And I'm taking as a text Romans
7 verse 4. It says in verse 4, wherefore,
my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ that you should be, and here's the key, married to another. Married to another, even to him
who is raised from the dead. that we should bring forth fruit
unto God. Now in the preceding chapter,
the Apostle Paul says in verse 14, will you look at that in
verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you. Sin shall
not have the rule over you, power over you. You're not under the
law, but under grace. Now Paul's not talking here of
the ceremonial law. You know, when the Bible mentions
the word law, you're going to have to find out what it's talking
about. Sometimes when the Bible uses
the word law, it's talking about all the word of God. All of the
word of God. That which is written in the
law and the prophets, what Joe read last night. Paul said he
believed everything written in the law and the prophets. That's
the word of God. And then sometimes the law, the
word law means the Ten Commandments. Sometimes the word law means
a ceremonial law, circumcision, the feast days, and things of
this nature. And here it's talking about the
Ten Commandments. It's talking about that moral
law of God. As John Gill says, the whole
will of God manifested to mankind. Now that law of holiness and
that law of righteousness has been revealed to men in different
ways. This law of holiness, this law
of awesome, fearful, perfect, immaculate, immutable, infinite
righteousness. That's what we're talking about.
And it's been revealed to man in different ways. First of all,
God gave it to Adam. That's right. God gave this law
to Adam. He gave him a law of universal
obedience by which Adam and his race was bound to obedience. Obedience turn to Genesis chapter
2 God gave it to Adam. In other words. God said Adam
you better mind the Lord Adam you better do what I say This
is my law This is my this is my character of holiness. This is my authority over you
mind the Lord Adam in Genesis 2, 17, but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, that's
where it starts, thou shalt not. Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not bear
false witness, thou shalt not covet. This is what God's saying,
thou shalt not eat of it. Thou shalt not eat of that which
is forbidden. Which is forbidden by whom? By
the church, by the preacher, by the priest, God Almighty,
this is God's law. God's law of holiness. This is
God's law. And he said, he said, Adam, you
eat of it, you die. The soul that sinneth against
God will die. Sin is against God. David said,
against thee I have sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
Sin is against God. And God, here's the first time
that God revealed this law of holiness and righteousness, this
immaculate, infinite, immutable law of holiness and righteousness
to man. He said, Adam, thou shalt not
do what I tell you not to do upon penalty of death. All right,
this same law. Now turn to Romans chapter 2.
This same law. You say, well, were the men from
Adam to Moses without law? Absolutely not. It's written
on their consciences. That's right, written on their
consciences. You can go through the scripture and see how there's
a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. God
has not left himself without a witness, a witness to his holiness
and character. In Romans chapter 2, verse 14,
listen to it. When the Gentiles, that's folks
who don't have the Ten Commandments, they didn't have the ceremonial
law, they didn't have the priesthood and the prophets, the Gentiles,
the pagans, the Amorites, the Amalekites, the Hittites, all
the other ites, When they, when the Gentiles which have not the
law do by nature the things contained in the law, in other words, there's
something in here that tells every man thou shalt not kill.
It's wrong to kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not lie. There's something
in here that tells every man those things are wrong. What
is that something in there? God put that something in there.
God wrote his law on man's heart and conscience. These, having
not the law, are law unto themselves. Look at the next verse, which
shows the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness in their thoughts, the meanwhile accusing
or else excusing one another. God has written his holy, awesome
law of holiness and righteousness on every man's heart. ever man's
heart. I don't care where you find a
human being, you'll find a religious man to some extent. All right,
thirdly, there's another revelation of this law. When Israel came
to Sinai, Almighty God gave them the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt
not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not cover it, honor
thy father and thy mother, remember the Sabbath day, thou shalt have
no other God before me, thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image." Now this holy law of God, and this is what
many people don't understand, this holy law of God reaches
not just to the acts of men, this is what the Pharisees thought,
that as long as you didn't take a man's life, then you kept that
commandment. But our Lord said to hate in
your heart is to be guilty of murder. So this law not only
reaches the acts of men, but it reaches the attitude. It not only demands perfect action,
but perfect attitude. The Lord said, you've heard it
said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery, and
that's the law that God gave to the people. But he said, I
say unto you to lust. To think thoughts of lust is
to be guilty already in God's sight of adultery. Covetousness,
to be discontent with what you have. You know, when I was a
kid, folks are always wanting to get around the law. And when
I was a kid, we were poor, somebody said, was too poor to paint,
Jay, and too proud to whitewash, you know. Somebody the other
day was telling me about the Depression. I know about the
Depression. I look young, but I'm not so young. And there's
another preacher that told me, he said, we're so poor that we
ate dried apples for breakfast, drank water for dinner, and swelled
up for supper, you know. And that's poor. But back in
those days, we had a way of getting around the law. And we were poor
folks. And we'd pass a big, pretty home. And I'd say, boy, I wish
I had one like that. And my mother would punch me
and say, don't covet. Don't covet. She said, say I
wish I had one like that. You know, he had his, and I had
another one, you know. Don't want his, but have one
like his, you know. I wish that was mine. No, don't
say you wish that was yours. Say you wish you had one like
it. Well, covetousness is to be discontent with what you have. So the law reaches not only man's
acts, but his attitude. It reaches not only his manners.
but his motive. Now brethren, I brought a sermon
one time on the subject why is a lot more important than what.
And why you give is a lot more important than what you give.
Why you pray is a lot more important than what you say. Why is more
important than what. And the law reaches not only
the outward man, but the inward man. It demands not only outward
obedience, but inward obedience. And this blessed awesome law
of God's holiness and righteousness, every son of Adam, every daughter
of Adam is under that law. Turn to Galatians chapter 3.
In Galatians the third chapter, reading verse 10, we're under
that law, we're under the dominion of that law, we're under the
power and the rule of that law, we're subject to that law, to
the holy law of God, to the awesome law of God, which demands perfection. Now God can demand no more than
perfection. He can be satisfied with no less.
And the scripture tells us to offend in one point of this law
is to be guilty of the whole law. Look at Galatians 3.10.
As many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.
Why? For it's written, cursed is everyone
that continueth not. That continueth not. All the
time. Every moment. Every day. Continueth
not. in all things, not in some things,
not in that which is pleasing to you or that which is easiest
for you, but in all things that are written in the book of the
law to do them. You don't get by with just believing
the law, you do the law. You don't get by with just approving
of the law, the law says do it. You don't get by with just saying,
well, I'm in agreement with the law of God. No, sir. The law
says do it. Do it. Now only one thing can
free you from the bondage of that law and from the dominion
of that law. Only one thing. And that's what
Paul tells us in Romans 7. Only one thing can free us from
the dominion and power of that law. And that is verse 1 of Romans
7. Know ye not, brethren, for I
speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
over a man, as long as he lives. There's only one thing. I'm talking
about the awesome law of God's holiness. I wish I could present
the law as I believe it ought to be presented. You that would be under the law,
Paul says, don't you hear the law? Don't you hear it? To love God with all your heart,
mind, soul, and strength. To love your neighbor as yourself.
Do you hear God's law? Do you hear that law that requires
not only actions which are pleasing in the sight of not men but God,
but attitude and motive and principle? Absolute perfection. The law
demands you be as holy as God himself and no less. The law
demands that you be as holy and submissive as Jesus Christ himself,
that you have not one taint of jealousy, not one spark of envy,
not one iota of lust, that everything in your dreams and in your waking
moment, that everything in your heart and in your soul and in
your mind and everything about your steps and the movement of
your eyes and the tuning of your ears and the words of your lips
be to the glory of God 24 hours a day. Brethren, I'll tell you,
that shake of thinking, And Paul says the only thing that can
deliver you, that can lift this dominion from off you and this
subjection which is required of you from that law is death. That's what he says. Only death
can free a person from the obligation and dominion of any law to which
he is rightfully subject. I challenge you. I challenge
you on that. The only thing In other words,
I'm required to obey the laws of the city of Ashland. When
they put me in Rose Hill Cemetery, I'm not required anymore to obey
the laws of the city of Ashland. That law has no dominion over
me, no control, no power over me at all. I'm a dead man. It
still has control over you. You're still living. And the
only thing it can deliver me from the requirements, as long
as every man that lives and walks on this earth and every woman
If you want to deal with the law of God, I tell you this,
you are required of God to obey every precept, every jot and
tittle of that law at every moment as long as you live. That's what
it requires. And you cannot be freed from
that awesome, terrible dominion and curse of the law of holiness
by any means except death. Now, you may try to alter it
as the Pharisees did, but it still stands. Do this and live. Do this and live. You may try
to perform good deeds and acts of charity to offset your wrong
acts, but it still stands. Do this and live. You can't change
it. There it is. You may claim freedom from certain
aspects of it by a new dispensation of religion, but it still stands
just like it was given. It's immovable. It starts to
do this and live. You may claim justification without
it and sanctification by it, but it still stands just like
it is. No alter in God's holy law. And
I'm saying this, Christ didn't come to make up our deficiencies
in it either. And you are tonight. You are
either totally under the law, under the dominion of the law,
under the rule and power of the law, and the requirements of
the law, or you're totally delivered from that dominion. Can't be
both. There's no way. There's no way.
Only, he said, only death. That's the only way. That's what
Paul says. Only death. Only death. Now, then he gives
us an illustration. Look at verse 2 of Romans 7.
You understand verse 1? No, you're not, brethren, and
I speak to you that know the law. You know something about
the law. I know there are a lot of folks playing around with
some of the statutes of religion and some of the so-called rules
of religion. You're supposed to do this, you're
not supposed to, and they're playing games, but I'm talking
about this awesome law of God. I'm not talking about folks that
argue about whether it's all right to drink a glass of wine
or it's all right to go to a picture show I'm talking about the awesome
law of holiness, infinite honesty, absolute purity,
just like God himself. And you'll either come up to
that standard or you'll be damned. That's the way it is. And that's
the only way it is. What the law says, it says to
every person under the law that every mouth may be stopped and
all the world become guilty. I'm talking, Paul said to you
folks that know something about the law. You know something about
the law? The holiness of God, the awesome righteousness of
God. Brother Barnard used to say the
argument between you and God is not the fact you stole a watermelon.
That's not the argument. It's that principle of rebellion
in your heart that led you out there in that man's field. You
might have stayed home, but you're still guilty before God because
you wanted that melon. Paul said the only way, and the
only way a man can be delivered from this requirement, from this
dominion, from this rule as a subject to this awful law is to die. Now he gives us an illustration.
He said the woman which hath a husband. Here's a woman that's
married. She's bound by the law to her
husband as long as he lives. She's married a man regardless
of what kind of man he is. He's her husband. And the husband
has authority. The woman's supposed to do what
the husband says. She is bound to that husband
as long as she lives. Just as long as that man lives,
she's bound to that husband. Bound to him. under his rule,
in subjection to him. She's required to do what he
says, to live where he says live, to do what he says do, to act
in the way he says that. She's under that, his dominion. But when he dies, when he dies,
he said, but if the husband's dead, she's no longer under the
law of that husband, no longer. No longer is she required to
live where he says he's dead, or to do what he says do. He's
dead. Or to act as he says act. He's dead. He's dead. Now, if while her husband lives,
while her husband lives, he says she may hate him, he says she
may deny him, she may try to run off and leave him, but she
shall be called an adulteress. She can't get out from under
that rule. He's still her husband. And she's still under his dominion.
But if he be dead, If he be dead, if her husband be dead, she's
free. She's free from the law of that husband. She's no adulteress,
though she be married to another man. You see the picture? Paul presents to us the law of
God, the awesome, holy law of God's righteousness and holiness.
And he says, you're under it. You're under it. You're born
under it. You live under it. You walk under
it. You abide under it. You're required to do what it
says inwardly and outwardly. Now, there's one way out from
under it, and that's to die. You're either under it or you're
not under it. You're either totally in subjection to it, it has dominion
over you, or you're totally out from under it. It's like a woman,
he says, has a husband. Now, she's under the dominion
of that husband. She's under his rule, under his law. She's
going to mind him and do what he says. As long as he lives. But now the day he dies, she's
free. Totally free. She puts him in
the ground and she's no longer in subjection to him. She's no
longer under his rule or control. She's free! And she's free to
marry somebody else. Now here's the key. She's free
to marry somebody else. All right, now look at verse
four. Wherefore my brethren, you. You. Now he's talking about
the brethren. He's not talking about all mankind.
He's talking about the brethren. He's not talking about every
son of Adam. He's talking about believers. My brethren, believers
who were chosen in Christ by God's grace and God's mercy and
by the love of the Father, chosen in Christ Jesus. God determined
to make you His people, to save you by His grace. You were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. My brethren, represented
by the Lord Jesus Christ as your surety, as your federal head,
Bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh came to this earth
and met the law and obeyed it, honored the law. God doesn't
redeem sinners at the expense of his law. His law is going
to be honored. It has been honored. Christ fulfilled every jot and
tittle. Christ honored the law of God
in the flesh as a man, as my representative. Went to the cross
of Calvary and through his sacrificial death enabled God to be just
and justified. My brethren, call to repentance,
genuine repentance, genuine godly sorrow, not earthly sorrow that
worketh death, but genuine godly sorrow that bringeth repentance.
Call to repentance, call to faith by His Holy Spirit. Join in an
eternal, vital, living union with the Lord Jesus Christ, who's
divine and we're the branches, who's the head and we're the
body. One with Christ, crucified with Him, buried with Him, risen,
ascended, seated on the right hand of God. In Christ, my brethren,
that's who he's talking about. Not church members, my brethren. Read on. You also, like this
woman whose husband is dead, are become dead to the law. Now
we're still talking about the law. What law are we talking
about? We're talking about God's immaculate, infinite, immutable,
holy, righteous law, the holiness of God, which is required of
us, which had dominion over us. We are free from the curse of
that law, we're free from the condemnation of that law, we're
free, we're dead to the law by the body of Christ, by His death,
by Christ's death. I'm dead. I died in Christ. I
was buried and rose again in Christ. And I'm dead to the dominion
of that law. I'm dead to the absolute, holy,
perfect requirements of that law as a covenant of life. I'm dead. And I'm dead to the
threats of that law. The Apostle Paul says, who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? The law one day
could lay some things to your charge, but it can't now because
it's been fulfilled. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Satan could have laid some things
to your charge. Your conscience could have laid
some things to your charge. God could have laid some things
to your charge, but not now, because in Christ you have an
absolute, perfect, total righteousness measured by the holy law of God. I have not only acts, but attitude
of holiness in Christ. I have not only manners, but
motives of holiness in Christ. I have not only an outward, but
an inward perfection in Christ. And I'm dead to the threats and
the curses of that law. And I'm dead to its charges and
condemnation. Who is He that condemned me?"
The Apostle Paul said, as he faced heaven, earth, and hell,
he says, who can condemn me? You say, that's an awful proud
man. No. No. That's a man to whom God's revealed
His grace. That's a knowledgeable man. For
in Christ, even God can find no fault with me. In Christ,
you can find no fault with me. In Christ, the devil can find
no fault with me. In Christ, the law can find no
fault with me. Our Lord Jesus Christ had brought
Him a woman found in adultery, and He knelt down beside her,
and He wrote some things on the sand. And then He got up and
said something. He knelt down and wrote again.
And as He wrote, the people who had accused her began to melt
away, and finally there was nobody left but the woman and her Lord.
And He looked up and said, Woman, where are your accusers? Doth
no man accuse you? She said, No man, Lord. And I'll
tell you this, if you're ever brought to union with Christ,
If you ever made one with Him, there's nobody left but you and
your Lord. Every accuser, you can rise up and say, where are
my accusers? Boy, they melt away at His presence.
They melt away at His blessed obedience. They melt away at
His blessed righteousness. Freed from the law, oh, happy
condition. Jesus has died and there is remission,
cursed by the law and slain by the fall. Christ has redeemed
us once for all. And I fear not the curse or the
condemnation or the threats of this law, and I fear not its
dominion. I am not under that law. Now
are we free! There's no condemnation. Christ
provides a perfect salvation. Come unto me and hear His sweet
call. and he saves us once and for
all. Martin Luther said this, we are as completely and blamelessly
free from the covenant of the law as if we'd never been under
it. The woman who is married again
is as free from her dead husband's dominion as if he had never lived. And when Luther discovered this,
Luther had been in bondage all his life. to a religion of works. When he found it out, it gave
him such relief, he considered himself, he said, at the very
gates of paradise. Free! Free. He said, my sins are mine no
more. They're laid on Christ and His
righteousness is laid on me. You see that, brethren? Dead
to the law. Now, I don't care what any man
says. You're not partially under the law. You're either totally,
absolutely under the dominion of God's requirement for perfect
holiness, or you're not under it at all. Now that's so. Now here's the key to it. Here's
the key to it. He says, my brethren, you become
dead to the law by the body of Christ, by the death of Christ,
by the sacrifice of Christ. That you should be, now here's
the key, and here's where most folks miss it. This is, if I
stop my message right there and say, well, you're an antinomian.
You don't believe in authority. Oh, is the believer under no
authority? Yes, he is. He's under new authority. He's
under new management. That woman, wait a minute, now
the woman whose husband's dead, she marries another. Because
she's not under dominion to this man any longer, does that mean
she's not under dominion? She's under dominion of her new
husband. She's under his authority. She's
under his rule. She's under his yoke. She minds
him. And Charlie, that's what the
believer is. He's married to another. He's not without a husband. He's not without authority. He's
not without a yoke. He's not without a rule. That's foolishness. And nobody
in his right mind believes that. That's the believers without
a thought. Christ said, take my yoke upon you. Because I say
I'm not under the law, does that mean I'm not under anything?
I'm under grace. And Christ is grace. Does that
mean that the law, the Ten Commandments is not my rule of life, that
I have no rule? Christ is my rule. I'm married
to another. married to another. And I like
this next line. I don't always like these italics,
but I'm going to use this one. You know, I like what that black
preacher said. He said, now you want to watch
them italics, that's for emphasis. And he said, we're married. We're
dead to the law that we should be married to another, even to
him. Oh, I like that. Now you go on
in your unhappy marriage to the law, but I'm married even to
him. You talk about being outmarried.
That's one of Jay's favorite expressions. He sees some man
with a wife that's real talented and beautiful. He said, boy,
he outmarried himself, didn't he? We sure outmarried ourselves,
didn't we? We traded in that old bum for the Lord of Glory,
the Rose of Sharon, the Fast of Ten Thousand. We're married
to another, even to Him who loved me forever. I don't doubt His
love. He loved me forever. Even to
Him who was my surety from the foundation of the world. He called
my name before I was born. I was a spouse to Him before
I was ever heard of. Even to Him who wasn't satisfied
to love me in eternity, but he loved me in my sins, and loved
me in my enmity, and loved me in my foolishness, and came down
here at the auction block of hell when I was being auctioned
off by the devil, and he bought me with the silver of his sweat
and the gold of his blood. He died for me. Even to Him who
took my hell and my judgment and the wrath of God. Even to
Him who will never die. This is an eternal marriage.
Even to Him who lives forever. That perfect one. Oh boy, here's a woman that's
married to a man. Never happy. That's the way we
were under the law. Never happy. Boy, I'll tell you,
that's an unhappy existence. All that husband the law ever
did was agitate. Oh, what an agitator he is. All
he ever did was frustrate and grieve me and browbeat me. He
demanded what I couldn't produce. And he couldn't do else? He couldn't
do anything else, Jay? That's the nature of the law.
It demands perfection. How do you women like to live
with a perfectionist? Come here. There's a spot of
dust. Puts on his white gloves, you
know, and goes under all the furniture this way. Spot of dust! Get it off! Ought not have been
there. How'd you like that? That's the
law. Boy, that was an unhappy marriage. He expected what we didn't have. He demanded what we couldn't
produce. His requirements depressed us, made us heart sick, made
us feel always guilty, guilty, guilty. Here he comes. Everybody run. Never knew any
peace. Never knew any happiness. Never
knew any love. That's a miserable existence.
But there ain't no way out. Except one way. Ask him to die. But I'll tell you when he died,
it was a happy day. Oh, happy day. Happy day. Free from the law. I'll tell
you this. I'll tell you the reason some
folks are wanting back under it, they don't understand it. They
just don't, they've never read it. Paul said, I didn't know
what sin was. I didn't know what the law was.
But boy, when God revealed it to me, I died. That new husband
though, we're dead to the law. He's dead and buried and Christ
is our new husband. And that relationship with him
is a relationship of love. He understands me because he
lived in my flesh. He understands my trials and
my temptation. The law can't understand me.
But Christ understands me. Christ lived in my flesh. He walked this earth. He knew
every trial and temptation that I'll ever know except without
sin. And that new husband, oh, what
a joy to sit at his feet. What a joy to feel his compassion
and his rest and his peace and his affection and his love. It's
a new relationship. You see, that first marriage
was a forced marriage. I had to be married to him. But
this second marriage is a marriage of choice. That's right. God enabled me to choose him,
but I chose him. I chose him. I heard the voice
of Jesus say, come to me and rest. Lay down, you weary one. Lay down, you grieved one. Lay
down, you agitated one. Lay down, you frustrated one.
Lay down, your head, your weary head on my breast." I came to
him. I was weary and unhappy and I
was worn and I was sad. My whole life had been so miserable
and rotten. And I found in him a resting
place and he's made me glad. My friends, that's the difference.
I'm telling you the difference. Don't come at me with that law.
I was married to that law one time. I know what it's like to
be married to it. It demanded what I never could
produce, and I don't want to be married to him again. Don't
go dig him up. Let him rest in peace. Don't
bring it over here. I'm married to a new husband,
and his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. And his affection
is all I need. And you know something? I used
to try to obey that law because I had to. But I find delight
in obeying this new husband. That's the difference. He requires
holiness, righteousness, purity. But I find a delight to obey
him. You know, back when that old
husband had come in, you had to have supper ready. on a clean
tablecloth, and everything just right. The knife was on the wrong
side. He picks it up and slams it down, you know. But that new husband comes, you're
looking for him. And preparing supper for him
is such a joy, because you love him. I'm telling you, married
to another, that's the key. And that old tyrant's dead and
buried. Now, let me ask you something. Suppose there's a woman here
married to such a man. She's married to one of these
One of these raving devils. One of these perfectionists.
One of these everything's wrong. One of these agitators. And he
dies, and she buries him. She meets the most wonderful
man in the world. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
most wonderful. His name should be called Wonderful
Counselor of the Mighty God. She's married to him. Now you
reckon when the Lord and her go to that home together, she's
going to keep that old buzzard's pictures all over the wall? Huh? You reckon she will? I don't
hardly think so. I bet she's got that place cleaned
out. I bet his clothes aren't in the closet. I bet they're
not. I bet she don't operate on his
budget anymore either. Ten percent. Huh? Well, the new husband says, honey,
I'm going to get some fishing gear. You can't have but ten
percent. Oh, you see what I'm talking
about? You don't reckon she goes out to the mausoleum and pulls
his drawer out once in a while and looks him over, do you? That's
what preachers are doing to me. I'm married to a new husband.
They keep wanting to dig up that old one. And they keep wanting
to put me back under his rule. I don't know why. I don't know
why I saved my life. I don't know why they keep talking
about me living with Christ and loving Christ and walking with
Christ and my rule of life being a dead husband. That was always
a pain to me. I don't know, child. Can you
explain that? I don't know. I'm so happy with Christ. I'm
so happy with Christ. And you know what Paul said to
that bunch of Galatians? He said Abraham had to make a
decision. There was two women in his household
and two sons. And one of those women represented
Mount Sinai and one of them represented Calvary. And one of those sons
represented man's righteousness, and the other represented God's
righteousness. And God says, all right, Abraham, they can't
live together. Now you cast out that bondwoman
and her son. Cast them out. You know that's
pretty difficult. Because Abraham had been associated with that
bondwoman a long time, and that son meant an awful lot to him.
But the son of promise cannot live in the house with the son
of bondage. And you can't have two husbands.
That's the reason I say you're either totally, Jay, under the
law of God or you're under Christ. And you're not going to be keeping
the pictures of that old husband around as a reminder. You're
not going to keep his clothes and his special days and his
special deeds, and you're not going to go by his budget. You're
not going to go out and dig him up every once in a while. You
can't be married to Christ. I tell you, men who are married
to Christ don't want to be married to anybody else. They've found
in Him all they need. They found in him all the motivation.
Paul says, the love motivates me. No, it's the Christ motivates
me. The love of Christ constrains me. Well, people need a rule
for practical godliness. I don't know any better rule
than the rule of Christ. Do you know a better rule? That
Ten Commandments didn't do anything for Israel. Did it? David Brainerd, he said, I believe
it was Brainerd or Max Shane or one of those old fellas said
they preached the law until there wasn't a righteous man in the
community. Not a woman. And then they began
to preach Christ. And some folks came to walk in
holiness. That's right. And go on, let's
read one more thing and I'll quit. For when, verse 5, you're
married to, don't forget, this is the key to this message. You're
dead to the law. You buried that old husband.
But brethren, you're married to another. That's the key. Under
his reoke, under his rule, under his authority. That, verse 5,
he says, for when we were in the flesh, when we were married
under the law, the motions of sin which were by the law did
work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. It's
a miserable existence. Well, what does the law do? Agitates.
Reveals sin. Shows our shortcomings. Makes
us miserable. So miserable. But now, we're
delivered. Read on verse 6. We're delivered!
Delivered from the law that being dead, wherein we were held in
bondage, we should serve in newness of spirit. The fruit of the spirit. That's not fruits, that's fruit.
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, meekness, kindness, gentleness,
patience, humility, That's the fruit of the Spirit. And we love
Christ, not we walk in the fruit of the Spirit, not because we
have to, because we want to. There's a difference. Bring forth
the fruit of the Spirit. Now, here's what we need to do,
and I'll close with this remark. I'll close with this remark.
You can't be married to me. So we're going to have to have,
I'm going to have to have two things. I believe it's happened here,
and I hope it's happened to many of you. We're going to have to
have a funeral and a wedding, a funeral and a wedding. We're
going to have to bury that old law, that old rule, that old
dominion, that old power, that old rule, that old authority.
We're going to have to bury that self-righteousness, that human
merit, and be married to Christ, embrace Him, love Him. He'll meet your every need. He's
all you need. Married to another. I wish I
could, you know, I wish I could tell you how happily
a person can live married to Christ. But that's something
I had not seen and e'er had not heard, neither hath it entered
the heart of man, the things God's prepared for them that
love Him. I can't explain. I do know, and some of you know,
how miserable is religion without Christ. How morbid and terrible
it is. It's like living with somebody
you don't love. You don't love. I hope the Lord will bless this
message to you all, but please remember this, when you're talking
about it or quote it or And I wish you'd study a little bit on the
things I've said, and don't be too quick to censure it, but
the key is this, dead to the law but married to another.