Chapter 10. It is ever the ploy of unregenerate
religious men, as they attempt to trick God's servants and tempt
them into that which is evil, it is ever their ploy to try
to trick us into saying something that they can use against us.
Sneaky followers of the serpent their pretense of sincerity,
try to ask leading questions which that would cause us to
answer things in such a way as they could say now there that's
against the scripture. That's contrary to what you said
before. I find this frequently happening.
I get letters or in conversation people ask a question and they
ask the question deliberately to lead you to say something
that they can use against you. This is a used in debate all
the time. It's a ploy very common to Campbellites
and other religious folks who act in deception. You don't have
to experience it too many times to know their craftiness and
to see and hear the hiss of the serpent in their speech. When
we meet with such people, I have found for myself the best way
to handle them is to ignore them, just give them nothing to go
on. You don't answer them. Don't
answer a fool according to his folly, or you'll get in trouble.
I found by experience that unless you're a snake, if you get in
a hissing fight with a snake, you're gonna lose. So the best
thing to do is don't get in it. Now here in Mark chapter 10,
we have some of the serpent snakes who come, the Pharisees, in a
pretense of sincerity, and ask the Lord, is it lawful for a
man to put away his wife? And Mark and Matthew both, as
they tell us of this event, tell us that they did this tempting
the master. They wanted him to say something
contrary to the law of Moses, something that they could pick
and say, now there, you see, he's a base antinomian. We always
told you he was against the law. And so our Lord Jesus answers
them, but he answers them according to his wisdom by the word of
God, rather than by the mere words of a man. As we look at
this passage of scripture this evening, There are three things
that demand our attention. If you're taking notes, we have
here the master's teaching concerning marriage and children. But in
the opening verse, we see that our Lord Jesus Christ himself
was an exemplary, faithful, fervent preacher of the gospel. Now let's
look at that for just a minute and we'll move on. This opening
verse of Mark 10 shows us just how faithful, just how patient,
Just how persevering the Lord Jesus Christ was as a preacher.
In all things, he was and is the best of examples to his people. He's an example to us in the
way we ought to serve and care for one another. He took a towel
and girded himself and washed his disciples' feet and he said,
I've given you an example. You go and do as I've done to
you. And as a preacher, he is an example of what preachers
ought to be and how they ought to behave. Look in verse one.
He arose from thence, and cometh into the coast of Judea by the
farther side of Jordan, and the people resort to him again. Now
look at this. And as he was wont, as he was
wont, not they, as he was wont, he taught them again. Wherever
our Savior went, he was always about his Father's business.
From the opening day of his public ministry to his last breath on
the cross, Our Lord Jesus Christ labored intensely for the good
of men's souls and the glory of God. I've read through the
gospel narratives many times in the last 30 years. I haven't
yet found a single place where our Lord Jesus Christ, from the
day that he was baptized by John the Baptist to the day that he
laid down his life on the cursed tree, not once did he spend the
day in idleness. Not once. Not once did he spend
a day doing nothing. Not once did he spend a day giving
to himself in recreation and relaxation. Of him it is written,
he sowed beside all waters. In the morning he sowed his seed,
in the evening withheld not his hand. What an example to preachers
he was and is. He was untiringly, unceasingly
fervent and faithful. When he came to the farther side
of Jordan, the people gathered to him and he did as he was want. He taught them again. I'm often
urged by well-meaning friends and people who love me to slow
down, take the work a little easier, preserve my energies.
Folks said don't take this thing so seriously. Sometimes I hear
preachers, I cringe when I hear preachers. They say we take ourselves
too seriously. Oh, I can't take this thing too
seriously. This is serious business. Sometimes
I even fall prey to my own weakness and think that I've got to back
off, I've got to slow down until I open this book and see what
kind of preacher the Son of God was. And I pray God make me that
kind of preacher. Fervent and zealous to my dying
breath, Folks say, well, you don't want to burn out. I'd rather
burn out than rust out. I want to give myself relentlessly
to this business of preaching the gospel. I find not only is
it that which I am responsible to do, it's the best thing for
me. I said to the men back here,
I hadn't heard anybody else make this statement before. Brother
Mahan, as you know, has been going through some difficulties.
He had some back trouble for a few weeks. taking these radiation
treatments and he wrote to me and said he was having a bad
week last week and we corresponded a little bit, chatted on the
phone. I got an email from him the other day. He'd been in service
this Sunday and had some liberty to preach and fellowship with
God's saints and worship God. He said there's no medicine like
that. He said, I'm doing fine now. And I fully agree, there's
no medicine like that. That which was our savior's watch
ought to be the want of every man who preaches the gospel.
I'm sure one reason why our master was always want to preach the
gospel was the fact that he knew the urgency of his work. No one
else understood this. No one else could. No one else
Not even his mother, not even his disciples, not even his intimate
apostles, not even Peter, James, and John. Those are the inner
circle of the disciples. No one understood the urgency
of his mission except him. Nobody else. He and he alone
knew that the time was short for those who heard him. They
who heard him must hear him now. They are soon to leave this world
and meet God in judgment. Will you hear me? Oh God, help
you to hear me. The time is short. You must hear
now the word of God. This may be the day you draw
your last breath. The time is short. Hear then
the word of God and don't let these things slip from you. Our
master knew also that the time was short for himself. He knew
he had but a little while to do the work he must do for the
glory of his God and the good of his people. And I recognize
more and more increasingly that the time is short for me. Whatever
it is I'm going to do for God, I've got to get it done now.
And I've got news for you. Whatever you're going to do for
Him, you've got to get it done now. Most of us don't have much
more time on this earth. Our days of strength are gone.
We're now in those declining years when the strength fails
and fails quickly. Whatever we do, we must do now. Our master understood that his
time here was constricted, straightened, pressed and short. Therefore,
he redeemed every opportunity, redeeming the time for those
days in which he lived and these days in which we live are indeed
evil. The Master, the Lord Jesus, was
a faithful, fervent, and zealous servant in the work of God, even
though the vast majority of those to whom he preached did not hear
him. They were, as you read in Jeremiah
19, stiff-necked and hardened against the gospel. Sometimes
preachers, in an attempt to be a little glamorous, in an attempt
to give historic validity, to what we preach. They try to paint
a rosy picture of days gone by as though there was a time, you
know, when everybody believed the gospel. There was a time
when the preaching of the gospel was popular with folks. There
was a time when folks were a little more conservative than they are
now. There was a time when people were a little more religious
than they are now. But the preaching of the gospel of God's free and
sovereign grace has never been popular. It has never been in
the mainstream of things, not even in the mainstream of religion.
Our Lord's miracles were popular. People loved to eat the loaves
and dishes. I would too. They loved to have
the sick healed and they wanted themselves to be healed. His
miracles were popular, but not his message. If you want to look
in John chapter 6, I encouraged you to. We won't tonight for
brevity's sake. But in John chapter 6, multitudes thronged to hear
the master. He had multiplied the loaves
and fishes. And our Lord Jesus said to them,
you're not here because you want to hear what I say. You're here
because you ate the loaves and fishes. You want some more. You're
here because you got the benefit of my miracles, not because of
my message. And then he began to preach the
gospel to them. And when he got done, the crowd
left him. He was left with nobody except
those disciples who came with him to Shavuot. Nobody else.
And he turned and looked at them and said, will you also go away?
What was it that our Lord preached? In John 6, he declared in verse
29 that the only way a sinner can please God is by faith in
Him. And folks can't stand that. You
mean that there's nothing in me, nothing that I do, nothing
about my religion, nothing about my activity that pleases God? Absolutely nothing. Our Lord
declared to those in John chapter 6 that Moses in the law spoke
not mere words of morality, not mere words of religious tradition,
but he spoke of himself. Moses was constantly speaking
of Christ, so that the law and prophets are all about this Redeemer,
our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he told these folks,
he said, now the only way you can please God is by faith. And
the only way you can please God is by faith in that one of whom
Moses spoke, this one standing in front of you, the Lord Jesus
himself. And then he said, the only way you can ever believe
me, The only way you will ever come to know God, the only way
you'll understand the things of God is if God does for you
what you cannot do for yourself and draws you by his irresistible
grace and teaches you by his Spirit. Our Lord said, everyone
therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh
to me. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me drawing him. The Father must
draw you by his Spirit, and those who are drawn to the Father are
taught of the Father. And I'm telling you, those who
are taught of God come to Christ. They come by his irresistible
grace. And our Savior then declared that he and he alone, in his
obedience in death, is the object of faith. He's the one who must
be believed. He said, my, my bread, this bread
is my, I am the bread of life. And a man eats this bread and
drinks this blood of mine. That is my obedience, my righteousness
and my atonement. He takes that and he lives upon
it forever. And then our Savior declared
plainly. Now, these things I'm telling you come to pass according
to God's sovereign election. He says, I've chosen you. I know
who belongs to me. I know who believes and who believes
not. And I know that according to the election of grace. He
said, it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh, profiteth nothing.
And they turned and walked no more with it. That which our
Lord Jesus Christ did as a preacher is that which God requires of
all preachers. And that's what he requires of
all of you. We who are his servants, God requires one thing of us.
One thing. Faithfulness. Moreover, it is
required of stewards that a man be found faithful. Faithful. God make me a faithful preacher. Faithful to his glory. Faithful
to his word. Faithful to your soul. without regard to anything else. And I'm going to tell you something,
no preacher will be faithful who regards anything else. The
moment we begin counting noses, the moment we begin looking to
measure success, the moment we begin to look to see who's hearing
us and who's not hearing us, we will compromise the message.
The preacher cannot, he cannot, consider consequences. He must
be faithful to God's glory, faithful to God's truth, faithful to men's
souls. It is our duty simply to do what
God gives us the opportunity and the ability to do. And it
is reprehensible, Lindsay, if we don't do what we have opportunity
and ability to do. It's inexcusable. That alone
is our duty. Do what God gives you the opportunity
and the ability to do. The results are totally up to
you. Our Lord did not say that it
will be spoken, well done thou good and successful servant. He said it will be spoken, well
done thou good and faithful servant. You see, we don't know how to
measure success. We measure success the way the
world does. It's the only way we know how.
We measure success by numbers and money. That's all. That's
the only thing we can count. But numbers and money don't mean
a frazzling thing. God's servants, some are plowmen. All they do is plow. Some water. All they do is water. Some sow
seed. All they do is sow seed. Some gather the fruit. But all
is according to God's will. and God's purpose. The thing
he requires of his servants is faithfulness. That's what it
requires of me as your pastor, and that's what it requires of
you where you serve him. Now secondly, in verses 2 through
12, our Lord here gives us his teaching with regard to the dignity
and permanence of marriage, and his teaching is crystal clear.
In these verses, our Savior answers the question that is put to him
by the Pharisees, and then later put to him privately by his disciples
with regard to marriage. Let's read these 11 verses together,
and then I'll give you our Master's teaching concerning marriage.
Now, jot these down, we'll look at them in brevity, but there
are two other passages that need to be considered whenever you
want to understand the Lord's teachings concerning marriage.
Matthew chapter 5, verses 31 and 32. And then Matthew 19,
verses 3 through 9, where Matthew gives us this same account that
Mark gives us, but Matthew gives us things that Mark doesn't give
us. He was inspired by God to write down some details that
Mark was not inspired to give. All right, beginning in verse
2, let's read Mark chapter 10. The Pharisees came to him and
asked him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Now, if
you read Matthew 9, or Matthew 19 rather, in Matthew's account,
he said, the Pharisee said, is it lawful for a man to put away
his wife for every cause? In other words, is it all right
for a father to divorce his wife for just whatever reason he wants
to? And we'll see in just a little bit, that was very common. They
did this, tempting him. And he answered and said unto
them, what did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered
to write a bill of divorcement and to put her away. And Jesus
answered and said unto them, for the hardness of your heart,
he wrote this precept. But from the beginning of the
creation, God made them male and female. For this call shall
a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh. So then they are no more two,
but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder. And in the house his disciples
asked him again, of the same matter and he saith unto them
whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another and then
again in Matthew's account Matthew records these words except it
be for fornication whosoever put away his wife and marrieth
another except it be for fornication committeth adultery against her
and if a woman shall put away her husband and be married to
another she committed adultery now these passages of scripture
Show us plainly what the Lord Jesus himself taught concerning
marriage. If you want to read the full
account of the New Testament, read Romans chapter 7 and 1st
Corinthians chapter 7 and Ephesians chapter 5. There the Apostle
Paul writes by the same inspiration as these words given by our Lord
Jesus. So that Paul and the Lord Jesus
are not to be looked at as though Christ said one thing, Moses
said one thing, and then Paul said something else. They all
spoke the same thing. They all taught the same thing
by the Spirit of God. Now I have no interest at all
in debating with anyone about the issues that we're going to
deal with this evening. I don't for a moment imagine
that what I have to say is going to change the thinking of godless
people concerning marriage. I know better. I'm addressing
myself to you for whom I am responsible as God's servant. I'm addressing
myself to you who are believers and to you young people in this
assembly for whose souls I am responsible to give instruction.
I ask that you who reverence God and honor his word give me
your attention and listen. In these verses our Lord teaches
us plainly that marriage is forever. Marriage is forever. I wish somehow I could sit down
with every young person here, and I've tried to over the years.
I take you aside one at a time. Now listen, don't marry anybody
until you find somebody you want to spend your life with. This
stays forever. This is forever. The marriage union of a husband
and wife is never to be dissolved. It is not to be broken except
for very specific and very serious reasons. I can't overstate the
importance of our Lord's teaching concerning this. The well-being
of nations, the happiness of men and women, the welfare of
God's Church, the moral strength of society, greatly depends upon
the strength of families. and the strength of families
is greatly determined by a man's understanding and a woman's understanding
and reverence for the teaching of God's Word with regard to
the dignity and permanence of marriage. During our Lord's earthly
ministry, you'll recall that it was at a time in history when
the Roman Empire was at its zenith, and when the Roman Empire was
at its zenith, moral decadence was at its lowest. It was just
absolutely gone, sort of like today. Divorces were almost as
common as marriage, and marriages were dissolved at the drop of
a hat, even among the Jews. As a matter of fact, I read the
other day, I was surprised to read this, Helio the Jew, Helio some
folks call him, but whatever his name is, it doesn't matter
to me, he's been dead a long time, he won't fuss with me. He wrote
in his commentaries, this is what he said, He said it is lawful
for a man to put away his wife if she salts his meat too much
or roasts it too done. Now that's just how ridiculous
things have become. I said much like it is in our
day. Mark did not record the things quite the same way these
Pharisees asked it as Matthew gives it. As I pointed out, the
Pharisees said is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for
every cause? Now it is true. Because of the
hardness of men's hearts, to prevent them from abusing their
wives or killing them, Moses did permit divorce, but not for
every cause. You can read it in Deuteronomy
24, the first four verses. But by long tradition, by laxity,
by religious custom, what Moses permitted men to do had become
commonplace. Moses did permit folks to put
away their wives because of the hardness of their heart for specific
causes. And these Jews now had come to
the place, they put away their wives, or women put away their
husbands for every cause, just at the drop of a hat. Marriage had become a whimsical
thing, regarded by most, like it is today, as a bothersome
burden. Come back to Matthew 19, I do want you to see this.
Give you some idea. I want you to see that I'm not
just pulling these things out of the air. Listen to the disciples'
response when our Lord said what he did about marriage. This will
give you some idea just how bad things were. In verse 10, the
disciples say unto him, if the case of a man be so with his
wife, it's good not to marry. When they heard the Lord Jesus
say, no, you can't put away your wives just because you want to
put them away. No, you cannot lawfully divorce your wife just
because you're tired of looking at her. They said, well, if a
fellow can't get rid of that woman whenever he wants to, it's
better not to marry at all. And that was the attitude of
the day. When men and women abandoned God's law and looked contituously
upon marriage, They produce a generation of children who are utterly without
moral conscience. My God, that's what we've produced
in our day. A generation of children. I'm
talking about the children the age of ours, Rex. By and large
in this society is a generation without moral conscience. And the fault lies at the doors
of moms and dads around the world. Now listen carefully then. what
the Son of God has to say about marriage. Number one, marriage
is a relationship of greater importance and greater influence
than any other earthly relationship. In Genesis chapter 2, marriage
was established by God before sin entered into the world when
Adam and Eve were in the garden. It was established by God for
the moral preservation of the race. It was established by God
for the multiplication of the race. It was established by God
for the happiness of man. The Lord God said it is not good
for a man to be alone. It's not good for this man to
spend his life by himself. So he made Eve to be a help meet
for him. I'm not going to spend a lot
of time on that, but I'm not going to pass up the opportunity.
You ladies, unless you understand that it is your privilege and
your responsibility to be a helpmeet for your husbands, you are unfit
for the name wife. A wife is to be a helpmeet for
her husband, one who finds her fulfillment, her satisfaction,
and her completion in him. Marriage was chosen by God to
be a typical representation of the relationship between Christ
and his church. Now I want you to read that,
Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians 5 and verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself all, verse 26.
that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word. In other words, when the Lord
Jesus Christ died, he died for somebody specifically, and he
died to do something specifically for them. He died for his chosen
bride, the church, and his object was to purify his bride, the
church. Verse 27, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be whole there and without blemish. Verse 28, so ought men to love
their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth
and cherisheth it even as the Lord the Church, for we are members
of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this call shall
a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his
wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery
that I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless,
every one of you in particular, let every one of you in particular
so love his wife even as himself and the wife see that she reverence
her husband. Now what does this teach us?
The Lord is telling us that marriage is a relationship superior even
to the relationship of parents and children. For this call shall
a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his
wife and they too shall be one flesh. Isn't it interesting that
our Lord says exactly the opposite of what we normally think. We
normally think the problem is primarily that the wife won't
leave mama and daddy alone. That's not primarily the problem.
Primary problem is the man won't leave mama and daddy alone. Primary
problem is the man won't cut the strings and the responsibility
is on the man's shoulders. I'll give you an example. Right
after Shelby and I were married, personal example, I just send
it stay in this room, but obviously it's not going to. Right after
we were married, we had a little difficulty, a little difficulty
with the family, a little needling, a little meddling, a little too
much nosiness. And I had to go to my family. And I just told
my dad, I said, now this is where it's going to be. Either treat
this woman to whom I'm married with respect and honor her as
you would honor anyone else. And don't badger her or you will
never see us, period, again. And so I went for about three
months and made sure that the word sunk in real good. Never
had another problem. But it must be understood. This
relationship is superior. I'm married to this woman and
nobody's going to come between us. Not my mother, not my father,
not my sisters, not my daughter. Nobody's going to come between
us. Marriage, you see, involves commitment, devotion. A man ought to be as committed
to his wife as Christ was and is to his church. That's commitment. Oh, you girls find you a man
who committed to you like Christ is to his church, you find you
a man. And a woman ought to be as committed to her husband as
believers ought to be to the Mosque. as true believers are. Find you a woman who's committed
to you like a believer is to a son of God. You find you a
wife. That's called marriage. It's
devotion. Marriage involves sacrifice.
It involves self-denial. I know the things I'm talking
about are so foreign to this society in this age. Did you
ever notice most marriage counselors, those folks that have shingles,
marriage counselors, they're either single or they've been
married half a dozen times? I don't believe I'd listen to
them. I believe I was interested in finding out about marriage,
I'd find somebody who had been at it a while and knew what they
were talking about. Sort of like, you know, everybody
who's an authority on marriage either hasn't been married or
been married half a dozen times. Everybody who's an authority
on raising kids, I guarantee they ain't got any. The people
who've raised some know that this is not quite as easy as
it looks like on paper. But our Lord tells us here that
marriage involves sacrifice. That's self-denial. Husbands
are to sacrifice themselves for their wives. Bob, but that's
what a husband does. That's just what he does. Our
Lord did not say husbands, love your wives. As Christ also loved
the church and be willing to die for them. That's not what
he said. He said die for them. Die for them. What does that
mean? That means you sacrifice your will, your pleasure, your
wants, your desires for your family's welfare and primarily
for her welfare. Well, I'm not going to do that
for any woman. Stay single then. Let's not have any more like
you. I'm dead serious. Marriage involves a woman sacrificing
herself to her husband's will, and her husband's pleasure, and
her husband's honor, just as believers sacrificed themselves
to the master's will, the master's pleasure, and the master's honor. Why is that I don't have a husband fit to
be referenced. That's your fault. You ought to have paid attention
to preachers when you were a kid. That's your problem. Wives reference
your husbands. Doesn't mean put up with them,
reference them. Treat them with reference. What
I'm talking about is love. Marriage involves love. Husbands, love your wives. as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself up. Wise, reverence and obey your
husbands as the church reverences and obeys the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh preacher, you're sure out of step with the times. The times
are out of step with God. And it's time somebody speaks
plainly. This is not good advice, this is not good counsel. I'm
telling you, if you would be a fit husband or a fit wife,
this is the way it's got to be. And if you're not prepared to
do it this way, don't do it. Love is giving. That's what it is. It's giving. Love gives and gives in. It doesn't
take and it doesn't demand. That's worth writing down and
remembering. Love's given. Love is yielding. Love, real
love, is unconditional. It's not qualified. Marriage necessarily involves
a disillusion of all other relationships and a blessed isolation to one
another. Again, it is a blessed isolation
to and with one another, like the isolation of Christ to and
with his church. Everything the Son of God does,
everything, everything, he does just for
you, just for you. God helped me be that kind of
husband. The Church of God ought to be
just exactly isolated that way to and with Christ. Live for
Him, live to Him. And I promise you, you men and
women, if you will isolate yourselves to one another, to one another. What about the kids? You better
not make them the center of your home. They're going to leave
one of these days, hopefully. They're going to move out someday.
And you're going to be left with an empty nest. And empty nest
syndrome comes because you haven't given yourself to your husband.
And you haven't given yourself to your wife. My soul. Our Lord Jesus teaches us also
that this blessed relationship of marriage is a lifelong union.
Now these days people enter into marriage with a light, frivolous
attitude. I marry folks, I don't marry
many, I just, I marry folks in this congregation and in a few
places where I go and preach and they have no pastor, I do
so if I'm able to, but I prefer not to marry too many. I'd just
as soon not get involved in it. Because I realize most people,
it's as frivolous to them as deciding whether they're going
to eat at Burger King or McDonald's. It's insignificant to them. There
are very, very few people who enter into marriage with the
determination, this is forever, no matter what. And I'm telling
you, this is forever. Jerry Hunter, when God pleased
to give you a man, and you marry that man, you stand and take
a vow before God Almighty to love and honor him till death
do you part. I don't care what comes down
the road. This is forever. This is forever. Multitudes these days write out
prenuptial agreements. You know what that is? That's
not a just in case this don't work out. That is, I'm dead certain
that this ain't going to work out and I don't want you to get
in my pockets. all on this earth it is. And many don't even bother
with a wedding. They just shack up like wild
animals and live together until something looks better comes
along, they will move out. Our Lord says, from the beginning
it was not so. He says, what God hath joined
together, let not man put asunder. And he declares plainly that
all who violate God's word in this matter are guilty of adultery,
and calls those who are recklessly abandoned to be the same. Now
this lifelong union can be dissolved biblically, lawfully, according
to God's word, only for extreme reasons, obviously death. I should die tonight, my wife
is no longer obligated to me as my wife. She's free to marry
whenever, wherever she wants to in the Lord. The same is true
of anyone else whose husband or wife is gone and taken out
of this world. But otherwise, marriage can be
dissolved only under extreme circumstances for extreme reasons.
Now Mark, I told you earlier, omits what Matthew says in Matthew
19 verse 9. And in verse 22, or verse 32
of chapter 5, there our Lord says in both those passages that
fornication is the singular basis for divorce. Now, that word fornication
is not just, doesn't just mean fornication. You know, the folks
are interpreting the president's words concerning adultery as
explanations for these days. He's got kind of a peculiar way
of interpreting it. The fornication, as it's used
by our Lord, is the word for which we get our word pornography.
It's the word that means any kind of sexual deviation, any
kind of sexual perversity. It has to do with any kind of
sexual infidelity. Our Lord does not teach that
men and women ought to get a divorce if one or the other commits this
act of fornication or sexual infidelity. No. Boy, my wife did this, my husband
did that, I'm going to divorce him. I believe I'd think about
that again. God forbid it should happen.
But are you willing to throw away a lifetime because of a
night of indiscretion? What we ought to do is forgive.
That's what we ought to do. But because of the hardness of
a man's heart, it is permitted that the marriage union may be
dissolved for those reasons, or for that reason. The Apostle
Paul, writing by divine inspiration as well, allows that abandonment
also dissolves the marriage union. Turn to 1 Corinthians 7. I want
you to see this. Now, I realize that, well, I don't, I'm just too old
to care what folks say in response to it. I'm sorry. I don't care
whether you disagree or agree, it doesn't much matter to me.
This is what God said. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 15. Paul is talking about a believer
married to an unbeliever. And frankly, that's the only
time when this applies. If Ron and Pam Wood are both believers,
they'll figure out a way to get along. They'll just do it. They'll
just do it. Say, well, if you hadn't been
through what I've been through, so incompatible with him. I can't
live with him no more. I'd rather spend a few years
incompatible with him in the same house than spend eternity
incompatible with God. Believers figure out a way to
get along. But here is a believer married to an unbeliever and
the apostle says if the unbelieving depart, verse 15, Let him go. Man, be glad to be shed of it. If the unbeliever depart, let
him go. Why on earth try to get him back?
I have a particular friend I've corresponded with for years.
She's got a husband, stays drunk half the time, beats her half
the time. And I don't live in the same house, but if things
are as they're reported to me, when he leaves, change the locks
and move out of town. My soul don't ask him to come
back. That's nuts. If he will depart, let him depart.
A brother or sister is not in bondage in such cases. But God
has called us to peace. Far better to live in peace.
And the bondage he's talking about there, obviously, he's
talking about the marriage bonds as described in Romans chapter
7. In such cases, the person abandoned against whom infidelity
was committed, is free to marry. But Paul says again in 1 Corinthians
7, only in the Lord. And you can read it again for
yourself in Deuteronomy 24. But what about those who are
already in the divorce, who've already Experience this thing
of remarriage. How do we deal with those? Believers
are those whom God may be pleased to convert today by his grace
who are already divorced or divorced and remarried Well, I suggest
you know this this may seem Seem awfully loose to some and I'm
I know it does because I get I said this before and folks
are where he's just compromising He's he's loose Well, it may
seem loose to some but I'll tell you how I deal with it Love them,
and forgive them, and deal with them like you would any other
sinner, redeemed and saved by God's free grace. As sinners,
redeemed and saved by God's free grace, and you forget the past.
My soul, if you had any idea what I have been, what I've been,
nothing compared to what I am by nature. I acknowledge that,
but if you had any idea, you had nothing to do with me. The
past is gone, and you forget it. There is therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. You can't do
anything about the past. I often have folks refer to 1
Timothy 3, verse 2, and say, but their husband is to be the
husband of one wife. If he's going to be a pastor,
he's to be the husband of one wife. So a man who's been converted
after he was divorced and remarried, he can't be a pastor. That's
not what Paul's talking about. Paul is addressing Timothy, who
pastors Gentiles. And those Gentiles who were converted
by God's grace commonly would have more than one wife. That
was just common. Much like with our African brethren
now. You go down to West Africa, where Brother Ken Wymer labored
for all those years down the Ivory Coast. Most of those fellows
who were of any age at all before God saved them might have had
three or four or five wives. The more he had, the wealthier
he was, the bigger man he was. Now, some religious idiots come
along and they say, well, now, God saved you. You choose one
of these wives and her kids and throw the rest of them out in
the woods. That's kind, isn't it? That makes good sense. No, no. But that man who's been
converted and he has more than one wife, he can't bring that
religion or that Gentile tradition into the pulpit and pastor one
of those churches. That's all Paul is saying in 1 Timothy chapter
3. Let me give you two or three words of instruction, and I'll
move on to the last part of this chapter, or the last part of
this passage. I want you to listen. Listen carefully, at least three
times. When you marry, marry in the
Lord. Marry somebody with whom you
can worship God. In reality, nothing else much
matters. Nothing else much matters. You
marry somebody who has no interest in the things of God, and you'll
be like a wagon with a team of mules, one hitched on one end
and one on the other, both pulling opposite directions. And it's
going to be hell to pay as long as you marry. That's just all
there is to it. It'll just be misery. Marry in
the love. I recall when Doug came and asked
to face him in marriage, he came in a little nervous, you know,
as most fellows are when they talk to a prospective father-in-law,
especially if he's a preacher. And he sat down and fixing to
go over all his plans and his savings and his job and his house
and all that stuff. And I said, you don't need to
go over any of that. I don't even care. I'm not interested
in what you have or what you have potential to have. I ask
one thing of you, one thing only. I ask that you worship God with
my daughter and lead her in the worship of God. Nothing else
matters. Nothing else. I'm telling you,
nothing else matters. Get that right, you get that
straight, everything else will fall in place. If you don't get
that straight, nothing will ever fall in place. Now listen, and this will be
good for you folks who've been married for 30 years, including
this one. Don't expect too much from your
husband or wife. Just don't expect too much. You
see, marriage is not the union of two angels. It's the union
of two sinners who need constant forgiveness and constant forbearance
and constant understanding. And thirdly, seek with constant
earnestness one another's spiritual God. When one of you is a little lax,
let the other with tenderness and care inspire your soul in
worship. When one of you is a little unbelieving,
let the other with tenderness and care inspire the other to
believe. One of you's little lacks in
the responsibilities you have, let the other with tenderness
and care inspire in the work and worship of our Redeemer.
Now then, in verses 13 through 16, our Savior teaches us plainly
that all who enter the kingdom of God must do so as little children. Read this with me. And they brought young children
to him, that he should touch them. Now, if you are taking
notes or you have your pencil out, underscore that, they brought
them to them, that he should touch them. And his disciples
rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was
much displeased and said unto them, suffer the little children
to come to me and forbid them not, for I was such as the kingdom
of heaven, our kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he
shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms,
put his hands upon them, and blessed them. These little children
were brought to the master. It doesn't say babies, it says
little children. They were brought to the master
just exactly like folks brought their six. and impotent and lame
and blind and deaf folks to the master. They brought them to
the master that he might touch them and touching them blessed. Now, I've had this passage of
scripture. It's amazing how irreverent people
can be with scripture. I've had folks take this passage
of scripture a while back. I was out in California and rebuked
some folks for having squalling kids running in and out, services
disrupting everything all the time. And somebody said, The
Lord said, suffer the little children, come to me. That ain't
got a thing on earth with folks running in and out of service
and making disruption. Not a thing on this earth. But the most ridiculous
I've ever heard in my life. J.C. Ryle suggested, not only
suggested, he spent a whole sermon saying from this passage that
this passage is intended to teach how much encouragement there
is to bring young children to be baptized. I read the whole
thing. And it's astounding what nonsense
he came up with. It's astounding. There's not
a word in this passage about whose children these were. It
doesn't say they were children of believers or unbelievers,
just children. There's not a word in the passage about baptism,
much less sprinkle a little water on a kid's face. And there's
not a word here about baby dedication services. That's the Baptist
equivalent of sprinkling kids with a little water. These verses
of Holy Scripture are given to teach us three things by God's
Spirit. Number one, if we would do our
children good, we must bring them to the master. As y'all all know, we're expecting
this grandchild. I'm not the father, just the
grandfather, so I can't do so much. Maybe a little more than folks
might think. I can't do it so much. But I tell you what I've
done, am doing, and will continue to do, by God's grace for this
child. I haven't anything to leave the
child for my own. But before my daughter was ever
born, and now for 28 years, and before this grandchild comes
into this world, and to the day that I die, I bring them to the
match, that he might lay his hand on
them, bless them, and heal them by his grace. And that's the best thing. In
reality, that's the only thing we can do for those servants.
That's all. Bring them to him in prayer,
bring them to him in our discipline of them and the raising of them.
You bring them to them, to him, and you put them in his hands. Master, whatever you do with
them, it's right. Whatever you do with them, it's
right. I'll leave them in your hands.
Secondly, this passage is designed to teach us how that our Lord
Jesus humbled himself to serve the needs of little children.
What a tender-hearted man he is. I fully believe it is wrong to
give children reins to just lay them on their neck, y'all go
do whatever you want to and expect kids not to mind. It's wrong
to, y'all know we don't turn kids loose here to run around
and just wreak havoc in this place or in our home. If you
do at your home, you're crazy. You're just out of your mind.
It's wrong to do so. But don't ever ignore them. Don't
see the kids, just ignore them as if they're nothing. Oh, no.
Our master said to his disciples, don't you, don't you forgive
them. And he tenderly took them in
his arms as a tender hearted man. Oh, how accessible he was
and is to the needy, the most helpless, the most needy. It's still so. He sits on the
throne of grace and he bids anyone who has any need come to him
to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And
then thirdly, this passage is designed primarily to teach us
that if we would be saved, we must come to Christ, our God
and King, as little children. What does that mean? Well, these
little children had to be brought to the master. And I'm telling you, none of
you will ever come. None of you will ever come to
God. None of us have come. And none of you will come until
God, by his grace, with a sweet, constraining, irresistible power
of his spirit, brings you to master. Children have got to
be brought to him. And we must come to him as those
who have been humbled as little children. Little children are
just, you know, they're inoffensive. They're dependent. totally dependent, easily taught, believing. If God the Holy Spirit will bring
you to Christ, this is what he'll do. He will cause you to be humbled
before him. You will not take offense at
what he has to say. You'll Be totally dependent on
Him for everything. And you believe Him. Believe Him. Be easily taught
by Him. Easily influenced by Him. Easily
led by Him. God make us as little children. When you think of a preacher,
what a preacher ought to be, think of Christ. and pray for
your pastor that he may follow the example given to the pastor. When you think of marriage, I
wish you'd go home. I mean this. I wish you ladies
and men as well would go home and take all of the silly books
and magazines and articles that being published, hottest things
being sold are religious nuts talking about marriage and don't
have any idea what they're talking about. Forget it and think about
one thing. Marriage pictured by the relationship
of Christ in this church. You'd be that kind of husband
to your wife that Christ is to his church. You'd be that kind
of wife that the Church of God is to Jesus Christ. The rest
of the lumps will work out pretty good. They'll work out pretty
good. And when you think about children,
these children of ours, Ruth and Samuel, call his kids and
let them stand there. Bring them to the master. Put
them in his hands. Ask him to receive them. Touch
them by his grace. And just wait. Just wait. I just believe he will. Just
believe he will. And I'm prepared to wait.