Okay, we're in chapter 7, and
we're going to begin reading down here in verse 10, not because
we don't believe the part that went before, but we've already
read it several times, so we won't go back. Verse 10, it says,
And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord. Let
not the wife depart from her husband. But, and if she depart,
let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not the husband put away
his wife. But to the rest speak I, not
the Lord, if any man hath a wife that believeth not, and she be
pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And the
woman which hath a husband that believeth not, And if he be pleased
to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving
husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife
is sanctified by the husband. Else were your children unclean,
but now are they holy. But if the unbelieving depart,
let him depart. A brother or sister is not under
bondage in such cases, but God hath called us to peace. For
what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?
Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? But
as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called
every one, so let him walk, and so ordain I in all churches. Is any man called being circumcised,
let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision,
let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision
is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let
every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou
called being a servant, care not for it. But if thou mayest
be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the
Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's free man. Likewise also
he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought
with a price. Be not ye the servants of men. Now that's where we're going
to stop reading because that's a good place to be reminded of
the things that we have been talking about thus far concerning
the matter of marriage and concerning really everything that we do
as the sons of God in our daily walk and decisions that we make
and things that we would give thought to, to be reminded of
this, we are bought with a price. Be not ye the servants of men.
We do not have the right to do with ourselves like we want to
do. Now that's totally contrary to
the natural thinking of man, is it not? Because every man
says, I can do what I want to do. I mean, every young man,
when he's growing up, he just can't wait until he can do what
he wants to do and nobody can tell him what to do. I mean,
that's just born in us. And that's the way that we are,
some more strongly than others. But that is the way that we think. And really, that's kind of the
way this, you know, our nation was founded on that principle. Now we have gotten, kind of got
confused over time and that's all got conglomerated up and
so people today, they want to do their own thing but they want
the government to pay for it. You know, so it's an innate thing
that a man would do what he wants to do, but that's not the calling
of God's people. We're called to be the servants
of Christ and we don't belong to ourselves. He purchased us
if we're His. And so it's not up to us to do
what we want to do. Now having that in mind, And
remembering the things that Paul has already said concerning the
matter of marriage, he gave marriage for the benefit of men, but primarily
the reason that marriage was given to men was to manifest
the redemption of the people of God in Christ. For the Lord
would use marriage to demonstrate the love that the bridegroom
has for the bride. And that is the teaching that
Paul gave to the Ephesians, is it not? Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. And
so that is the purpose of marriage, is so that might be demonstrated
the love of the husband for the wife, and the devotion of the
wife to the husband. That is the picture. Now, you know, we would have
to wonder, well, why on earth would the Lord use fallen and
sinful creatures as we are to demonstrate that? Because it
pleased Him. Because He would show what the
ideal is. Now, I do not know of any marriages
on earth that are perfect. I've been around a lot of people,
but I've never met anybody that I've said had a perfect marriage. Now, I have been around people
that I thought had good marriages, and I've been around people that
I thought had bad marriages. But the thing that doesn't make
any difference about that, because the perfections that the Lord
would set forth supersede and override all of the imperfections
of men. And so it is that the Lord would
show forth that love that he has for his bride, the church
of God, the elect of God. And it says here, the wife hath
not power over her own body. Now that's exactly what he said,
wasn't it? We're bought with a price. The
wife doesn't have power over her body. But look at this. The
husband, likewise, does not have power over his own body because
the Lord Jesus Christ would give himself unto His church. He would give Himself for her.
And so this is a beautiful picture, and we've been looking at that,
and Paul's given some practical advice. In some cases, advice,
and in some cases, commandments that come forth from the Word
of God. That's why he sometimes says, I speak this by permission
and not by commandment. He's not saying that this is
not true. It's just a whim that I came
up with. But he's saying this is not specifically
commanded in the written Word of God, and so I'm telling you
this by permission, not because it's commanded. I'm teaching
you this as being a good thing. It is still as true as if it
was. For I would that all men were
even as myself. So Paul, we know, was not a married
man, or at least we don't have any reason to believe that he
was. And so he said it would be a good thing if you didn't
marry. But that's not a requirement.
You don't need to think there's anything wrong with being married
or not being married. But he said, Marriage serves
a good purpose. And he says, To the married I
command, yet not I, but the Lord let not the wife depart from
her husband. Now, that's a commandment. I think this would be a good
thing if you follow along with this. He said, Let not the wife
depart from her husband. And vice versa. Let not the husband
put away the wife. And if she depart, let her remain
unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband, and let not the
husband put away his wife." Now what is he teaching there? He
is teaching that marriage is a contract of mutual love towards
one another, and it is that which is to stay intact regardless
of what the situation is. You know, in every marriage they
always stand up there and say, till death do we part. And I
think most everybody's got their fingers crossed behind their
back, you know, when they say that. But that's a serious thing. And why is that set forth like
that? Because that's what God purposed
for marriage to demonstrate, that there's nothing that can
put this asunder. but the sinfulness of men. So let not the wife depart from
her husband, but if she should depart..." Now, we know that
sometimes things happen and things just don't work out, and that's
just the way that it is. Now, that's not a good thing.
And it's not for anybody to say, well, it's okay. Now see, what's
happened in our society with the concept of marriage is we've
made it okay Okay, well, you didn't hold up to what you said
you were going to do and it's okay. We'll just make out like
it never happened. That's not what the Word of God
says. It's certainly not for the people of God to have that
blasé consideration of it. So, let her remain unmarried
or be reconciled to her husband. Now what he's saying there is,
Don't go off and try to find you another husband or go off
and try to find you another wife. Stay married. I mean, that's
as simple as you can get it. Now, that's not easy, is it sometimes? But it's nonetheless what the
Scripture says. But to the rest speak I, not
the Lord. Now again, he's saying this in
a fashion of saying there's no strict written out command that
says this, but I'm telling you what the truth is. If any brother
hath a wife that believeth not, because this hadn't been written,
because the gospel hadn't been set forth and the church gathered. So Paul's telling the church
what the Lord is saying here. And he said, If any brother hath a wife that
believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not
put her away. In other words, if a man and
a woman have come together in bonds of matrimony, and one of
them becomes a believer, in the Lord Jesus Christ, as happened
here in this church, because this was a pagan society, Paul
went in preaching the gospel, the Lord called out His people,
and no doubt there were some that were married and who were
believers, who became believers, and the wife or the husband didn't
believe. And so he says it's not necessary
for you to put your wife away because she's not a believer.
And vice versa, it is not necessary for the wife to put the husband
away because he is not a believer. Now he does go on to say that
there is something important about a believer seeking out
a believing wife. He is not saying it is okay to
just go out here and just marry up with anybody that you come
along with because you like the way they look. No, it is important
that we have consideration to what a person is. in the Lord. As he says, marry only in the
Lord. And so he says here, don't put
her away. If the wife believeth not, she
be pleased to dwell with him. Let him not put her away. And
the woman which hath a husband that believeth not, if he be
pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. It's not necessary
to do that. And then he says something that
is I've heard this thing misconstrued and said to teach something that's
just totally ridiculous. And it's not what's being told
here. It says here, for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the
wife. Oh my! So if a wife believes,
then the husband is sanctified. I mean, he's in the Lord. I've heard people actually have
a teaching like that. Same thing as they carry it on
with the children. Oh, well, if a believer has children,
they're automatically in the kingdom of God. That's not what
he's talking about here. But what he's pointing out is
that when two people come together and they're married, then it
doesn't matter whether or not both of them are believers in
the long run. because he said the marriage
is not made null and void because one is not a believer. The husband
sanctified by the wife, the wife sanctified by the husband, that
is, the marriage is still valid. It is still pure. It is still
fine in the sight of God. And so there is nothing that
would cause a man to say, well, my wife does not believe so I
cannot stay with her anymore. Not at all, because the husband
and the wife sanctify one another. And then he says it, and here's
the kicker on it, "...else were your children unclean." Now,
are they holy? Now, does he mean that the children,
when he says they're holy, is he speaking of that in the absolute
sense? Is he saying there that they
become believers? No, that's not what he's saying.
What he's saying is that this is still a valid marriage and
the children are legitimate children. Otherwise, you run into the situation
where you say, well, my wife wasn't a believer, so this is
not even a real marriage. Well, what does that make your
children? That makes them not even really legitimate children,
does it? But they are legitimate children.
And so this relationship is not unholy before God. And then he says this, but if
the unbelieving depart, let them depart. He said, if in the case,
now this is a specific case, this is not just any whim that
somebody comes up with, this is a specific case. He says,
if the unbelieving depart. Now what he was just talking
about there in the context of what he's saying is that if a
believer, If a person becomes a believer, their wife or their
husband does not believe, then they are not to leave them. But
in the event that this becomes such a great burden to the person
who is the unbeliever, who says, look, I cannot put up with this
Christian mess anymore. I am going to leave. He said,
look, there is not really anything you can do about that. Now, it
doesn't mean that he's saying just, say, man, I'm glad to see
them go. No, that's not what he's saying
at all. He says, let him depart, a brother or sisters not under
bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace. We're not to be glad about it.
We're in fact to do everything we can to keep that from happening. But if you can't keep that from
happening, you can't keep it from happening. And in that extreme
event, then a brother or sister is not under bondage. Under bondage
of what? Under the bondage of the marriage
bond. That bond is broken if they depart
for that reason. But don't run out quickly, he
said. We've been called to peace, because
who knows? For what knowest thou, O wife,
whether thou shalt save thy husband? That doesn't mean that the wife
has the power to administer eternal salvation to them. That's not
what it's talking about. It's talking about in a practical
way you might be able to save your marriage. How do you know?
If you run off out here just as soon as they leave and next
week you take up with somebody else and marry them, You know,
you've not done the right thing because of this reason right
here. How do you know that maybe you
might not be able to work this out? It may be able to be. We're called to peace, not to
war with one another. How do you know? Oh, knowest
thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? As God hath distributed to every
man, as the Lord hath taught everyone, so let him walk, and
so ordain I in all the churches." So, I guess one of the main things
that we need to take from this is that there are not a lot of
rules and regulations that are being placed upon the head of
God's people. And it's not up to us to tell
somebody what they can do and what they can't do in this matter
of marriage. In other words, I can't look
down my nose at somebody whose marriage doesn't work out. You
know, that's just the way it is. Let every man, as God hath
distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every man,
so let him walk. Now, he had just said, you know,
if a man can abide without being married, it is a good thing.
But everybody is not given that gift. And it may not be that
a man whose wife leaves him because he is a believer and she is not,
or vice versa, it may not be that they have the calling and
ability to remain in a celibate or a single state and they may
not necessarily feel any bondage or feel condemnation if they
should then remarry in that situation. Now I believe that is what it
says here. Now I know there are some teachers and denominations
and what not that they make marriage to be like a bondage over people
and it hangs over the heads of many and causes much grief It's
not to be a thing taken lightly. And we're not never, never are
we to encourage somebody to break their marriage up. There's just
no reason to do that. There's never any reason to encourage
someone. I know a lot of these supposed
psychologists and what not, they tell people, well, the best thing
for you to do is leave your wife or leave your husband. No, that's
not what the Scriptures say in here. It's never a good thing
to do that. It's never a thing that is just
a wonderful thing. But sometimes it does happen.
And if it happens according to what the circumstances are here,
then a brother or a sister is not in bondage in such cases. But as God hath distributed it
to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him
walk, and so ordain I in all churches. And then he's using
this. another line of thought here,
but he's not left the matter of marriage, he's just illustrating
a point. He's saying, is any man called
being circumcised? Is a man called being a Jew? If a man's a Jew when he's called
by the Lord, then don't let him become uncircumcised. That would
be a difficult thing to do, but he is just using that as a rhetorical
argument here. He said, if a man is a Jew, do
not let him become a non-Jew. He says here, if there is any
call in uncircumcision, that is, if a man is not a Jew, do
not let him become a Jew. It does not make any difference
if you are a Jew or not a Jew. It says, Let every man abide
in the same calling when he was called. Because circumcision
is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of
the commandments of God. It doesn't make any difference
if you're a Jew or a non-Jew. In one sense, you could say it
doesn't make any difference if you're a believer or an unbeliever.
It doesn't change the truth of God. So what he's saying here
is you can't overturn the commandments of God simply because you are
one thing or you are another. But if you are called being a
Jew, then be a Jew. You don't have to change from
being a Jew, but you don't have to change from being a Gentile
because it don't make any difference. about that. Let every man abide
in the same calling where he was called. Now, going back to
that very same language that he used about being married. Unless a man must be married,
then he does not need to go out and think that he has to be married
to satisfy society or to satisfy somebody else. Let him do what
he wills according to the calling that he is given. Are you called
being a servant? Care not for it. Of course, in
these days, men were still in places of servitude. And of course,
one of the books of the Bible, Philemon, is written about a
man who was a servant, and he departed. He was an unprofitable
servant. He departed from his master,
and Paul got with him. And Paul didn't tell him, well,
man, you're free. Just, you know, you've run off
from your master. And you just need to live in
freedom. No. What Paul said, you need
to go back. Now, that's kind of a hard thing,
is it not? Now, I believe slavery in any
form is a bad thing. I mean, when men enslave other
men, that's not a good thing. And when we had slavery in this
country, it was not a good thing. I mean, just from a natural standpoint,
it wasn't a good thing, but from a spiritual standpoint, it was
even worse. But having said that, if a man was called to be, if
he's born into slavery, what Paul is saying here, hey, your
relationship to the Lord is not dependent on whether or not you're
a slave or not. That doesn't make any difference.
He said if a man is a slave or they're called being a servant,
don't make a big deal out of it. But if thou mayest be free,
use it. If you've been set free from
being a slave, you don't have to stay a slave all your life
because you've been called into slavery. But if you are able
to be free through whatever means the Lord puts at your disposal,
And of course, in those days, it was generally economic slavery
that people got in, just like today, isn't it? We just don't
call it that. It's called borrowing money. But it's really about the same
thing. You know, you become a slave to somebody. Well, can you just
go off and not pay your bill? No. I mean, if you borrowed the
money, guess what? You owe the money. And so, same
thing as what he's saying here about slavery. If that's what
you are, that's what you are. And it doesn't make any difference
whether or not you are or not. But if you are able to be free,
then don't just use that place for you to consume your life
upon your own lust because you're free. No, serve the Lord. Use
that time wisely. For he that is called in the
Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's free man. See, a man,
even if he's in bondage, even if he's a slave, even if someone
mistreats him as a slave or as an employee, guess what? He said abide in it. Because this is the mindset that
you need to have, even though you're in bondage, you're free
in the Lord. And then he says, likewise, he
that's called being free is Christ's servant. So you're free and you're
a servant in either case. It doesn't make any difference.
And so these external situations that people find themselves in,
it doesn't change our relationship to the Lord. That is called being
free as Christ's servant. Because why? What does he come
back to? Because you're bought with a
price. You see, even if you're free, you're really bought. It
is just like you were taken down to the slave market and put up
on a pedestal. The Lord Jesus Christ outbid
everybody for you. You belong to Him. You are His
servant. Brethren, let every man wherein
he is called therein abide with God. Now concerning virgins,
I have no commandment of the Lord. Yet I give my judgment
as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I
suppose, therefore, that this is good for the present distress
or the troubles that we find ourselves in. I say that it is
good for a man so to be. Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek
not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife?
Seek not a wife. But if thou marry, thou hast
not sinned, and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless,
thou shalt have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you." Now
this is kind of a hard passage to understand because it's kind
of an antiquated way of speaking about things, and I think it's
pretty clear contextually what he's talking about. And he's
talking about When he's speaking about virgins, he's talking about
those who've never been married. He said it's not necessary for
you to be married. He's reiterating that. And he
says, I don't have a commandment. I'm not telling you not to be
married. But he said here, Yet I give
my judgment as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord, to
be faithful, that it would be a good thing, especially in the
present distress, that is, in the troubles that have come upon
the church, which there were many in those days of persecution.
He said you would be better off if you were not in a married
state. And we have to keep that in mind
in the context in which he is giving this. I say that it is
good for a man so to be, that is, not to be married. That is
a good thing in that case. Are thou bound unto a wife? Do
not seek to get rid of her. If you are called in that state,
do not try to get rid of your wife. You are loose from a wife,
that is, if you either haven't been married or you have been
married and your wife has left you. He said, don't seek a wife.
He said, because the times are not good for that. But, and if
thou marry, thou hast not sinned. Now, he's giving a bit of advice
and he's saying, look, I'm not commanding you this. I'm telling
you from my own judgment what would be best. But he said, don't
think that if you do not abide, as I'm saying, don't seek a wife,
then you have not sinned. And he says, if a virgin marries,
she has not sinned. That is, if a young woman or
a young man desires to be married, they have not sinned. There's
nothing wrong with that. And especially even in the context
in which he gives it. He says, nevertheless, such shall
have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you. Now the simple answer
to that is that he's saying when you are married, you're going
to have some more difficulties that you're not counting on as
when you're single. A young man, he's looking to
get married because he thinks that's just going to be the answer
to his every problem. And a young woman, she's thinking
the same thing. But, you know, it doesn't always
work out like that. And there's never anybody that's
been married that hasn't woke up one morning and said, why
in the world did I ever do that? I mean, that's just the way it
is. And so he's saying that in very plain language. He said,
You know, I'm just telling you, I'm not commanding you this,
but I'm telling you, you need to be mindful that when men and
women come together in marriage, it is a difficult thing. And,
you know, when young people are thinking about getting married,
I mean, it's just, they can't imagine that that would ever
be the case with them. I mean, because, you know, they
just love one another so much and they just want to be around
one another all the time. It's like the old fellow said.
He said when him and his wife were first married, he says he
could eat her up. And he said about a year later,
he wished he had. But that's just the reality. And that's what Paul said. Look,
you're going to have some troubles. But this I say, brethren, the
time is short. It remaineth that both they that
have wives be as though they had none, and they that weep
as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they
rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they possessed not.
You see, you can't be concerned about all these things that are
going on in the world because you need to have your mind set
on the things that are important. Now he's specifically speaking
to them in this time period in which they were. And they that
use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world
pass it away. Everything that is in this world
is one day going to be gone. It's not going to last. And that's
hard for us to grasp, but it's nonetheless true. So use the
world. Nothing wrong with the world.
The Lord put us in the world. And He certainly hadn't called
on us to try to get out of the world, I mean, but to live in
the world, but to use the world in a fashion that we don't abuse
the world. And I would have you without
carefulness, that is, not to be weighed down with troubles
and problems that would keep you from walking with the Lord
in purity, in your mind being stayed on Him and seeking out
those things that are for His glory. He that is unmarried careth
for the things that belong to the Lord. Now he is speaking
about a man or a woman who is not married who wants to serve
the Lord Jesus Christ. And they are not encumbered with
the marriage bonds and all the problems and things that go along
with that. Now surely they are missing out
on the blessings that come with it. I don't want to paint the
wrong picture here because there is great blessing in being married
as well as great troubles from time to time. But he is saying
here that he would desire, now he is speaking here to them not
by commandment but by permission, he is saying I would rather you
weren't cumbered down with all of these cares and troubles that
come along. He that is unmarried careth for
the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
If he is a believer and his desire is to follow the Lord, he doesn't
have to wonder if what he is going to do is going to satisfy
somebody else. There is a difference also between
a wife and a virgin. Or that is, an unmarried woman
and a woman who is married. The unmarried woman careth for
the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body
and spirit. But she that is married careth
for the things of this world, how she may please her husband.
Now there is not a thing in the world wrong with that. And that
is the whole point of what he is making. It's not wrong for
a wife to desire to please her husband, and it is not wrong
for a husband to desire to please his wife. In fact, if you are
married, that's what you should be doing. I mean, that's just
what it is. But the whole point of what he's
saying is that the better way is not to be encumbered, these
things, in that respect. And I think that, again, A lot
of this had to do with the particular situation they were in rather
than perhaps, he would say, in our case. You know, in the case
of we're not persecuted per se and having, you know, to worry. I mean, you know, if you are
in a situation, and of course you see this in movies a lot
of times, where somebody is in danger And if they've got, they're
always trying to do what they can do to save their loved ones,
you know. I mean, they could just run and
get away from everything and everything would be okay, but
if they've got people that they love, then they're going to try
to do what they can to help them, which is only right. Of course
they would. You know, nothing wrong with that. So what he's
saying here is that the benefit to not be married is you don't
have that, you know, it's like when you, you know, if a bear
is chasing you and you don't have to, and you've got two or
three people with you, you don't have to be able necessarily to
outrun the bear. All you've got to be able to
do is outrun the person one of the other people. Because whoever
the bear gets, that's the one he's going to devour. So thinking of that in that light
is kind of what he's saying here. You can be concerned about yourself
and doing the things that the Lord would have you to do. The unmarried woman care for
the things, Lord, how much she may please her husband. That's
a good thing. In this I speak for your own profit, not that
I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely,
that is, which is right, and that she may attend upon the
Lord without distraction." Because that's really where we are in
our marriages. We need to seek, by the grace
of God, to cultivate a situation where we can serve the Lord without
distractions. Now, there are going to be distractions.
But believing husbands and believing wives should be seeking to make
their lives as distraction-free as they can. Just so they won't
have trouble? No. So that they might devote
themselves to seeking the things of God. That is the whole purpose
of what Paul is saying here. But if a man think that he behaveth
himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her
age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth
not, let them marry. Now there are a lot of different
interpretations of this. And basically, I like to make
things just simple. Basically, he's just saying the
exact same thing that he's already said. He said, If a man think
that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin... Now there's
two primary ways in which this is looked at. That is, if a man
is betrothed or engaged to a woman, It's time that they got married. I mean, they've put it off long
enough. It's okay. You know, it says,
If she pass the flower of her age and needs so require, let
him do what he will. He sent it, not letting them
marry. Go ahead and marry. Don't agonize over the thing. I mean, go ahead. It's fine. Not a problem there. Or, same thing, if a man... The
other way that this is looked at is talking about the personal
state that a man is in. A man, when he's saying here
in this language, if a man behaveth himself uncommonly toward his
virgin, that is his own virginity. That is, he's not been married.
It's okay. There's nothing wrong with it.
It's a good thing. and need so require. Nevertheless, he that
standeth steadfast in his heart, not having a necessity." That
is, if the man has no necessity. Now, not because he just decides
he doesn't have a necessity. Because the necessity will catch
up with him if he's not careful. Because that's not what he's
saying here, if indeed he has no need to be married. Remember
what he said up here in the beginning of the thing? He said, nevertheless,
To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife. To avoid
sexual impurity, that is sexual activity outside of the bonds
of marriage, let every husband have his wife and every wife
have her own husband. There is nothing wrong with that.
That is a good thing. So then he that giveth her in
marriage doeth well, that he that giveth her not in marriage
doeth better. He didn't say anything different
than he said to start with. He said it's better than when
he started off the chapter. He said it's better for you to
stay single than it is to get married, to abide even as I.
But if you can't do that, that's fine. The wife is bound by the
law as long as her husband liveth. But if her husband be dead, she
is at liberty to be married to whom she will. And look at what it says, only
in the Lord. That is, if a man and a woman, if one or the other of them dies,
then there is certainly nothing wrong with them seeking out another
husband or another wife. But there is something wrong
with seeking out a husband or a wife among those who believe
not. Because that's a different situation,
is it not, than if you came to know the Lord after you were
already married. He said, you are counseled to
do this. But she's happier if she so abides
after my judgment, and I think also that I have the Spirit of
God. So he said, if she doesn't need to get married, or the man
doesn't need to get married who's been married, his husband or
his wife died, That's a good thing if they abide
unmarried after Mahesh's judgment. And he says, I think I'm telling
you the truth of God. That is, what he said was consistent
from the beginning of this chapter to the end of it. It's not complex. Man makes it complex because
it's not always what we want it to say. I mean, you know,
man, the Pharisees, the Lord upbraided the Pharisees. The
Lord said, you know, let a man and a woman become one flesh. He said that's the way it's been
from the beginning. He said, but Moses gave permission
for divorce, but what you've done, speaking to the Pharisees,
He says, you've come along and said it's a good thing. And He
says, you said, well, if the woman doesn't please you, just
put her aside for any reason. He said, I tell you, that's not
right, because you don't have a reason to do it. And, you know,
men would seek out reasons. And men want to have reasons,
don't we? I mean, we want to have a reason
that we can, if somebody, if we come along the road and, you
know, our wife maybe has not been as kind to us as we'd like
for her to be, and we find someone else whom we think might be nicer
to us or whatever, and we say, well, you know, I'll get rid
of this one and get me another wife. That's wickedness. Men can't do that. According
to what Scripture says, let not the wife depart from the husband,
let not the husband depart from the wife. But in all things, remember this,
whether you're married or whether you're not married, whether you're
seeking to be married or whether you don't want to ever be married,
it doesn't make any difference whatsoever before the Lord. because
you are bought with a price. Seek those things that are above,
not those things that are of the earth. And may the Lord give
us grace to be always reminded that marriage is the picture
of the love that Christ has for His church. And if anybody, I've
said this before and I'll say it again, if anybody had reason
to divorce his wife, it would be the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean,
if anybody had reason to divorce, she's been unfaithful to Him.
She's been unkind. She's been disobedient. She's
had no concern for the things that He said. But do you know
what Scripture says? That He has loved her with an
everlasting love. And he's been faithful to her
every day because of the great love wherewith he loved her.
And such is the picture of marriage. And anything other than that
is contrary to it. Maybe there's what men want to
say or do or whatever, they can't change that because God has set
forth the perfect example of what marriage is. May the Lord
help us.