Collierville First Baptist Church

00;00;02;15 - 00;00;32;11
Unknown
Good evening. I am so glad that you are here tonight. I want to give you an update on Brother Tommy and, I'm going to ask John, er. And to pray for him, and. And while he's praying, I want you to be praying. Okay? So I just call Rose. He's still in the hospital, and, the thing that they're dealing with, his fluctuating blood pressure.

00;00;32;17 - 00;01;00;23
Unknown
He just. He's been battling that before he ever went into the hospital. So it's just all over the place, mostly high. And secondly, they haven't been able to remove the tubes yet. So she's praying that tomorrow they'll be able to remove the tubes. And, he briefly went into A-fib, but they got that under control. No big deal.

00;01;00;25 - 00;01;31;26
Unknown
So be praying for brother Tommy. He was supposed to be out quicker than this. So he's still in the hospital. Pray for him. Pray for Rose. I know that you've been there when you're a caregiver. It'll. It will drain you. It will absolutely drain you. So, John Aaron, if you would pray for Tommy, but Tommy and, pray for our our teaching tonight that God would be honored and glorified.

00;01;32;01 - 00;01;52;26
Unknown
And let's go to Lord in prayer. Heavenly father, we just come to you this evening. And, Lord, you know all the burdens that we've we've carried in here, Lord. And we, help us to realize that you are bigger than any burden or any problem that we can face, Lord, that you have overcome the grave. God, you say that in your word that in this world will face troubles.

00;01;52;26 - 00;02;16;07
Unknown
But we can take heart, because you have overcome. And so, Lord, we just come to you right now with, just lifting up brother Tommy and Rose. We thank you for their faith. We thank you for their love. We thank you, for just the life that you've given in the ministry. You've given them together. And right now, I pray you'll just continue to bring them comfort.

00;02;16;10 - 00;02;38;15
Unknown
You'll bring them healing. I thank you for a good, surgery that seems to have gone well. And just as he's continuing to recover. God, I pray that you'll just help those doctors to have wisdom and nurses as they care for him. And I pray that just all his body will, all just go back to the way it needs to be and be healed.

00;02;38;15 - 00;02;55;19
Unknown
And those that blood pressure will be under control. And and father, I just pray that, if you will, that he'll be able to walk out of that hospital soon and get back in a in a pulpit around churches in our area. And Minister for your glory. God, I thank you for pastor Chuck. I thank you for his continued ministry to us.

00;02;55;21 - 00;03;13;29
Unknown
I thank you that he opens your word and preaches faithfully, what you have him to say. And Lord, I thank you that he doesn't hold anything back. But he preaches the full gospel. And so, Lord, tonight, as he opens the word, I pray that you'll just empower him by your spirit and you'll give him clarity of thought.

00;03;14;01 - 00;03;45;21
Unknown
And, Lord, it that we'll have ears to hear what you want to teach us tonight. Lord. Convict us, Lord, mold us and shape us by your word. And in Jesus name I pray. And all God's people said Amen. Amen. Thank you. John. Er. Hey, take your Bible. Turn to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five. I mentioned before, I preach Sunday that the message I preach Sunday may make some folks squirm a little bit.

00;03;45;24 - 00;04;19;27
Unknown
Well, the squirming may continue tonight. Okay, but I want to say this on the front end, in the sermon on the Mount tonight, we're at the section where Jesus teaches about the sanctity of marriage. And I want to make some qualifying statements. Number one, the unpardonable sin is the rejection of Jesus Christ. Please remember that.

00;04;19;27 - 00;04;52;06
Unknown
That's the, That's the sin that God will not forgive. All right. Secondly, I want you to remember that God is a God of grace and truth. When Jesus came, he said he came as a minister of grace and truth. Okay, so tonight we're going to look at a hard truth. The hard truth is that that marriage is supposed to be forever.

00;04;52;09 - 00;05;18;29
Unknown
It's permanent. Yet we live in a fallen, broken world where, not everybody has done exactly the way God told them to do. And I haven't done exactly as God told me to do in a lot of areas of my life. So with that in mind, I just want you to take your Bible. Turn to chapter five. Remember what we're talking about here.

00;05;19;01 - 00;05;52;11
Unknown
Remember in verse 21, Jesus said, you have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not commit murder. Whoever commits murder shall be liable. But I say to you, you and Jesus took, the, the Ten commandment. And he refreshed it. He, he he made it not just an external matter, but an internal matter. He said, even if you're angry with somebody, you have committed murder in your heart.

00;05;52;14 - 00;06;18;15
Unknown
And then in verse 27, you have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And so Jesus again, he's he's he's taking the external teaching of the Ten Commandments, and he's turning it into an internal matter.

00;06;18;20 - 00;06;49;07
Unknown
It's not just the physical act. It is what you do with your heart. If you're lusting for somebody, you've committed adultery in your heart. And then tonight we're going to look at verse 31 to 37, our own to read those verses as we get started. It was said again, same pattern. It was said, verse 32, but I say to you, it was said, whoever since his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.

00;06;49;09 - 00;07;12;22
Unknown
But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of un chastity, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced, divorced woman commits adultery. Again, you have heard that the ancients were told you shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. But I say to you, make no oath at all either.

00;07;12;22 - 00;07;30;22
Unknown
But by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is a footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is a city of the great king. Nor she shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be yes, yes or no?

00;07;30;22 - 00;08;08;27
Unknown
No. Anything beyond these is of evil. Now I read about a collection of letters that Einstein had written. They were auctioned off in 1996, and one of those letters contained a list of marriageable marital expectations for his wife, Mileva maric. Listen to the list. The list says this I want my laundry done daily. I want it to be kept in good order.

00;08;09;00 - 00;08;32;08
Unknown
I want three meals regularly in my room. This is true stuff. Now. I want my desk maintained neatly for my use only. And then the final one. This is going to get you ladies list. List. And the demand that she quit talking or leave the room if I request it.

00;08;32;11 - 00;08;38;11
Unknown
Can I tell you his marriage did not last?

00;08;38;13 - 00;09;10;04
Unknown
I would imagine with that squirrely hair he had, he had a bump on there underneath all that hair to. You know, I read an article in First Things and it says, has things really gotten better since the days of Einstein? And this article? It says this I quote the Western fixation on romantic love creates a crushing burden for mere mortals.

00;09;10;07 - 00;09;38;17
Unknown
It in genders a powerful myth regarding love, courtship and marriage that a fallible human partner can not only share our passions but sate, satisfy our existential yearnings. Let me tell you what that means that people believe that if you marry somebody, they're going to meet all your needs. They're going to bring satisfaction that you can't find anywhere else.

00;09;38;19 - 00;10;14;24
Unknown
And then he goes on to say this contemporary couples expect much more from marriage than it can realistically deliver. As Eli Finkel of Northwestern University observed, most of us will be kind of shocked by how many expectations and needs we piled on top of this one relationship. Anytime that I do premarital counseling, one of the first things I do is I want the couple to talk about their expectations coming into the marriage relationship.

00;10;14;26 - 00;10;47;16
Unknown
And I make them make a list without sharing with each other. You're in this corner. You're in this corner. Make your list. Come back together now a lady read your list to your your fiancé here. And, sir, you read yours to her. Sometimes it's quite shocking, really, because here's the deal. The young lady has grown up in a home where dad did everything for her.

00;10;47;18 - 00;11;17;26
Unknown
Dad always, took care of the finances. Mom had nothing to do with the finances. Or mom took care of the finances, and dad had enough to do the finances. And here's a young lady. She'd been brought up in this. And this is her ex back tation, because that's all she's ever known. But she marries a guy, has totally different expectations.

00;11;17;28 - 00;11;45;28
Unknown
And this guy, here's a lady, and and her mom took care of all the finances, and she comes into it, and and without even saying a word, she's expected to take care of the finances. But here's a guy, and he. He grew up in a home, and his dad was the guy that took care of finances. And without saying a word, he comes to this thing and both of them are expected to do the finances.

00;11;46;00 - 00;12;17;26
Unknown
Somebody's got do finances. Both of them cannot do the finances right. Now they can agree they can work as a team, but somebody has to keep the checkbook right. And so these kind of things, we talked about what he said about people coming into a relationship, a marriage they really expect. A lot of them really expect that this young lady is going to meet all of my needs, or this young man's going to meet all of my needs.

00;12;17;28 - 00;12;33;17
Unknown
That's a fallacy. That is a myth. God never intended your mate to meet all of your needs. God intended for his son, the Lord Jesus, to meet all your needs.

00;12;33;19 - 00;13;09;19
Unknown
And so marriage is an interesting dynamic. Okay. Darling, I've been married 50 years this summer, and, we've learned and we've grown together. Just let me put it like that. And, I wouldn't take $1 million for it. I look, Fred Smith, author and business leader. I'm not sure it's a Fred Smith here or another Fred Smith, but he's an author and a business leader.

00;13;09;21 - 00;13;38;28
Unknown
And he wrote this. One of my treasured memories comes from a donut shop in Grand Silene, Texas. He said there was a young farm couple sitting at the table next to mine. He was wearing overalls and she was wearing a gingham dress. After finishing their donuts, he got up to go and pay for the donuts and and she just stayed seated.

00;13;39;00 - 00;14;11;21
Unknown
But then he came back and stood in front of her. She put. He bent down. She put her arms around his neck. He lifted her up, revealing that she was wearing a full body brace, and he lifted her out of her chair and backed out the front door to the pickup with her hanging from his neck, and he gently put her into the truck, and everyone in the donut shop stopped and watched.

00;14;11;23 - 00;14;59;01
Unknown
Nobody said a word until a waitress made this statement. He took his vows seriously. Marriage, as we've known it for years, is under all out assault. Purity before and after marriage is ridiculed in movies, music, TV, sitcoms at the same time, perversions are glamorized. I have a question for you. Why do so many men and women in our culture say I due to some very serious vows?

00;14;59;04 - 00;15;29;02
Unknown
And then a few months later, a few years later, they say I can't or I won't. Why? I'm thinking that we don't understand what the ideal of Christian marriage is, and we've got to get that firmly fixed in our minds. And we got to make sure. Now look. Look at me. We got to make sure that our kids and grandkids understand this.

00;15;29;04 - 00;15;57;26
Unknown
This tonight is not about a guilt trip, not about a guilt trip. I've learned something. You can't unscramble eggs. If they're scrambled, you can't unscramble. But you can start immediately and do exactly what the Lord wants you to do. And that's why I don't want to challenge everybody in this room to do tonight. I do not want anybody to walk out here, out of here under a guilt trip.

00;15;57;28 - 00;16;30;26
Unknown
I want you to walk out of here under standing Rock. Christian marriage is all about. And I want you to walk out of here with a an absolute commitment that you're going to make sure that everybody in your family understands this. Okay. So what did Jesus teach about marriage and divorce? Now, we read our our text a few minutes ago and basically there are only four options here.

00;16;30;28 - 00;17;06;28
Unknown
The strictest view is that divorce is not permissible under any circumstance or for any reason. The opposite position contends that both divorce and remarriage your permission permissible for any reason. And then there are two middle grounds here. Another position is that divorce is permitted under certain circumstances, but remarriage is never permitted. The final view is that both divorce and remarriage are permitted under certain circumstances.

00;17;07;00 - 00;17;34;09
Unknown
So let's begin our study tonight by by really digging in and verse by verse here. Let's look at Matthew 531 and 32. Jesus Jesus said it was said whoever sins his wife right now. Remember this. When Jesus made this statement, it was said he's referring to the Old Testament. Okay. Jesus did not come to undo the Old Testament.

00;17;34;10 - 00;18;05;00
Unknown
He came to fulfill the Old Testament right? So it was said, whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of un chastity, makes her commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Now these words should be taken together with what Jesus taught in Matthew chapter 19.

00;18;05;03 - 00;18;37;09
Unknown
In Matthew 19, verses 3 to 9. Jesus said this. Some Pharisees came up to Jesus testing him and asking, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all? And he answered and said, have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? And he said, for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

00;18;37;11 - 00;19;04;19
Unknown
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Why, therefore God had joined together. Let no man separate. They said to him, why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away? And he said to them, because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning it was not this way.

00;19;04;20 - 00;19;35;07
Unknown
See what Jesus did? He went all the way back to the creation, to creation. When he created Adam and Eve. Hey, take your Bible. Just hold your finger there. Matthew chapter five. Go back to Genesis chapter one. Genesis chapter one. Now, I want you to remember that this is before sin came into the hearts of Adam and Eve, and sin came into the world.

00;19;35;11 - 00;20;08;07
Unknown
And a perfect world created by a perfect God suddenly became a broken world and a sinful world. So this is before sin came into the world. Notice verse 27 of chapter one God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female. He created them. God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea.

00;20;08;07 - 00;20;37;11
Unknown
You know, the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Now look at chapter two, verse 18. Then the Lord said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him. So chapter one talks about the creation of Adam and Eve, and chapter two explains it.

00;20;37;13 - 00;20;55;23
Unknown
Okay. It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him out of the ground. The Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was his name.

00;20;55;25 - 00;21;21;26
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The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. And he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

00;21;21;28 - 00;21;45;18
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And the Lord God fashioned into one. Remember, God created Adam from the dirt of the ground, from dirt. He created Eve from the rib of Adam, and the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man. The man said, this is now bone of my bones. So here's what Adam says.

00;21;45;20 - 00;22;10;00
Unknown
This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. Ye shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The word join there literally means to be superglued, to be superglued to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

00;22;10;03 - 00;22;40;29
Unknown
I'm going to talk about that in a little bit. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. So Jesus, here in Matthew, chapter, five goes all the way back to creation. And it is a beautiful picture, of how God established the marriage relationship. Now, let me make this very clear. Government did not create marriage.

00;22;41;01 - 00;23;19;03
Unknown
God created marriage. I think that's a very important thing for us to understand. God created it. God condoned it. God blessed it. And so we read here. So, chapter 19, verse six. So they're no longer two, but one flesh. That's a direct quote from what we talked about a moment ago. What I just read. They said to him, why then, did Moses give her a command to give her the certificate of divorce and send her away?

00;23;19;05 - 00;23;58;26
Unknown
He said because of the hardness of your heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wife. But from the beginning it was not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for immorality and marries another woman, commits adultery. Now the Pharisees had come to Christ, testing him concerning an interpretation of a major Old Testament passage of Scripture regarding grounds for divorce, and that major, Old Testament passage is Deuteronomy chapter 24.

00;23;58;28 - 00;24;33;10
Unknown
Now, God's standard, this this board is clearly purity before marriage and fidelity after marriage. Okay. That's God's standard. This is rooted in the Old Testament. I just read to you these passages in Genesis. Look at Malachi, chapter two, verses 14 to 16. Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament. Look at the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, chapter two.

00;24;33;12 - 00;24;42;19
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Verses 14 to 16.

00;24;42;21 - 00;25;17;06
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Let's begin with verse 13. This is another thing you do. You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, with groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, for what reason? Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth against against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

00;25;17;08 - 00;25;48;05
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But not one has done so. Who had done so has a remnant of the spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then, to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wives of your youth. For it less what God says. For I hate divorce. Hey, why do you think God hates divorce?

00;25;48;08 - 00;26;12;15
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Because of what it does to us. I could go to every person in this room. I could look you right square. And I can tell you that God loves you. He loves you. He loved you enough to send his son to die on the cross for your sins, for your failures. And he raised him from the dead so that you could have forgiveness of all sin.

00;26;12;17 - 00;26;40;17
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Aren't you glad of that? And eternal life with him. That's how much God loves you. And God hates it when things come into our lives that hurt us. And the ripple effect that it has upon those who are parts of our family. For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and him who covers his garment with wrong, says the Lord of hosts.

00;26;40;17 - 00;27;15;12
Unknown
Or take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously. Now notice he talks about your companion, your wife, by covenant. This is something I try to teach every couple that I marry. I want them to understand that when they stand to get married, it's not a contract. It's not a contract. I mean, they have to go to the courthouse.

00;27;15;12 - 00;27;36;19
Unknown
They have to get these these papers and everything, and I have to fill them out. I don't it's not a contract in the eyes of God. It's a covenant. A contract can be broken, but a covenant should never be broken. Ever.

00;27;36;21 - 00;28;10;00
Unknown
It's a covenant. MacArthur explained he he he said this as God designed that marriage is to be a welding of two people together into one unit. The blending of two minds, two wheels, two sets of emotions, two spirits. It is a bond. The Lord intends to be indissoluble as long as both partners are alive. The Lord created sex and procreation to be the fullest expression of that oneness.

00;28;10;02 - 00;28;20;09
Unknown
And the intimacies of marriage are not to be shared with any other human being.

00;28;20;11 - 00;28;37;10
Unknown
As a pastor. I've witnessed unbelievable hurt. We choose our way over God's way.

00;28;37;13 - 00;29;21;09
Unknown
And I've ministered to listen to both men and women who have been absolutely crushed because somebody was not faithful to them. Maybe that she one thing I tell them. God is a God of grace, a God of mercy, a God who has the power to bring healing. But in order for God to heal the brokenness in our lives, when somebody has absolutely crushed us, we have to give him all the pieces.

00;29;21;11 - 00;29;55;23
Unknown
We got to give him all the pieces. So many times, the man of the woman takes some of those pieces of a broken heart and shows them into their pocket. They may give God some of the pieces, but not all the pieces. And they go through life wounded, hurt. And wondering how they're going to make it. And sometimes still with bitterness and unforgiveness.

00;29;55;25 - 00;30;31;10
Unknown
And it just eats them up from the inside out. And I tell them, look, you got to reach into your pocket. You got to get out those other pieces of your heart. You got to lay them on the altar. You got to cry out to Jesus. And ask him to heal you. And he will. If we give him all the pieces, he will.

00;30;31;12 - 00;31;13;09
Unknown
So the Bible says, who? Ever since his wife away. Let him give her a certificate of divorce. Again, that's a quote from the Old Testament. Now, in the first century, when Jesus was teaching and ministering, there were two slightly older Pharisees who had two different schools of thought on divorce and marriage. The school of shame I was. First, he restricted the sum and decency of Dieter on May 24th, one to refer only to sexual immorality.

00;31;13;12 - 00;31;44;08
Unknown
You see, it. The School of Hillel repeatedly took it to mean any cause. Why? If an under the school of Hillel what he taught. If you're married to a wife and she burns your toast in the morning, you can divorce her. So here's was a very liberal view, but basically it was no fault. Divorce in the first century.

00;31;44;10 - 00;32;14;29
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Guess which school had the most adherence? You know which one it was, don't you? It was the School of Hillel. Therefore, in the school of Alal, just you take a certificate of divorce and that paperwork was all you needed. The legal guys, your lust. Look back at verses 27 to 30. You have heard it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

00;32;15;02 - 00;32;47;02
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You realize that two of the Ten Commandments deals with the exclusivity of the marriage relationship. They exclusive the one man, one woman only sharing their bodies with each other. That's it. Two commandments. The seventh commandment and the 10th commandment. Ten commandments. You shall not. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.

00;32;47;05 - 00;33;10;22
Unknown
So Jesus said here in verse 27, you've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If you're and he talks about your right eye, your right hand, and and how seriously we have to take this idea of being holy before God.

00;33;10;24 - 00;33;58;19
Unknown
Now the Lord's purpose in referring to Deuteronomy chapter 24, verses 1 to 4, was not to provide for divorce or make it easy to to divorce, but to prevent it, to prevent it. Look what he said next in verse 32. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of un chastity, it's called the exception clause, except for the reason of un chastity, that the word un chastity is a broader term for sexual sin than merely adultery.

00;33;58;21 - 00;34;41;21
Unknown
We get our word pornography from this. This Greek word. And he said, but I say to you that everyone who divorces wife, except for the rage of un chastity, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. So here's what Jesus is saying. Jesus says that every time a man without here's here's a caveat. Now, every time a man without proper cause turned his wife or wrote a certificate of divorce for his wife and turned her loose to remarry, he forced her into adultery, which made him guilty.

00;34;41;21 - 00;35;01;02
Unknown
Also. In addition, the man who married the former wife and the woman who married the former husband were likewise guilty of adultery. So you have in Israel in the first century, there was an explosion of broken marriages.

00;35;01;04 - 00;35;43;29
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Broken hearts and broken families. A man or woman who has no right to divorce has no right to remarry. Now, because Jesus specifically mentions divorce being permissible on the grounds of adultery, and because he also specifically says that he did not come to contradict or know the least part of the law. It seems evident that at some point, at some point during Israel's history, divorce was allowed to take the place of execution as a legitimate penalty for adultery.

00;35;44;02 - 00;36;26;08
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Look at Leviticus chapter 20, verse ten. Leviticus chapter. I've got it. I'll just read it to you. I know you'll be looking for a while. All right. In Leviticus chapter 20, verse ten, part of the law, if there's a man who commits adultery with another man's wife. One who commits adultery with his friend's wife. The adulterer. That's the man and the adulterous shall both be put to death.

00;36;26;11 - 00;36;34;03
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Do you think God takes marriage seriously?

00;36;34;05 - 00;37;06;25
Unknown
And notice there's also the thought. Well, it seems like the women are the one that gets all the the pain here. No, it's both. The man and the woman were put to death. But at some point in Israel's history. They substituted a a certificate of divorce for execution.

00;37;06;27 - 00;37;45;06
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Do you remember when Joseph was betrothed to Mary? Remember that in the New Testament? Remember she was with child by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit planted into the womb of the Virgin Mary, the embryo of the Messiah, the Son of God. And she began to show and. And she told Joseph that she was pregnant. And she told him that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

00;37;45;08 - 00;37;50;03
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Joseph may have thought.

00;37;50;05 - 00;38;21;01
Unknown
I bet you are. But he loved Mary. Mary was a woman of integrity, and I'm sure his head was spinning. But you know what the Bible says. The Bible says that Joseph was planning on putting her away secretly. He didn't want to embarrass her. He didn't want to hurt her, but that he was writing her a certificate of glory.

00;38;21;02 - 00;39;15;17
Unknown
Even though they were betrothed, they hadn't consummated the marriage yet. Even though they were betrothed. It was just as if they were married. And in order to break a betrothal, you had to write the person a bill of divorce, a certificate of divorce. And that's what Joseph was prepared to do until he was touched by an angel. Remember that the angel came to Joseph, and he explained to him exactly what was going on, that the Virgin Mary was pregnant because the Holy Spirit of God planted in her womb.

00;39;15;19 - 00;39;36;16
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The Messiah. And that proves that at some point the saying change from execution to a certificate of divorce. Now.

00;39;36;18 - 00;40;09;20
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John MacArthur said, ultimately, God in his mercy chose himself not to enforce the death penalty. And that is consistent with the divine nature revealed in Jesus. Let's remember something that happened in Jesus ministry. Do you remember that the Pharisees caught a woman in the very act of adultery? Remember that. And they drug her toward Jesus. And they said, master, what should we do?

00;40;09;22 - 00;40;23;03
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The law says we should stone her to death. What Jesus did, he just knelt down during the ground.

00;40;23;05 - 00;40;59;08
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And then he raised up and he said, this. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. And what happened? And then Jesus started drawing in the ground again, writing in the ground again. And Jesus heard. I bet he heard it. He heard all those stones hitting the ground. Those Pharisees just dropping their stones. And when he looked up, only the woman caught in adultery was left.

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Do you remember what Jesus said to her?

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Lady? Where are your accusers?

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Lord? Lord. They're gone.

00;41;14;27 - 00;41;31;00
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Jesus said this. This is the heart of God. You don't know the heart of God. Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.

00;41;31;03 - 00;42;02;06
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I don't want you to forget that story. As we go through this teaching and I could I tell you what the devil's going to do? Because he, the devil, is the accuser of the brethren in the cistern. He accuses us. He reminds us of stuff in our lives that we've done. And somebody in this room or some people in this room.

00;42;02;09 - 00;42;29;00
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The devil is going to remind you of some immorality in your life. The devil's going to remind you. Of an unbiblical divorce that you had in your life. And he's going to accuse you, and the devil is going to try to do everything he can to make you feel about that door, and to drive a wedge between you and your Lord.

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But I want you to remember what Jesus said. Neither do I condemn you. And that's where a lot of people stop. You can't stop there. He said, go and sin no more.

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Go and sin no more.

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I want you to remember that.

00;42;56;29 - 00;43;29;29
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Apart from the death penalty, back to John MacArthur's quote here, divorce became the divine alternative, tolerated only because of the hardness of the human heart. As Jesus states in Matthew chapter 19, verse eight. So now, as we move into the next section, there's another. It's been said, but I say to you, okay, but I believe it fits right into the marriage relationship.

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Coach Bill McCartney, who coached the Colorado college football team, gave this testimony. He said when I took the job as head football coach at the University of Colorado in 1982, I made a solemn promise. I told everybody that with me, God was first family, second football, third. But I didn't keep that promise for long. The thrill and the challenge of resurrecting a football program in disarray simply took too much time and attention.

00;44;09;29 - 00;44;51;05
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As my teams kept winning year after year, I kept losing focus on my priorities. When we won the national championship in 1990, many people said I had reached the pinnacle of my profession. But for me, there was an emptiness about it. I had everything a man could want, and yet something was missing. I was so busy pursuing my career goals that I was missing out on the spirit filled life that God wanted me to have all because I had broken my promise to put God first.

00;44;51;07 - 00;45;00;07
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And foremost in my life.

00;45;00;09 - 00;45;46;01
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Let me ask you, are you a promise keeper or a promise breaker? Do you know one of the things that will destroy a marriage and a family quicker than anything is deception. Deception? I've seen it in my 40 years of ministry. I've seen situations in families where. Most of the time, it's men who have gotten addicted to pornography, and the wife finds out about it and she's crushed.

00;45;46;03 - 00;46;22;13
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And that deception. Breaks a sacred trust. I had a lady come to me in Richland. My passion in Richland. She walked into my office and she busted out crying like a baby. I'm thinking, what have I gotten myself into? And she told me what it was. She caught her husband on a computer. Looking at pornographic images.

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And she was a young, beautiful wife. She said, what's wrong with me? And it affected her.

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And I, I met with him. And I said, I don't care what you got to do, but you're going to have to work to build the trust back with your wife. And he was to his credit, he was crushed. He he was under deep conviction. I called his name. I said, I don't care if you have to get a sledge hammer and beat your computer into little pieces, you cannot put yourself in a position where you're putting your wife and your kids in jeopardy.

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And I said, that's what you're doing. And to his credit. He got victory quickly. You know why he got victory quickly. Because they did exactly what God want him do.

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The Bible says in Proverbs 2813, if we conceal our sins, we will not prosper. But if we confess and forsake them, we will find compassion. We've got to be ruthless with sin in our lives. Because it will. Here's the thing I've heard before. You've heard it well, it's only going to impact me. Now, that's not the way it works.

00;48;03;03 - 00;48;35;29
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It will impact the spouse. It will impact the kids and their grandkids. It'll impact the grandkids. It could create a generational thing. You got to. You got to be ruthless was sin. You got to be ruthless with deception. You've got to listen. In a marriage relationship, you got to tell the truth.

00;48;36;02 - 00;49;07;03
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Look at Matthew chapter five, verses 33 to 37. Jesus said again, you have heard that the ancients were told you should not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. But I say to you, there, there again you've heard. But I say to you. And Jesus takes it to a deeper level, to an internal level, from external level to a deeper internal level.

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But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is a footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is a city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

00;49;23;04 - 00;50;04;27
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But let your statement be yes, yes or no, no or anything beyond these acts of evil. So here's a whole meaning of those verses. Keep your vows. Keep your vows. Keep your word. Aren't you glad that we serve a risen Savior who keeps His word to us? Who keeps his promises to us? Now, this principle that Jesus taught was derived from three passages in the Old Testament Leviticus 1912, where the Bible says, you shall not swear falsely by my name, so as to profane and profane the name of your God.

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I am the Lord. Numbers. Chapter 30, verse two. If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Deuteronomy 2321. When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it for the sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely required of you.

00;50;39;29 - 00;50;58;29
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When he said, you shall not make false vows literally, it means you shall not perjure yourself. Then the second statement is interesting, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord. It means to enclose as with a fence, or bind together.

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Now the religious leaders of Jesus day had devised a clever way to get around this. So they wouldn't make a vow in the name of God. But instead they would make vows based on heaven, earth, or even their own hair on their head.

00;51;23;01 - 00;51;38;06
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But that didn't work with God. Because deception and lying is a heart issue. This is a heart issue.

00;51;38;08 - 00;51;57;25
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Listen, you can't live like this and be a part of the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hey, take your Bible. Let me show you some think it's revelation 21.

00;51;57;27 - 00;52;25;02
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I think.

00;52;25;05 - 00;53;16;08
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Oh, yeah. Here it is. Revelation 22. Look at verse 14. Blessed are those who washed their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life in heaven, and may enter by the gates into the city. The New Jerusalem outside. Not in heaven. Never will be in heaven. Are the dogs and the sorcerers, and the immoral persons, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices what lying.

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Truth is important to God. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but through me. When ever truth is compromised. God's name is compromised.

00;53;46;28 - 00;54;22;25
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William Hendrickson, the great commentator, wrote about the the use of vows in New Testament times. What we have here in Matthew five 3337 is a condemnation of the flippant, profane, uncalled for, hypocritical oath used in order to make an impression or to spice daily conversation.

00;54;22;28 - 00;54;32;05
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In a marriage ceremony. The young husband. The young wife.

00;54;32;07 - 00;55;02;25
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Make a covenant with each other. In the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. I think that's an important part of the marriage relationship. I do not think it is undoing what Jesus taught here about not making oaths. I think oaths are to be very rare, to be used in special occasions.

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How important is truth to God? Well, look at Psalm 51, verse six. Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being. Ephesians 425 therefore laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you with his neighbor, for your members are one another. Colossians three nine do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices.

00;55;27;02 - 00;55;59;21
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Every word. Look. Let's talk about a marriage relationship, a family, okay? Every word. That a family member speaks to each other. Spouse. To a spouse or a parent. To a child or a child. To a parent should be a word of truth. I remember when Zach and Heather were growing up. I told them and we told them, say, look.

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You better tell us the truth.

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Even if it's going to get you in a little trouble because you don't tell the truth. You're going to be in a lot more trouble.

00;56;14;25 - 00;56;26;23
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I believe that we have to teach our kids and our grandkids to tell the truth.

00;56;26;25 - 00;56;31;09
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Michael Jordan.

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For them is the goat. As far as a pro basketball player. In 1997. He was indisputably the best player in the NBA, but he was never the highest paid player. I was shocked when I read that.

00;56;52;26 - 00;57;21;21
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He didn't do what so many players do today hold out. For an exorbitant salary increase even before their contract ran out. But Michael didn't listen to what he said. I have always honored my word. Now I and I'm not saying he honored his word in every situation, but he honored his word as far as his contract was concerned.

00;57;21;23 - 00;57;55;27
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I went for security. I had six year contracts. As so unusual in pro sports, and I always honored them. In other words, that year five. He didn't hold out for an exorbitant salary increase. I always honor them. People said I was underpaid, but when I signed on the dotted line, I gave my word. He explained that if his kids saw their dad breaking a promise, how could he continued training them to keep their word, but not asking for a contract?

00;57;55;29 - 00;58;13;09
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No negotiation. Michael Jordan spoke volumes to his children. He told me, you stand by your word even when that might go against you.

00;58;13;11 - 00;58;48;11
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The Roman orator Cicero said, truth is the highest thing a man can experience. I want to close it tonight by just dropping a few thoughts in your heart about marriage. Number one. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Period. Anything outside of a marriage between a man and woman is totally and antithesis to what the Word of God teaches.

00;58;48;14 - 00;59;02;20
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Number two, God designed marriage to be permanent. One thing I asked a young couple before I agree to marry them. Are you going to commit to being together for the rest of your lives?

00;59;02;23 - 00;59;32;21
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I'm never had anybody look at me and say, now we're going to make it for six months. We're going to make a six month commitment. No, I think that's so important. That we get young couples to verbalize the permanence of a commitment they make to each other. Number three, prioritize your relationship with the Lord in your spouse. You know the big mistake I see young families make today.

00;59;32;24 - 01;00;15;05
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Young couples, when they have kids. The kids rise to a level of priority above the spouse, especially with the ladies. Especially with the ladies that that mother instinct kicks into high gear. And the kid? The kids are our a higher priority than her husband. And he feels like he's out there on a desert island by himself.

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And that's not the way God designed it. I'm telling you, there's a set of priorities that God has designed for the Christian family. Number one is who? Jesus, right? Number one. Jesus. Number two is your spouse. Not little Johnny or little Mary the spouse. Number three is the kids. I, I tell young couples the greatest security that you can ever give your kids.

01;00;52;08 - 01;01;11;22
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Is not the security of you making more out of them than you do your spouse? That's insecurity. The greatest security you can give your kids is if them to know that daddy loves mama, and mama loves daddy, and they're going to be together.

01;01;11;25 - 01;01;46;09
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That security. Here's here's the next one. Guard your heart and fight for your marriage. Tom, brother Tommy and brother Bob, Cheryl and I were eating breakfast, and, had a church member come up, and he was walking with a young lady. And he sit down right behind me. I didn't know was right behind me. And when I got up to leave, he said, pastor, I want you.

01;01;46;10 - 01;02;15;15
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This is my daughter. This is my daughter. I said, I call this and I know it's your daughter. But to his credit, he didn't want me or brother Tommy or brother Bob to think that he had gone to lunch with another woman. You know something? I never do? If you go to Alberton or McAlister's, you'll never see me sitting down at lunch with another woman.

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Ever. Unless Darlene's with me. You see what I'm saying? You got to guard yourself. You cannot put yourself in a position where you could be tempted.

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Guard yourself and then fight for your marriage. There. There are seasons in a marriage. Okay? Some of the seasons are wonderful, and some of them are hard. And you got to fight through the hard ones. The good. The wonderful thing about Darlene and I, we fought through some tough seasons. The man. We're in a good season right now.

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We're about to hit 50. She hurt her picture. It's going to be on the screen here August 2nd. I'll go August 3rd and here's the final one. Final. Final one. Keep the promise you made to your spouse.

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Now, you may be married to somebody after a divorce. You cannot go back and do anything to clear up the other one. All you can do is right now. Right here, right now. Say I'm married to this lady. I'm going to keep my promise. This lady or this man. Keep the promise.

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Hey. I hope and pray that you've been blessed by this. And you have a squirm too much. This. When you teach the Bible, you cannot ignore this stuff. You gotta teach it. But we need to be taught this. And you need to take this. And you need to teach it to your kids and your grandkids and prepare the next generation.

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How would you know I love you? Thank you for being here tonight. Let me close in prayer. Father, in the name of Jesus. I thank you for these folks who love the Word of God. And Lord, I pray that we would live out the expectations you have for us when it comes to the marriage relationship. I pray that our families would be healthy and strong.

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And I pray you would not allow the enemy to attack anybody in this room tonight. Well, we love you and thank you that you're a God of infinite grace and mercy. In Jesus name, Amen. Thank you.