And while you're turning there,
I want to read a verse from Ephesians chapter 5 when Paul had been
talking about marriage. He sums it all up by saying,
this is a great mystery. Speaking of the, for this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined
unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. says regarding
this, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ
and the church. He doesn't say this is part of
what I'm talking about. This is all of what I'm talking
about. I speak concerning Christ and
the church. Now it's important for us to
keep that in mind when we consider what Paul is saying with regard
to marriage. In 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verse
39. Now Paul has been given instructions
regarding marriage and divorce in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. We've
already considered those in the previous weeks. And then he says
in ending this chapter, the wife is bound by the law. Now that word bound is the same
word used for binding prisoners. It's a strong language. 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, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she
so abide after my judgment. And I think also that I have
the Spirit of God. Now, Paul ends this seventh chapter
on a rather unusual note. He says, the wife is bound by
the law to her husband as long as he is alive. And that word bound means literally
bound with a chain. Kind of unusual language, isn't
it? Bound with a chain. And the word is used with regard
to binding prisoners. Now, at the same time, it's true
the man is bound by a chain to his wife under the law. He's bound as long as she or
he is alive. No matter how unpleasant they
may be, No matter how unsympathetic they may be, no matter how unloving
they may be, no matter how critical they may be, you're bound by
God's law to your husband or to your wife as long as they
are alive. In the summers when I was in
college, I would work at Armco Steel Mill every summer. And
you would afford some friendships. I made pretty good friends with
the guy. Must not have been very good friends, because I can't
remember his name. But I liked him. And we worked together.
And he was going to get married that summer. And he was excited
about it. I remember he took a week off
to go on his honeymoon. And I was happy for him. And
I remember we were working a midnight shift. when he came back, and
I can remember being in the lunchroom, and I had a chance to talk to
him. I said, tell me, is this great or what? Are you happy
to be married? He said, with shock in his face,
I married a monster. And he was distraught. I had
no idea what I was getting into. I'm very unhappy. Let's say you get married, thinking
all is well, and your husband ends up being harsh, critical,
fault-finding, unsympathetic, unmerciful, and unloving. It's not what you signed up for. But what does God's law say?
You're bound to that husband. or that wife, as long as they
are alive. You may disagree with that sentiment. Well, we've got a right to be
happy, don't we? You may think even that it's wrong, but it
doesn't change the fact this is the requirement of God's law. This is not human law. This is
God's law. And it's law whether you and
I like it or not. But if the husband dies, and
by that I don't mean you murder him, but if the husband dies, you're
free to marry a loving, sympathetic, nonjudgmental, affirming, supporting
husband. A gracious man. But notice he
says, only in the Lord. Don't miss that, only in the
Lord. You're only to marry a believer. Never an unbeliever. That's God's
instruction. only in the Lord. That is a plain command and to
not do so is an act of disobedience to a plain command. And if you
do it anyway, I hope the Lord overrules it and saves the unbelieving
spouse. But as I have observed this over
many years, it usually doesn't end up good. And it has a very negative effect
on the person who marries the unbeliever. And then Paul says,
but she's happier if she so abide after my judgment and doesn't
get married. She's happier. And I think also that I have
the spirit of God. Now, this is not just given to teach
us about marriage. It's given to teach us the gospel.
And Paul expands on this in Romans chapter seven, that passage of
scripture I just read. So would you turn back to Romans
chapter seven? I first want to read verse six.
But now we are delivered from the law that being dead. By the way, I entitled this message,
Bound, Dead and Free. Bound with chain, dead and free. But now we are delivered from
the law that being dead, our husband's dead, wherein we were
held, held captive, couldn't escape, that we should serve
in newness of spirit. and not in the oldness of the
letter. Now I know you've heard of the
thought of the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.
We're to serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness
of the letter. Now this concept is used by Paul,
look back in Romans chapter two, verse 28. For he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit and not in the letter. whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Now that person with a circumcised
heart and serves in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of
the letter, God praises this person. This is his work, that's
why he praises it. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
three for a moment. Verse six. who also hath made us able ministers
of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life. Now what is the letter of the
law? I think maybe the best way to illustrate the letter of the
law is this. You know how to spell a word,
you even know how to pronounce it, but you don't know what it means. Back many years ago when I was
on chemotherapy, it had all these hideous names to the different
drugs. And we would be with Aubrey,
and we would say, teach her how to pronounce them. And she'd
do it. She'd be all excited. She pronounced them right, but
she had no idea what they meant. That is the letter of the law. Proper pronunciation, know how
to spell it, nothing more. The letter of the law concerning
the adulterer is stone them. That's the letter of the law.
Somebody commits adultery, stone them. Put them to death. That's
all the law knows. Stone them. Well, what about
this circumstance? Stone them. Well, what if they
had a horrible husband and were driven? Stone them. Stone them. That's all the law knows. Stone them. Now, there's no understanding
of the intention of the law. You see, the law was given for
a purpose. And the letter of the law is
performance through fear of punishment and there's no love involved
with the letter. What is the intention of the
law? The spirit of the law is knowing
the intention of the law. Now, I've heard it said, and
I never felt good about it, but I couldn't deny it, but I've
heard this said many times. The law is given to us for our
good. It's for our happiness. If we
would keep the law, we would be happy, and we would be safe
if we would just keep the law. Now, I would agree with that. But is that what the Bible teaches?
You won't get anything like that from the Bible. The Bible doesn't
say keep this law so you'll be happy and you'll be healthy and
this world will be a better place if we all just kept the law and
there wouldn't be stealing, we wouldn't have to have jails,
we wouldn't have to have locks. If we all just kept the law,
we'd just be, it's for our good to make us better. Sounds good. And I can see in theory where
if everybody kept the law, this world would be a better place.
But does the Bible ever say God gave the law for that reason?
No. The one purpose of the law is
to expose sin only. It provides no ability to keep
it. All it does is expose sin. Romans chapter three, verses
19 and 20 says, for we know that what things whoever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may
be stopped. And all the world Stand guilty
before God, all the law does is expose sin and guilt without
giving power to overcome it. As a matter of fact, Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 15, 56, so go ahead and turn there, because
I want you to see this with your own eyes. Verse 56, 1 Corinthians 15, 56. The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is what? The law. The strength. of sin is the law. The law, the holy law of God
is called by Paul in Romans 8 to the law of sin and death. That's
what he calls God's holy law. The law of sin, it exposes sin
and condemns to death. That is all it does. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.8, The
law was not made for a righteous man. Now, understand this. If you need law, all you do is
expose yourself as an unrighteous, evil, wicked man. The law was
not made for a righteous man. You know, if everybody here was
righteous, and I knew it for sure, that thing back there wouldn't
be locked. Wouldn't need to. You know, if
everybody was righteous, you wouldn't need jails. You wouldn't
need prisons. You wouldn't need laws if everybody's
righteous. They're unneeded. The law is
not made for a righteous man, but for sinners, for the disobedient,
for ungodly, for murders of fathers, murders of mothers, for whoremongers,
for perjured persons. Read it in 1 Timothy 1, 8, 9
yourself. Paul expands on this in Romans
7. Turn back there if you would to Romans 7. Verse 7. What should we say then? Is the
law sin? If you say the strength of sin is the law, are you saying
the law is sin? God forbid. The problem's not
with the law, the problem's with me and you. That's all the problem. Me and you, I love God's law. I delight in the law of God.
Problem's not the law, problem is me. What should we say then, is the
law sin? God forbid, nay, I had not known sin, but by the law,
for I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt
not covet. The last. of the Ten Commandments. To desire something that doesn't
belong to you is to break God's law. Somebody
says, I don't agree with that. That's too strict. Well, it doesn't
matter whether you agree with it or not. That's what God says. And Paul
said, I thought I was a good man. He said, concerning at one
time the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless.
And then the law came in power to me. I had not known lust,
desire, concupiscence, except the law had said, thou shalt
not covet, but sin, taking occasion by the commandment, using as
a base of operation, the commandment, wrought in me all manner of evil
desire. As soon as I heard, thou shalt
not covet, covet, covet, covet, that's all I did. That's what the law does. It
stirs up that wicked heart. The strength of sin is the law. Verse 9, for I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, it came to
life, it was resurrected, and I died. And the commandment which
was ordained to life I found to be unto death for sin, taking
occasion by the commandment. There's again, using the commandment
as a base of operations. That's a military term. This
is where it worked. Sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
deceived me and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, the
commandment holy and just and good. Was then that which is
good made death unto me? God forbid, but sin that it might
appear, sin, working death in me by that which is good, the
law that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. Now, if I have any understanding
of God's law, there's one thing I'm gonna know about myself.
I am exceeding sinful. Would that be you? Exceeding, overflowing, sinful. Anyone who understands the law
knows that that's true about themselves. And somebody that
does not know that about themselves, personally, they have no understanding
of God's holy law. Now, with regard to law, do I
need laws to tell me how to treat my wife and I'll be punished
if I don't treat her that way? Well, if I do, I don't love her. If I love her, Do not need law. Did you know that the law was
never intended to be a means of salvation in the first place? Paul said in Romans chapter eight,
what the law could not do. What it could not do, because
it was weak in the flesh, the problem being my flesh. It never
could save. Turn to Galatians 3. This is
such a powerful passage of scripture. Galatians chapter 3. Verse 21. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given,
which could have given life, verily righteousness should have
been by the law. If you could be saved by the
law, you would be saved by the law, if you could. But it was
never intended for that. Verse 22, but the scriptures
have concluded all under sin. that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before
faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up under the faith,
which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster. And I want you to notice, if
you have a King James Version, And if you don't have a King
James Version, you ought to have one. It's the best version. To bring
us is an italics. It was put there by the translators,
supposedly to make it clearer. And what it does is confounds
the meaning. The law never brought anybody
to Christ. All it does is accuse and expose
and it never brought anybody to Christ. Nobody ever came to
Christ because of God's law. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
unto or until Christ. Now what's a schoolmaster? The
Greek word is a pedagogue. It was somebody that was hired
by the Greek families to watch their kid. And can you imagine
if you were growing up and you had an adult watching you all
the time? I mean, if they got out of the
line, they were given permission to beat him. They were harsh
men. That's this good, we're not a
kindly old school master, you know it? No, a guy that would
beat you. And when there is Christ, You
don't need a schoolmaster. But after the faith has come,
wherefore the law is our schoolmaster, our pedagogue until Christ that
we might be justified by faith. But after that faith has come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Now here is the spirit of the
law. Here is the intention of the law. Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness. That is the intent of the law. Now go back to Romans chapter
seven, verse one. No, you're not, brethren. For I speak to them that know
the law, hath that the law hath dominion, lordship over a man
as long as he liveth. I'll not subject myself to that
law. You can tell yourself that. But the law still has dominion
over you as long as you live. And you don't have a choice in
this thing. You were born with God's law written in your heart. Turn back to Romans chapter two,
verse 14. For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, they didn't have a copy of the Bible. They
didn't have a copy of the 10 commandments. If you would have
talked about the Ten Commandments, they would have no idea what
you're talking about. They'd never seen the scriptures. When
the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law, they still know it's wrong to murder. It's wrong to steal. It's wrong
to lie. It's wrong to commit adultery.
They still know these things without the law. It's in their
hearts. Everybody is born with the law
of God written in their hearts. Now, let me say this. We need to be taught how to live.
You already know how to live. Everybody in here, you already
know how to live. So don't give me that because
when people say that, they're looking for excuse. I wasn't
taught well enough. Yeah, you were. You know what to do. Well,
I wasn't taught well. That's an excuse. That's all
it is. For when the Gentiles which have
not the law do by nature the things contained in the law,
these having not the law as far as the written law are a law
unto themselves which show the work of the law written in their
hearts. And here's what happens as a
result. Their conscience also bearing witness in their thoughts.
The meanwhile, accusing or excusing one another. Here's the only
response to that. I'm guilty. I have an accusing
conscience. Or like Adam and Eve, I make
excuse. The woman you gave me, she's
the problem, not me. The serpent is the one that deceives
me. It's really not my fault. Making excuses. accusing conscience
or making excuses. Back to Romans 7. Verse 2. For the woman which hath and
husband is bound with a chain. That's what the word means. That
creates a pretty bleak look of marriage. Well, remember the
purpose of this is to teach us the gospel. That's the intention
of this. For the woman which hath a husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. The only thing that'll set her
free from those bonds of being married to such an unpleasant
man is for her husband to die. You know, I'm sure there's been
many marriages where when one of the spouses died, it's a treat. Get out from under this. That's
the way this woman would feel. Bound to her husband, she is
now loosed. Now look at verse three. So then
if while her husband liveth, she be married to another man,
She shall be called an adulteress. If she leaves her husband and
becomes married to another man, even if that man is kind, thoughtful,
loving, affirming, accepting, unlike her harsh, critical husband,
the law says she's an adulterer. Somebody says, I don't agree
with that. I think everybody ought to be happy if they want to be.
I don't agree with that. Well, let's say, I'll make an
easy example. Let's say you're going 80 miles
an hour in a 55-mile-an-hour zone. You broke the law. And you come before the judge
to pay the fine. And you say, I don't agree with that law.
And I don't agree with that fine. He says, well, OK, you're off
the hook. I mean, if you don't agree, I
understand. No, you're going to have to pay more. You're going
to be charged with contempt of court for that. It doesn't matter
whether you agree with it or not. This is God's law. This is what God's law says. It's only the death of that husband
that will make you free to marry the other man without it being
adultery. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law so that she's no more an adulteress,
although she'd be married to another man. Wherefore, and here's
what this is about. I wonder if anybody's thinking,
well, so-and-so shouldn't be married again. Don't think that. Just
get that out of your mind. That so-and-so was wrong. Don't think that way. Every one
of us do it, and it's wrong. Don't do it. This is about the
gospel. Wherefore, my brethren, Ye also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that you
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Your husband, the law, that exposed
every sin you have and made you appear so ugly and only condemned
you and criticized you and did nothing to help you, only expose
your fault. When Christ died, you became
dead to that law. You got a new husband. Oh, what a husband he is. He
says, thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. He sees you as his perfect wife. And that is the way he sees you
right now. You have become dead to the law. The law has been answered. You
know, when someone suffers the death penalty, you can't dig that body back
up and try to kill it again. The law has nothing more to say
to that person. You have become dead to God's
law by the body of Christ. What a husband, what a Lord,
what a provider, what a protector, what a lover, what a friend,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You become dead to the law. Now, if you need law, you don't
love Christ. It's that simple. You see, there's
no love in law, only resentment. Only fear, only mistrust, only
dread of what's going to take place. But oh, when you're married
to Christ, what a husband. Now look what he says with regard
to being married to another, even to him who's raised from
the dead. Now, always think of the Lord Jesus Christ as being
raised from the dead. That means something. He was
delivered for our offenses and he was raised again for our justification. Yes, he died, but he was raised
from the dead. And he is my altogether glorious
husband. And only through this do we bring
forth fruit unto God. You're married to another, even
to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth
fruit. unto God. You see, this is the
fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's not the fruit of your works.
It's the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Love to our husband, to his people. Joy that he's our husband. Peace that he's our husband. Longsuffering because he's my
husband. Goodness. because he's my husband. Graciousness, kindness, faith,
because he's my husband. Meekness before God because of
him who is meek and lowly in heart, my husband. Temperance,
the fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of your works, the
fruit of being married to Christ. The only way a man or a woman
brings forth fruit is because they're married to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse five, for when we were
in the flesh, before we were born again, before we had a new
nature, when all we knew was the law, when we were in the
flesh, the motions, the passions of sin, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. That's what the law does. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,
so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. All the law does is stir up the
passion of your sin in your flesh. The strength of sin is the law. All the law does is tell me this,
I'm totally depraved, totally unable. And I see that in light
of the law. Somebody doesn't see that about
themselves, they don't know what the law means. They're totally
ignorant of the law. But, verse six, now we are delivered from the
law that being dead wherein we were held. We were held bound
to that law. When Christ died, guess what?
We now serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness
of the letter. Now, what does that mean to serve
in the newness of the spirit? I serve with the new man, not
with the old man. The new man, the new creature
in Christ Jesus, That one that is born not of corruptible seed,
but by incorruptible, by the word of God that lives and abides
forever, the new man. That's that spirit. Galatians
5, 17 says the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit lusts
against the flesh. That's that spiritual man. That's
that man who rejoices in Christ Jesus and has no confidence in
the flesh. It's aware of that, painfully aware of it. We serve
him with that new man that believes him, that loves him, that never
sins, and not in the oldness of the letter. What a blessing it is to know
my husband sees me as altogether lovely. He's not critical of
me, he loves me. And he gives me the grace to
bear fruit unto him. And we serve in newness of spirit,
not according to the law, but according to the spirit of grace. What a husband Christ is to his
people. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our
husband, the great bridegroom, who provides us with the wedding
garment, fine linen, clean and in white, which is his righteousness
given to us and becoming our very own. And Lord, to think that we're
going to be called to the wedding supper of the lamb. Lord, we So look forward to that
time when we can see you without the flesh blocking our view. We thank you for your gospel.
We thank you for the revelation of your person. Now, as we face
this coming week, we ask that you give us the grace to rejoice. in having thy son as
our husband. In his name we pray. Amen.