalm 89, look at verse 29.
Notice this one. It says here, his seed, God's
seed. His seed also will I make to
endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. That's
not talking about the old covenant. That's a forever covenant. That's
the everlasting covenant of grace in Christ. There's the godly
seed. Are you washed in the blood,
in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb. Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? That's
the godly scene. Look at Isaiah 53. I want you
to look at these. This is what he's talking about.
This is why Israel existed as a nation. You know that? Even though the majority of them
perished in unbelief. It's to bring Christ He's called
the seed himself. But look here in Isaiah 53 in
verse 10, it said, yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath
put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong
his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. And one more verse. Look at 1 John chapter three.
Now I want you to see this. This is one of those passages
that many disagree over. Now the whole context, look at
the context. Remember what I've told you about
the three main rules of scriptural interpretation. Number one is
context, number two is context, and number three is context.
I'm not just being funny there, I'm just telling you. That's
what people do. They take things out of context.
What is this passage talking about? What does it start out
talking about? Look at it. Verse 1 of 1 John 3. He says,
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us
that we, sinners, should be called, what? The sons of God. Now what's
he talking about? Sonship. That's his subject. We're the sons of God, children
of God, all right? Therefore the world knoweth us
not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, not later. We're not trying to work our
way into sonship. We're not trying to earn our
way into sonship. We are sons of God by virtue
of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God chose us, Christ redeemed
us, and he adopted us into his family, and it says, and it does
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he
shall appear, when Christ shall appear, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. We'll see him with perfect eyes.
We'll no longer be looking through a glass darkly, but we'll see
him with perfect eyes. Now he says in verse three, and
every man that hath this hope, this hope of salvation, this
hope of sonship by the grace of God in Christ, in him purifies
himself even as he is pure. How does that take place? We're
looking to Christ, we're resting in him for all salvation, for
all cleansing, for all purity, for all righteousness. Now look
at anywhere else. Nothing else will purify me,
nothing else will cleanse me. And he says in verse four, now
whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the
transgression of the law. Now do you keep the law perfectly?
No. Do I keep the law perfectly?
No. What is that? That's sin. That's transgression
of the law. Verse five, and you know that
he, Christ, was manifested to take away our sins. That's why
he came. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away our sin, beareth them away. He bore them on the tree. He
was made sin. Christ who knew no sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. When our sin was
charged to Him, accounted, imputed to Him, He bore it away. He took
it away by His death on the cross. That's what He did. He paid the
penalty, the debt in full. And then he established righteousness,
all right? He says, he says, for and in
him is no sin. Now, we can say honestly from
the scriptural testimony that in Christ personally, there was
no sin. That's true. But I don't believe
that's what this verse is teaching. I believe it's talking about
that we as children of God in Christ, we have no sin. Now what
is that talking about? That's talking about our sins
imputed to Christ, His righteousness imputed to us. As I stand before
God in Christ, God sees no sin in me. I'm covered by the blood. I'm righteous in Him. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's who? God that
justified me. God justified me. What does that
mean? God looked at me and said, not
guilty. Righteous. Now how could he do
that? I'm a sinner. Only in Christ. In him is no
sin. As I'm considered in him, I have
no sin. All right? Now, look at verse
six. He said, whosoever abideth in
him sinneth not. Whosoever continues in Christ. That's a sinner saved by grace.
That's a sinner who's righteous in God's sight, and he will not
fall away from Christ. That's what I believe he's talking
about there. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known
him. If you're not resting in Christ, if you're not staying
by the grace of God and by the power of God who works in us
to do his good will and his good pleasure, focusing, staying,
put in Christ, then you don't know him. Verse seven, little
children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness
is righteous, even as he is righteous. There's no righteousness without
Christ. That's what it's saying. In any way, shape, form, or fashion,
nothing that we are, nothing we have, nothing we do is righteous
before God without Christ. So he says in verse eight, he
that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Now what are the works of the devil? How many times have we
been reading that in Revelation 12 and Revelation 16? He's the
accuser of the bread. Well who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. Now look at verse nine.
Whosoever is born of God Now what's he talking about? The
new birth. What does the new birth do? Gives a dead center
life. Spiritual life. Flesh cannot
do that. You must be born again. Gives
him ears that he didn't have before. You have spiritual ears
now if you've been born again. You didn't have them before.
Just like before you were born you didn't have physical ears.
Physical eyes. You've got spiritual eyes now.
What is that? When they're born, what do you
have? When a being is born to you,
what do you have? You have a child. Your seed. Your generation. All right? Whosoever is born of God does
not commit sin. How does that so? Does that mean
he's not born in sin? Does that mean he's not a sin?
No. He's talking about those who are born again by the Spirit
of God. They're in Christ. And in Christ,
no sin. No condemnation. Alright? For his seed. Now in the New
Testament, there are two words for seed. One is spora. That's like the seed you plant
in the ground. That's Matthew 13. The sower went forth to sow
seed. Alright? That's planted in the
ground. The other one is sperma. That's children. That's what
this one is. And here's what he's saying,
whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, he's a child
of God, for his seed, that is Christ's seed, his children remain
in him. That's what it's talking about.
And he cannot sin, he cannot be condemned, he cannot be accused
before God, he's justified, and he cannot leave Christ. Why? Because he's born again. Born
of God. Now go back to Malachi. There's
the godly seed. Called a holy seed, separated
under the Lord. They're already holy and godly
because they're justified in eternity and made holy and accepted
in the beloved before the world began, and by Christ the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And when he came and
died on that cross, he worked out in time all that God had
purposed for his seed. You know the reason Adam did
not perish from the face of the earth the second he ate of the
forbidden fruit was just this right here. God seeking his godly
seed. This chosen people in him. And the reason why Christ came
into the world the first time was to put away the sins and
establish a righteousness for that godly seed. And let me tell
you this, the reason why Christ has not yet come to destroy this
world and make all things new is there's still some of that
godly seed that he's going to seek and find and bring into
the kingdom. The Lord's not slack concerning
his promise. Remember Peter said to Usward,
as some men count slackness but longsuffering, to Usward not
willing that any should perish but that all, that's his seed,
should come to repentance. And so Peter went on to say,
and we account that the long-suffering of God is salvation for his people. Look back at Malachi 2. Look
at verse 16. Now he says in verse 16, he says,
For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting
away. That's divorce. He hates divorce. That's right. For one covereth
violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore
take heed to your spirit. that you deal not treacherously
or unfaithfully. God hates divorce. There's no
two ways around it. Divorce is sin. There's no two
ways around it. But I ask you this question.
Tell me one sin that God loves. None. He hates all sin. Why is
He dealing with this specific sin? Because it's a problem. It's a problem in our day. God
hates divorce because it does no honor to Him. It misrepresents
him. He tells his bride, his church,
I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Aren't you glad? There's no doubt, I believe the
scripture teaches that God allows divorce in particular circumstances
just for the same reason in Israel, because of the hardness of our
hearts. God's heart is always for repentance, forgiveness,
reconciliation. But you consider our sin against
God. We sin against God far worse
than any spouse could sin against God. And God does not divorce
us. Though he has every right to,
he won't because he's faithful. His honor and glory is on the
line in the salvation of his bride. Yet because we're fallen
and we suffer from hardness of heart, and let me tell you something,
we all do, God allows for divorce in two circumstances, I believe
it's taught, in adultery and abandonment. God commanded these
men, even, you can read in Ezra chapter 10, these men who were
divorcing their wives and marrying idolatrous wives, he commanded
them to separate from their idolatrous wives. And I'll tell you another
thing, God, look over in Jeremiah chapter three with me, I wanna
show you something here. Jeremiah chapter three. Brother
Aaron Wiles read this in the study last week, and I told him
I had this reference, but I wouldn't get to it on Wednesday night. In Jeremiah chapter 3, this is
what he's talking about. Even in Jeremiah's day, there
was a problem. Look at verse 1. It says, they say, Jeremiah 3,
now this was before the captivity. He says, They say if a man put
away his wife and she go from him and become another man's,
shall he return unto her again? Shall not that land be greatly
polluted? But thou hast played the harlot
with many lovers, yet return again to me, saith the Lord.
Lift up thine eyes unto the high places. Those are places of idolatry. and see where thou hast not been
lean with, in the ways hast thou set for them as the Arabian in
the wilderness, and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms
and with thy wickedness." This nation, you see. He says, therefore
the showers have been withholden, then he says, and there hath
been no latter rain. That's the famine, the famine
in the land. Look at verse six. Now listen
to this. He says, the Lord said also unto
me in the days of Josiah the king, hast thou seen that which
backsliding Israel hath done? She has gone up upon every high
mountain and under every green tree and there hath played the
harlot. And I said, after she had done all these things, turn
thou unto me, but she returned not. And her treacherous sister
Judah saw it, and I saw it when for all the causes whereby backsliding
Israel committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a
bill of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah
feared not, but went and played the harlot." Also, God divorced
Israel. God gave Israel a bill of divorce.
You see, for their spiritual adultery and the desertion of
him and his truth. God hateth putting away. What
God did there was not sin, but divorce among us is sin, but
it's not the unpardonable sin. It's not given for us to label
people and to treat them as lepers. God forgives us freely in Christ
for all sin. That's no excuse, that's no promotion
of it. We have to take it seriously.
There are consequences. Back over here in Malachi 2.16,
you can't cover violence with your garment or your garment
will be covered with violence. Speaking of the wedding garment,
covered with wrong, covered with injustice. That's a great picture
of man in sin, having sin imputed to him, whereas the redeemed
of the Lord are said to have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. Thank God that Christ takes away
the filthy garment of sin from us. Thank God he gives us a righteous
garment. The merit of his obedience unto
death. And so he says, therefore, take
heed to your spirit that you deal not treacherously, unfaithfully. Now my friend, we can look at
a lot of different areas of life there. We can talk about it.
We can look at a lot of different scriptures. That's okay. And
I don't mind that. But here's the main point of
this, is that the church of the living God is married to Christ.
And we're to look to him alone. We're espoused to one husband.
He'll never forsake us. He'll never leave us. Isn't that
a blessing from God? There's no other way that we
can be saved and kept but in him. All right.