Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, let's turn to Matthew, chapter 19, if you would.
[00:00:06] I want to say from the start we've been going through this doctrine, the the scriptural teaching on marriage, divorce and remarriage, which is not so much about marriage as it is divorce and remarriage.
[00:00:21] And there's a you know, there's a reason for that. I know this is probably not necessarily the most practical thing that we could go through, but it is important that we establish and we understand what the Scripture says about marriage.
[00:00:39] But as I do that, I think it's good to acknowledge that to many this can be kind of a sensitive subject because of the stigma that goes along with so much about marriage or divorce and a stigma about marriage, I don't know, but a stigma with divorce and remarriage. So I just want to let you know that I'm trying to be sensitive to that fact and knowing that sometimes those things can be even many years removed from the events can still be very painful. And so I am trying to be sensitive to that. I also want to say from the start that for this particular message, being totally transparent with you, there's a small part of this message that I don't feel like I have my head completely around. And in other words, I think I know what the Bible's teaching and I'm going to share that with you. But I can't quite button it up tightly and make it airtight like I want with so many things.
[00:01:57] Miss Sherry brought me well, no, she brought the kids nerds and she pointed at me.
[00:02:05] She was thinking of me when she brought it. And as a nerd thank you, thank you.
[00:02:10] She sits back there on Sunday and goes to sleep because I nerd out up here. But I'm just joking.
[00:02:18] But as a nerd, I always like the things I teach to just be buttoned up quite perfectly. But this is one subject that there are various aspects of it that you just can't quite do that with the Bible, with practical things, you might be able to get good answers and stuff, but the Lord has not chosen to give us all the answers. I am glad, however, though, that he did give us the ideal.
[00:02:44] He did give us the ideal. And so we can always kind of look back to that to see what his intention was from the beginning. So let's look at Matthew, chapter 19, verse one.
[00:02:58] We're going to read down through verse number nine.
[00:03:01] The Bible says, and it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee and came into the coast of Judea and beyond Jordan, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there.
[00:03:15] And the Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? This question is not too much different than a question that you might get in 2023. Maybe it's worded differently, maybe the reasons are different, but this is a question that you might hear. And he answered and said unto them, have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female? And said, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife? And they twain shall be one flesh wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, emphasis on God hath joined together. Let not man put asunder they say unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away? He saith unto them, moses, because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for, fornication and shall marry another committeth adultery. And whoso Mareth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
[00:04:36] All right, let's pray together.
[00:04:38] Father in heaven, thank you for Your people that are here. Thank you for those listening, thank you for the attention to Your word. And as we look at these things tonight, Lord, we just ask that you'd help us, guide us not only in what we say, but the way we hear. Lord, help us have the right tone, the right attitude as we discuss these things.
[00:04:59] And Lord, I pray that you would give wisdom and understanding and comfort to Your people and help me to say the things, the very things that you want me to say that you know, that your people need to hear. In Jesus name, amen. Now hold your place here and go back to the book of Mark chapter. Go forward rather to the book of Mark, chapter ten. We're going to look at Luke, chapter 16 as well, mark ten, verse eleven.
[00:05:42] Now we're going to read verse eleven, but this is essentially the same context. If you look at verse number two, the Pharisees ask him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife, tempting him? So the fact that the Bible says they were tempting him shows us that their motives are not pure, they're not curious. All right, so in this version in Mark, he saith unto them, verse eleven, whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another committeth adultery against her. All right, look at Luke 16 if you would.
[00:06:29] Luke, chapter 16, verse number 18, jesus says, whosoever putth away his wife and marieth another committeth adultery.
[00:06:45] And whosoever marieth her that is, put away from her husband committeth adultery.
[00:06:51] Now, don't you love the fact that the Lord just doesn't mince words?
[00:06:55] He just says it, he doesn't HYM haw. He just states it. Okay?
[00:07:03] And that's especially important with this particular subject.
[00:07:07] Now, what did you notice different between what we read in Mark and Luke versus what we read in Matthew. The difference is in the exception. All right? Matthew contains, in verse number nine, contains an exception that is not found in Mark and in Luke, all right? Anytime you come across something in the Gospel where the different accounts of the same thing have a place where they don't seem to agree, what you have to do is blend them. In other words, you don't take one over the other. You put them together because they're all true. They're all true. So in this case, all three of these are true. So in other words, the exception is valid. Just because it's not found in Mark and Luke doesn't mean the exception is not valid. It's still valid. Okay, but let's look at the motives of these men, all right? Verse three says the Pharisees, we're back in Matthew. Now, the Pharisees I'll give you a time to get back to Matthew. I apologize.
[00:08:08] Chapter 19, verse three says, the Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? Now, there is nowhere in the Bible that says that it's okay to get a divorce for any reason.
[00:08:27] There is nowhere in the Bible that's going to agree with that concept that divorce is just something you can just willy nilly any reason you come up with. But that's what's happening in our day, is it not? People are getting divorced. The rates are crazy. I looked it up. I don't have them in front of it, the rates in front of me, but it's something like 40% of all marriages are not the first marriage of one of the partners. It's something like that.
[00:08:55] And that's remarriage. That's not even talking about divorce, okay?
[00:09:01] So that's a common thing in our day. But this is exactly what's happening here. These pharisees are tempting him, and their question reveals something about them. Here's what their question reveals, and they're going to press this issue. Their question reveals that they wanted an easy out from marriage. They were looking for a way they were looking for an excuse to get married. And if any old reason, any old pretext or excuse that they could come up with to get a divorce, they'd run right to the magistrate or whoever was in charge in that day, and they would get that divorce so that they could move on to the next woman.
[00:09:44] That's the bottom line, okay? That's what's happening here. Because really, it's not really about divorce. Even when we get to verse nine, it's not really about divorce. And I'll show that to you in just a minute. What are they really getting to? They're getting to remarriage. So the pharisees wanted to make it easy and convenient to divorce their wife, not for the sake, because they could not stand to be around her. No, because there was somebody else they wanted to pursue that's the bottom line. And the Lord keys right in on it. Notice in verse number three and verse number seven, the Pharisees who are asking the question ask nothing about remarriage. They only ask about divorce. But Jesus, knowing their motives nails the core of the matter. It wasn't about divorce. It's not like they had quibbles about when they got divorced. They had qualms about this circumstance versus no. It was about they wanted to move on from their wife and go marry somebody else. It was about lust. It was about adultery. That's what this passage is about. This passage is really about adultery.
[00:10:54] They don't mention it, but the Lord doesn't fail to mention it because that's the core of it. So we keep reading. We've already studied verse four and verse five.
[00:11:06] But remember, I'll just call to your mind two things in a marriage, the Lord does the joining, number one. And I'll remind you that in a marriage, number two, that bond or that union is a union of the flesh. Okay? That's an important point to make. Remember, Adam and Eve were literally from one flesh. But that was applied to all marriages. Remember, we studied that in Genesis, chapter two. That was applied to all marriages such that all marriages are in the sight of God, the union of those two people's bodies, their flesh. Okay? That is a scriptural principle we have to establish or we can't get any further in Matthew 19, all right? So the Lord says, let not man put asunder. Verse seven. In response to that, the Lord now, Paul's, a second. So what is the Lord saying? Their question is, can a man put away his wife for any cause? If we use modern vernacular, we would say, can I get divorced for any reason?
[00:12:11] Right.
[00:12:12] Jesus answered, don't you remember the first marriage, Adam? Eve got married and God joined them together and they became one flesh. Therefore, this is what the Lord's answer is. Therefore, what God hath joined together, let not man put us under. In other words, this is for life.
[00:12:35] The answer is no.
[00:12:38] So the answer to their question is plainly no. You can't get divorced for any reason.
[00:12:43] Okay? We already established that in our previous studies. Okay? In response to that, unfortunate, in their view, response of the Lord, what the Lord is saying here, based upon the Scripture, verse seven, they say unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away? Now, it's funny that they use this word command.
[00:13:06] It's funny they use this word command as if Moses was ordering the people to get divorced.
[00:13:13] You see, their verbiage tells us that they're looking for a reason to get divorced. They're looking for a reason to get divorced. Now, while we're here, well, let's keep going then. We'll turn back to Deuteronomy 24 in just a minute, verse number eight.
[00:13:34] All right, just to establish in Deuteronomy 24, the Lord does give permission in the law for people to get a divorce, and it also gives permission for remarriage. In Deuteronomy, chapter 24. In fact, it's not too terribly different than what Jesus says right here.
[00:13:51] It says in verse eight, he saith unto them, moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so. So here's what you have here.
[00:14:05] The law of God allowed for divorce, okay? The law of God allowed for divorce, but that was not God's original intention, and that was not God's perfect will. So in the law, even though it was the law of God, there are aspects of the law of God that are not God's perfect will that God allows.
[00:14:26] Think about that.
[00:14:29] Do you know what the Lord's doing here?
[00:14:32] Basically, this was God's original plan. One man, one woman, one life.
[00:14:39] The law came along, and because these people were wicked and they wanted to divorce their wives and they couldn't stay faithful to their wives and they wanted an out, god provided something in his permissive will that is that which he tolerates and allows for them to do. And then you come back to Jesus. You come to Jesus and Jesus says, I know about that, but I'm telling you, this is the way it's supposed to be.
[00:15:09] He reset the standard.
[00:15:11] He reset the standard.
[00:15:16] Okay? So then we get to verse number nine. This is the real crux of the question.
[00:15:22] And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for, fornication and shall marry another committeth adultery. And whoso marieth her, which is put away, doth commit adultery. Okay? Now, we read in Mark and Luke that it was essentially the same principle, but without the exception. Now, why would Jesus say that without the exception? Why would it be in the Bible without the exception? Okay, here's why here's the question.
[00:15:54] Can we get divorced for any reason? Jesus says no.
[00:15:59] Okay? So they say, well, what about what Moses said? He said, command to give her writing a divorcement and put her away, send her out.
[00:16:10] Jesus says, if you do that and you marry somebody else, you're committing adultery.
[00:16:19] And the lady that you sent out of your house, you're causing her to commit adultery, too. You know what? That when you read the text without the exception, it's very strict.
[00:16:31] You know what the Lord is essentially saying?
[00:16:34] There is no here's what he's saying. Now, if you read it without the exception, there is no grounds for divorce and remarriage. That's what Jesus is saying.
[00:16:49] Because they were think about again, think about what they were asking. Is it okay for us to get divorced for any reason? No. What about Moses? Jesus says, if you divorce and remarry, you're committing adultery. Now, what does that teach us?
[00:17:05] Number one, we know what adultery is in verse number nine. We know what adultery is. Adultery is we see the word fornication here as well. But adultery is the violation of the intimate relationship within marriage. It's when, of course, and I know you all know this, I'm not trying to speak condescendingly.
[00:17:26] A man who is married or a woman who is married who has an intimate relationship outside of that marriage, okay, that's adultery. So by the Lord saying, notice what it says and shall marry another. So in the sight of man, a divorce is granted. The person gets a decree of divorce, and they go marry somebody else in the sight of man, they go through the process, and then they get the marriage certificate or whatever it is for that particular culture. They get married. So that's what it says. Marieth another, okay? The Lord says that relationship is actually adultery. That means that intimate relationship is a violation of the original intimate relationship because in the sight of God, they are one flesh, no matter what man has said, okay? That's why the term adultery is.
[00:18:25] So I'm just stating what Jesus says, and I have a lot more to say after this. Well, not a whole lot. Just bear with me.
[00:18:33] So if a person listen, I think it's important for us to state it clearly, okay?
[00:18:42] If a man and a woman get married, they're incompatible.
[00:18:47] They get divorced and they get remarried. God says that is adultery.
[00:18:53] That is the same as running around on your spouse.
[00:18:57] That's what the Bible says. That's what Jesus said. Now, in this text, however, there is an exception, right, the word fornication. Whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for, fornication and shall marry another, committeth adultery. Now, fornication, here's the way I'll define it. Fornication is different than adultery, okay? Adultery deals with married people who have a relationship outside of their marriage. Fornication is a broader term. Fornication includes all kind of promiscuous activity that is illicit outside of the bonds of proper marriage, right? So everything you see with sodomy all this bisexual, all this stuff, I got to be careful because I'm going to have aguilar children bringing stuff up and putting words in my mouth like they did last week.
[00:19:59] But all of these things falls under fornication. Falls under fornication. But adultery also does as well. In one corinthians chapter six, corinthians, chapter I'm sorry, chapter five, there was a problem in that church, right, where a man was carrying on a relationship with his father's wife.
[00:20:24] It's just ungodly. And that man Paul said that man, those people needed to be excommunicated, that is, put out of the church for that if they did not repent, all right?
[00:20:35] But that relationship, even though it was adultery, was referred to as fornication.
[00:20:40] Okay? So in verse nine, what is the exception saying? Remember, verse nine is about adultery.
[00:20:50] Verse nine is about adultery. Jesus saying jesus says when you don't do this thing right? And you get divorced. You get remarried. You divorce and remarried and get divorced and remarried. You are committing adultery against your spouse because what God hath joined together is together.
[00:21:07] But there is one exception, and that is fornication.
[00:21:14] Now, this is the part where I don't feel like I have it completely buttoned up.
[00:21:25] There's basically two or three views on this. Some people say that it says fornication because this is referring to two people that get married. They think both of them are pure. They get married and then one of them realizes, or even in a Jewish society, it would be a betrothal. One of them comes to find out that one of the two has not been pure and so they can get out of the marriage.
[00:21:54] Kind of like Mary and Joseph. What happened with Joseph could divorce Mary. And that would be something that would be specific to this particular culture that wouldn't be so relevant to us because we don't have that kind of setup. That's number one. Number two.
[00:22:09] Number two, there are people that believe that the word fornication the exception is just giving a person the liberty to divorce their spouse, but it does not give them liberty to remarry after that divorce. Okay? That's number two. Number three is the one that says that when one of the spouses is unfaithful, then the person is free not only to divorce, but also to remarry.
[00:22:46] Okay, now, here's the thing for those three points.
[00:22:53] I can understand and acknowledge the value in all three of those.
[00:23:01] In other words, I can understand why someone would argue any of the three. Thing is, when you argue this when you look at this, you can't have a dog in the fight. You have to look at it as objective. And in all three cases, I think there's valid points.
[00:23:17] But the one I think is most biblical and if someone disagrees, like I said, I can't quite button it up completely and chase down every verse like I wish I could. But what I think the one that this verse is referring to is the third example that the exception means that a person can not only be at liberty to divorce but also to remarry only under the case of that exception. Okay? Now, here's why I say that. You remember when we talked about we were in Genesis, chapter two. We were talking about verse number six. Here what therefore God hath joined together. Let him understand you remember I said there's two things God does the joining. Number two is number one. Number two is that because God does the joining and that only God's law can divide. It only what God says God does adjoining. And God's law is what determines when that is dissolved. And one of those ways it's dissolved is obviously death, physical death of one of the spouses. Okay, we won't look at those verses, but we could very easily in romans.
[00:24:30] But one of the reasons I think this exception applies also to remarriage is because when a person commits adultery again, no, let me go back. When a person gets married and then divorced and then gets remarried and they enter into an intimate relationship with a new person, that intimate relationship originally is the thing that they said the Scripture says is one flesh that has been disturbed. Now, you see, that's why it's important for us to understand it's one flesh.
[00:25:07] So again, I tried to say this last time, but remember, this thing about marriage is not about we like vows. Vows are good, but it's not about the vows. It's about Almighty God joining two people, all right? And that I'm trying to be discreet here, so bear with me. And that is consummated in the intimate union, okay?
[00:25:35] You bring a third party into it.
[00:25:38] Now you have that same act being performed with a different person.
[00:25:46] That's the reason I believe that the exception goes all the way through to the remarriage. There's another reason in verse number nine. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for, fornication and shall marry another committh adultery. And whosoever marieth her, which is put away, doth commit adultery. So if you do it like this, if you understand it like this, what the Lord is talking about is actually adultery, okay?
[00:26:12] Divorce plus remarriage equals adultery. Okay?
[00:26:18] Divorce plus remarriage under the exception does not equal adultery. Does that make sense? So adultery is the question.
[00:26:29] But I'll hasten to say this.
[00:26:33] That's what I think it's teaching, even though I think that's what the Bible's saying. I have to be honest that I'm not really that comfortable with it, to be honest with you.
[00:26:48] It doesn't really scratch the itch that I like to have.
[00:26:57] This verse doesn't say that if you have a case of adultery that the other partner is required to get a divorce or remarry, but it does provide an exception. Now, hold your place here and let's look at very quickly, look at Deuteronomy, chapter number 24, verse one. Now, this is the whole context of the Scripture that they were asking Jesus about. Chapter 24, verse one says this when a man hath taken a wife and married her and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, you see why they could fit almost anything in there. I just don't really like her, right?
[00:27:51] I just don't really like her. I'm tired of her.
[00:27:54] But the Lord explains that in the next phrase because he hath found some uncleanness in her. Uncleanness is a scriptural term to describe sexual sin. Okay?
[00:28:09] So really, the exception is here, too. Okay, the exception is here, too. You couldn't just according to the law, strictly according to the law, even a Jew under the law, was not permitted to just divorce his wife for any reason, all right?
[00:28:26] Because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
[00:28:45] Verse three. And if the latter husband hate her and write her a bill of divorcement, notice the exception is not there. Now see, here's the problem. Here's the reality, and I'm just being practical here. Person get divorced and then remarried many, many times. Statistically remarriages. Repeat the first one's hard, the second one's easier, third one's easier, fourth one's easier. And that's just the way it works, statistically speaking.
[00:29:20] But it says verse three, write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand and sendeth her out of his house. Or if the latter husband die which took her to be his wife. Listen to this. Verse four her former husband, that's the first one which sent her away may not take her again to be his wife. After that she is defiled for that is abomination before the Lord and thou shalt not cause the land to sin which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. Now, I've been asked this question, so I feel like I need to address it. You remember we talked about if a divorce happens? In one Corinthians, chapter seven, we read that and it says if she depart from her husband. Now, prior to that verse that we studied, it says let not the wife depart from her husband. Of course, we know it goes both ways. Let not the wife depart from husband. In that verse, God strictly forbids divorce. He says, don't do it.
[00:30:19] Okay. And then the next verse says but and if she depart, which is to say sometimes people don't listen.
[00:30:26] Okay. Then it gives us two choices but in if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. Everybody remember that.
[00:30:37] But according to what we just read in Deuteronomy, once that remarriage has happened, there is no reconciliation.
[00:30:48] God calls that an abomination. Go from husband one to husband two back to husband one.
[00:30:54] And there are some independent Baptist preachers that have advocated that very thing. Right, I've heard it.
[00:31:01] But that is obviously that is listen, I know this is a little bit confusing, but as I said at the very beginning, this is what sin does. It creates circumstances that are impossible to untangle. There's no way to know what to do.
[00:31:19] People have been married three or four times. I mean, husband one has been married three or four times.
[00:31:27] What are you to do?
[00:31:30] Well, I think one thing you got to do, one thing we all have to do is we have to first of all acknowledge the ideal.
[00:31:40] And no matter if we have been through that, we should hold up the ideal for everybody behind us because that is what God wants and that any person going into a marriage or any person already in a marriage listen now needs to take it seriously. It's not about the vows. It's about God.
[00:32:03] It's about being faithful.
[00:32:06] It's about being true.
[00:32:08] It's about understanding that God malachi says God does hate divorce and he provides almost no reason to do it, and that includes remarriage. I mean, I understand that what I've said is very strict, but I don't think I've been any more strict than the text of Scripture, the Bible without just cause, the Bible does say divorce is a sin and without just cause, the Bible does say remarriage is adultery. It does say that the Lord only gives two reasons that a person may get divorced and remarried. Two, death and adultery.
[00:32:55] That's it.
[00:32:59] All of these other reasons that the world puts forth as just causes are not just causes in God's sight. You say, man, brother, that's strict.
[00:33:14] This is the words of Christ. Okay? That's what we're looking at. That's all that matters. Now, to close, I want to address something.
[00:33:28] What about those who find themselves already in this place, either divorced or remarried?
[00:33:40] I've heard preachers say that if you've been remarried you're living in a perpetual state of divorce.
[00:33:47] I'm sorry, a perpetual state of adultery. Like every day you live is adultery. Every day you live is adultery. That's not accurate. If that were the case, you would be saved because that describes a lost person.
[00:34:04] It is true that remarriage without just cause according to the Scripture, is adultery. The act is adultery. But look at One Corinthians, chapter seven, and I hope, hope to give you some answers on this.
[00:34:24] We're almost finished.
[00:34:29] I guess what we need to take away from this before I get to this is we need to take away that God takes marriage very seriously and God takes divorce very seriously and he doesn't grant exceptions and difficulties and problems. Every marriage has them to some degree or another. And I know there are serious issues. Again, I can't cover every single case of this and that I couldn't possibly cover every case. But there's only two reasons that it's justified.
[00:35:06] But there are people that find themselves in this case. My own mother's one of them. What do I tell my mother?
[00:35:15] Divorced, remarried several times, now divorced, not married.
[00:35:22] Many of you know people like that. Or some of you might be people like that.
[00:35:30] Here's what the Lord says about that.
[00:35:34] In chapter seven of One Corinthians he is talking about that's. Where? What? I just quoted Verse ten. Unto them married I command, yet not I, but the Lord. Let not the wife depart from her husband. Verse eleven. But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. Then in verse twelve he talks about those that have unbelieving spouses.
[00:35:55] Verse 16 for what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband or. How knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? And then right here, in the context of divorce and remarriage and different, can I say, statuses of life, marital statuses, lost person, saved person, mixed marriages like that, blended families and multiple marriages and all that. In the midst of that discussion, here's what the Lord says.
[00:36:29] But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk.
[00:36:37] And so or Danai in every churches. In all churches. So here's what he's saying. All right, follow me. Now, you know there are people that got divorced and then remarried, sometimes multiple times, and then they got saved. What does God expect them to do because they got saved? God expects them to go back to their first spouse who won't have them. Not to mention, God calls it in the law an abomination that's off the table. So is that person who's just got saved. Now, they hadn't even been a child of God. They don't know, right?
[00:37:10] Are they in a position where they can't ever live for God? They can't ever serve God. They're just an old dirty rag just throw to the side? No. God says, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk. In other words, God called that person. God saved that person in that particular circumstance. He expects you to live for him from that point.
[00:37:35] And he gives an example. Is any man called being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in circumcision? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing. Uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he is called. So if God called him and God saved him while he was a slave, well, then be a slave for God. If God called him and he was married, well, then be married. If God called him, he was single, be single. In other words, God doesn't expect us to upend our life to fit all the little whatevers that we've been studying about. He says it verse 21. Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it, don't worry about it. But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord being a servant, is the Lord's freeman.
[00:38:28] Likewise.
[00:38:32] Also, he that is called being free is Christ's servant. You are bought with a price. Be not ye the servants of men. So he's using a servitude as an example of a state of life in which someone is currently in when they get saved. He says, Brethren, let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God and just stay there.
[00:38:53] Just stay there. All right, but what about people that maybe were already believers who got a divorce, maybe under conditions that weren't God's will, where there wasn't adultery, and maybe that person got remarried, or maybe they're just divorced or whatever if you make a decision listen, it's no different than any other sin we commit. If you make a decision if you make a decision to say curse words at the guy who cuts you off, right, or steal money from your work, I hope you don't. I'm just trying to think of examples. You make a decision that is by all accounts a sin against God, something, God forbids, and you do that. What do you do?
[00:39:55] You seek God. You say, Lord, I'm sorry I did it, I messed up. Lord, please forgive me. You seek reconciliation. You seek somebody help me with the word restitution if necessary. You know what you do? You move on from that point. You move on.
[00:40:13] And that's what you got to do here.
[00:40:16] Say, Lord, I messed up.
[00:40:19] Imagine as a believer, you get divorced. You get divorced and that person, your spouse, gets remarried. There's no going back to that. You can't beat yourself up over that. You can't live like a dark cloud over you all the time because of that. You can't do that. You can't do that. You have to say, Lord, if it was a case where the Lord did not permit it, you'll say, Lord, I messed up.
[00:40:44] Please forgive me.
[00:40:46] And I'm going to follow you from here on out. There's no going back.
[00:40:51] You know what? That's what he expects you to do.
[00:40:55] Brethren, let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God. You know what? That doesn't make you a second rate Christian.
[00:41:03] You don't carry around a scarlet D, like I said the other night. You don't carry around a scarlet R or whatever. Now, if you commit adultery, you do carry a scarlet A.
[00:41:14] That's a blot. Proverbs says it's a Blot that won't be removed. But that doesn't make now, there are, of course, that limits some offices in the church that a person can be involved in, but there's specific reasons for that. But that doesn't make you like a second rate Christian, whether they can never truly, truly be right with God. No, it doesn't.
[00:41:37] The Lord forgives people that do stuff like that. And the Lord gives you grace to move on and serve Him. He gives you grace for that.
[00:41:46] So you could still serve God. You can still love God, you can still all do the things you want to do for God. And you know what the Lord will do?
[00:41:55] He'll use that unfortunate circumstance in your life.
[00:42:01] He does it. Not that he necessarily approves, but he'll use that unfortunate circumstance in your life as a tool to minister to people with it that maybe otherwise I and those of us, those of us who maybe aren't married or haven't been divorced or whatever, might not be able to use, say what?
[00:42:25] He can do that. He can do that.
[00:42:28] Let's pray.
