They get a water bottle slingshot and they get a foam airplane.
One of each.
Shhh.
Yay, King Jesus!
We need a PowerPoint operator.
We need a PowerPoint operator, please.
Thank you.
Okay, here we go.
I'm a Jesus.
You are the one.
And oh, everyday, everyday.
I'm walking away and oh, everyday, everyday.
I'm never gonna be the same.
I'm a lion train.
Jesus, I'm a lion train.
And oh, everyday, everyday.
I'm walking away and oh, everyday, everyday.
I'm never gonna be the same.
I'm a lion train.
And oh, everyday, everyday.
I'm a lion train.
God glorified and became banked and that's what we eat all right because there is a war going on and
We want to be a part of that we want to see things move in the right direction
We call it your family that has a purpose all right, so it's a great week
But it's falling behind now the last kind of cool thing that's going on if there's a lot of folks
And there's bioverses said this morning as they said all six bioverses and we have prices for them to take on today
It's really kind of cool if you have not done that yet kids you can do it with your Sunday school teacher when you go to class
Assuming they have time if you had all week
All week to work on those versus if you haven't done it yet
Maybe you just need to polish it a little bit then there that's fine
But if it's you haven't touched it at all you probably are gonna be a junkie they don't stress over it
Next time you get that opportunity to do it. Okay. This week is the fourth of July weekend
slash the first of the week because the fourth of last Tuesday for us that means a couple of things for one
We will not meet on Tuesday like you don't be any body study, but it's our transition
So on the left the 11 will meet from this coming Tuesday
We will start Tuesday I service in here as a group and worship God
And then the kids will go to their appropriate classes and games like they normally do and it's easy to stay in here for a
Lesson time if you are a teen or an adult and you feel like how to teach on something
That's an opportunity for you to do that and we'll have a schedule will be months in advance on the schedule
We don't know much so don't wait for the last second if you do maybe somebody will step out of the way
So otherwise you get on that schedule that would be ideal
And then obviously we're praying for our nation
It really is the fourth of July really is the celebration of our declaration independence
Our independence day today that we said that we felt that we could govern ourselves under God
I don't know if you know this or not, but all of the men who sign the declaration independence except for one
or deacons or pastors
So if you
You think of that that means the church let out
Insane to the king of England that our nation could govern itself and so we very much have
We're very
Instrumental in the way this country is led the church is when I was at the annual meeting
I'll just take this last comment that will pray one of the annual meeting
One of the things that they mentioned was over the last 20 years
Every major swing the government including the recent overthrowing of Roe versus Wade like that was preceded by
Southern Baptist making a resolution to the effect of what they what would happen?
So two years ago three years ago now three years ago Southern Baptist asked the federal government to overthrow overturn Roe v. Wade and make abortion
Illegal federally and then let the state decide how they want to handle it
And then you thought it happened last year so that has happened throughout our history
You're a part of a kingdom of God
Ideally that would lead our entire country
But that's not how it actually happens
You need to lead a lot. We have to influence a lot, but a lot of people are not led by Jesus and I wish they were
We're gonna pray for our nation as I open today pray for freedom true freedom
As we talked about what that means a little bit later and
I hope then you'll stand up last night at the fireworks
We didn't get to take the first it's kind of late for a Sunday morning
But we went out to the festival and I ran to some people who also wearing Christian D-shirts
And I got to talk to them and they were celebrating like we are
Serve God and preach God and I'm grateful for that
Okay, pray this morning for Ron Mack who's pretty sick
We could simply be because of all that
Movie back
Okay, so let's pray together.
Bless you.
Father in heaven, we are grateful for this day to come together and worship.
We're grateful for this day
realizing that you have blessed us to be part of a nation
founded on the principles of freedom. We recognize that men have certain and alienable rights. They have
the ability
at least
to hear from you and to choose whether to follow you or to go another way.
In our country, we want to preserve that for every individual.
We pray for our government and the president
to the local councilman at every level. We pray for our soldiers of
every branch of the military and everywhere they might be right now.
We pray thanking you God that you have preserved to this day. We've already made it well over 200 years and
the truth is
so many methods of government and so many countries have originated in the history of mankind that
didn't last a few years and many originates that last a lot longer.
So we hope ours will last a lot longer and we'll be able to preserve for
United States of America citizens and maybe the world's over.
Those inalienable rights that you have bestowed to the men.
Why do we pray for our sick? We pray for Josh, we pray for Ron, we pray for those who are hurt, we pray for June, we pray for Chris.
Well, there's a lot of trials and tribulations in this life. We know your words, that's kind of pure joy,
but we also know that in the midst of trials and tribulations, sometimes that seems very difficult.
I'm going to pray for my wife. She continues to struggle with the problem of her neck and her back and her head.
There needs to be a solution for her.
And for these names that have been called, maybe a miraculous solution.
We know you have the power. We pray you will review the evil spirits of infirmity and set out our people truly free to follow you and the strength that you have bestowed them with.
I pray to you, Father, that they are overcoming and where they are mailing to overcome, I pray that you will lift them up so that they can.
Father, I pray for this worship to sort of honor you.
And we would, as Kayla reminded us, realize we are in such a good place to be here, to be able to be beyond any struggles that might stop us from coming.
While people in Canada are fighting fires over millions of acres of forest, started by the drive of May in history.
And then we just get the residual effects that remind us that we are not alone, not fully apart.
As long as we're followers of Jesus in this world, it matters what happens to other people.
And so we pray for that more.
We pray for others. I pray for the gentleman and his son.
He works at Aaron's work and Aaron's been witnessing to him.
And now his son is going to go to camp and camp with us and volunteer for life ations because we've gotten in trouble with the law and need to do that.
Florida, you want these eager and wants to learn about you.
And I pray that that relationship will blossom into something awesome and powerful.
Not our kind of power, but your kind of power.
I pray you'll take over this time to call on distractions, overcome temptation, and help us focus on you.
We pray all of you to be with him.
Alright, we're lacking our entire risen section up here today.
So I need you to stand up and dance a little, clap a little, sing along.
Here we go.
Stand up. Come on.
Come on.
One final breath again,
His heaven loves me,
The Son of God was laid in darkness,
A battle in a grave,
The war on death was waged,
The power fell forever broken,
The ground began to shake,
The storm was rolled away,
It's part of the good now,
It's beyond the cross,
Now death will be yours again,
Our hands are red again,
That's better than yours to be,
Forever here is glorified,
Forever here is closer,
Forever here is our life,
From the end to the end,
The storm was rolled away,
It's part of the good now,
It's beyond the cross,
Now death will be yours again,
It has happened a number of times
While I have been walking out this Christian walk
Since I got saved,
That someone has said to me
That God is the God of second chances.
And I am in agreement with that statement,
Generally speaking.
I think we are born with our first chance,
Screw that up, without fail,
Everyone screws it up.
That's what it means when it says,
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
And then God is willing to give a second chance.
birth a person spiritually so that they can begin a new with him start over altogether
and get a second chance.
However, this is where my struggle begins because it occurs to me that while God is a
God of second chances, what most people mean when they say God is a God of second chances
is that God is a God of infinite chances, unending, forever forgiving, always willing
that you should be able to go back again.
I submit to you that I struggle with that because Satan and evil spirits and demons
get no more second chances.
They rebelled overtly against God and I guess you could say by some stretch of the analogy
that if a demon decided to turn his life over to Jesus and be on the right side again, perhaps
God would forgive and then you would say perhaps a demon would never do that.
He would never change sides.
But they're not stupid.
They fear God and tremble.
And the Bible says that they recognize the name of God and they fear.
They tremble at the name of God and yet they do not switch sides either by their own will
or I submit to you that it's entirely possible that they are not allowed.
They have gone beyond.
They are, the Bible says that he is able to keep unto that day their just punishment,
their eternal punishment.
So then I struggle with the human being who would say, use the phrase God is a God of
second chances in all kinds of environments and under all kinds of things.
So I repented, I turned away from this thing that I was doing and now bless you, I've gone
back into it again and I repent again and I turn away and I repent again and I turn
away and I repent again and I turn away.
And as long as I'm still repenting every so often before I die, God will forgive and
everything will be fine.
I'm not sure of that doctrine.
Some would argue it's true from scripture.
Others would say no, that is not Christianity to repent and turn to the Lord and allow God
to work in you is to actually see fruits of God's labor in you.
Jesus even said you shall know them by the fruits of their tree or what they produce.
So is God a God of second chances?
Absolutely.
Is he a God of seven chances?
Perhaps.
Is he a God of 77 times seven chances?
Perhaps.
Certainly when Jesus was asked how often shall I forgive my brother if he comes and apologizes
and they were told 77 times seven times.
So always to be forgiving.
I want you to bear that in mind today then as we look at the text because there is a place
in this text where there is no way back.
It's not the only place elsewhere in scripture.
It talks about how there were those Israelites who came out of the Promised Land and God
had basically chosen them by grace and they died in the desert and were never allowed to
see the Promised Land after failing to go in courageously when he told them to and then
going in when he told them not to.
They did all of that and they were never allowed to see the Promised Land dying in the desert
and it says that they were as an example to us that eventually there is a place where
you can get to where there is no more repentance, there is no more forgiveness, there is no
going back.
This one that we're going to see today is a very specific case with a very specific
purpose but at the same time I submit to you it will teach us something about the greater
case, the case that might apply to all of us.
So grab your Bibles if you would and go with me to Deuteronomy chapter 24.
Amen.
Very little hoots and hollers today, a little something from Tommy back there.
I don't know what that was exactly.
That was Arden.
Yeah, a little sound bite.
Okay, that's good enough.
Very good stuff.
So even the sound guy gets in on the hooting and hollering back there.
I like that.
It was fun.
All right, so Deuteronomy chapter 24.
We're just going to have the first five verses and I will quote a couple of other texts and
read two other texts by the time I'm done.
So this will go by fairly quickly.
So be careful, you don't miss it.
Deuteronomy chapter 24 verses 1 through 5 says, When a man takes a wife and marries
her and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency
in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends
her out from his house.
That's as far as verse one goes.
So there are a couple of troubling phrases in here for purposes of interpretation.
I was troubled by them when I read them in English and then when I went and looked at
the various commentaries, they're all pointing out that there are struggles in translating
them from Hebrew to English and that's why they're in different translations.
If you didn't read in the New American Standard, you may have seen something different there.
So I'll point them out to you briefly.
The first one where it says he has found no favor in his eyes.
So in other words, he doesn't love her anymore.
He doesn't want her anymore.
She's not the apple of his eye, if you will, because he has found some indecency in her
or in the phrase he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends
her out from the house.
Both of those two are taught to translate.
The indecently, the word there is he's seen a nakedness in her.
So now that they've been together, and it doesn't mean, although someone might try to
interpret that way, it doesn't mean that he saw her naked and he doesn't like what he
sees.
It's nothing like that.
It means that now that they've been together intimately and in all ways and spent some
time together, he has decided that she's not the person she presented herself to be.
There's something about her that is indecent and immoral behavior, if you will, that is
in keeping with her normal character.
And he has decided that that indecency in her disqualifies her as his wife.
That's what it's talking about.
In Jesus's day, this particular case has so expanded that indecency in her, the thing
that he doesn't like that leads her to not have favor for her, has so expanded to say
by many that if there's anything at all he doesn't like about her, he can divorce her.
That's the way they were doing it in Jesus's day by a lot of people.
But it was left to only the man.
If there was anything that the man did not like about his wife, he could write her a
paper of divorce and send her away out of his house.
And so it was occurring quite frequently because if it's not an offense to God, any Jewish
male might do it any time he feels like he should, any time he feels like he wants to.
He might look at his wife and go, she put on 15 pounds, and here's this pretty check
over here that ain't put on the 15 pounds, I'm going to get rid of her, and I'm going
to take this one instead.
And there were those in the main line Jewish faith who were interpreting the text to say
if there was anything at all that he didn't like about his wife, he could just write
her papers of divorce and get rid of her.
And so there were far too many divorced women running around in Jesus's day, which of course
is why Jesus addresses the issue of divorce multiple times in his public ministry.
That being said, that's not what it meant.
What it means in the text and what it means in the Hebrew and what we've just studied
is to say that having come to know her, he now realizes that there is a deep indecency
and immorality, something about her, a flaw in her character that disqualifies her from
being his wife.
Covered up during their courtship, covered up during his previous knowing of her.
We're not just talking about the fact that maybe she was not a virgin when they married.
We covered that a little while back in Deuteronomy.
We're talking about an indecency in her character and immorality that continues, is persistent,
and it's not going to easily go away.
It's funny how that works, isn't it?
When you run into somebody and they have a flaw and it's clear that they're not going
to get over their flaw anytime soon, you're left with only really kind of like a couple
of possibilities.
One is you still stay in there with that person, you hang in there tight with that person,
and you suffer the negative effects of the flaw in their character over and over and
over again.
That's one of the possibilities.
Another is you hang in there with that person and fight the good fight and maybe between
the two of you, you're able to overcome that flaw in character and someday you defeat it.
Those two possibilities can be combined.
We stay in there, we fight, we suffer the effects for as long as we have to, and eventually
that person becomes a person of character in that area.
The third one is to put some distance between you and them.
What Moses told the men here in Deuteronomy 24 is that if it so happened that the woman
was found to have an indecency in her moral character and the man chose then to write
her a certificate of divorce.
Notice, this is not saying if there's a flaw in her character, he can write her a certificate
of divorce or he should write her a certificate of divorce or the proper course of action
is or if he does, he will not be held accountable by God or anything like that.
It doesn't say anything like that.
What it says is that if it arises that after you come to know her, she has a flaw in her
character that you were not previously aware of that disqualifies her from being her your
wife and then you choose to write her a certificate of divorce, then now what we're going to read
next.
The dominos fall like this, then this is what God says you must do.
God does not say that you will find a flaw in her character.
God does not say that you will divorce her if you find a flaw in her character.
This is by no means authorizing that.
It was used that way.
It has been used that way on a number of occasions, but God is not authorizing that course of
action but rather saying I can see that this will happen.
The same as he once said you don't need another king, but I can see that one day you're going
to have one.
God often tolerates in us certain actions that we should not do.
If he is actively tolerating things in us that we shouldn't do, he then tells us what
we should do about that.
For example, God says when you lie, this will be the result, repent of all deceit and put
lying away from you.
He doesn't say you'll never lie as a lost person because lost person doesn't have the
strength to do that.
He says you will lie, you have lied, therefore now repent and put it away from you.
And then if you should lie again, do it again.
But that being said, the only reason that second time, third time, fifteenth time is
possible is because Christ is making an intercession next to the throne of God for us and he becomes
our intercession according to John.
Back on task for a second here.
When these things unfold, she is found with an indecency and her husband writes her a
certificate of divorce when that happens.
And she leaves his house.
So those are the three dominoes and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's
wife.
There's the fourth dominoes.
So four dominoes have fallen to get it to this point.
She was found indecent by the man according to his testimony.
She was divorced.
She left his house.
She married another man.
So all of those things have fallen in order.
Now verse three, it says, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a
certificate of divorce, boy, it's a messed up world when it can be so common that she
was married, put out by divorce, goes on to another person and he puts her out maybe for
the same reason.
Now he would have verified that she was divorced.
No way he was going to marry her if she wasn't divorced.
So he verified that she was divorced and if she was divorced, she had the paper which
said why she was divorced.
So he saw that and if he puts her out for the same reason, that's pretty messed up.
Maybe intentional on his part.
Like, oh, OK, well, I can see past that.
Oh, sorry, I can't see past that after all.
So if he then turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce, so now we've
got five dominoes and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house or substitute
domino or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife.
So in other words, she married a second guy.
Now the guy died off.
And we generally in this world, we think, if your husband dies, you're free to do whatever
you want as far as remarrying that kind of thing.
But this is about that circumstance as well as it's about it for second husband divorce her.
So whether he divorced her or if he croaked either way, OK, verse four, then her former
husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife since she has
been defiled.
Two things there.
First of all, there's no going back.
She's divorced her, she went and remarried, her second husband died or was divorced, divorced
her because of an indecency that he found her or whatever.
But she was divorced a second time.
She's not allowed to go back with her first husband.
OK.
And the second part of it says, because she has been defiled.
Now defiled means unclean or useless.
I submit to you in this case, it means that she's unclean or useless to her first husband
or to God in her first marriage, not in life in everything necessarily.
She's not permanently defiled or unclean necessarily, but defiled as we'll see in a second, specifically
for her first husband's use, if you will.
So since she has been defiled, then it says for that is an abomination before the Lord.
If you take her back after she has been defiled for that purpose, it would be an abomination
before the Lord.
That word abomination is something like this.
Mwah!
God would be sick to his stomach to think that a man who was married, who divorced his wife,
she goes off, marries another man.
He divorces her.
She would go back to her first husband.
OK.
Or if her second husband died, which we would normally think, well, then he's fine.
She's fine.
She can go back to anybody she wants to have that because he died.
She stayed with him until death through us part.
That's marriage vile.
It's not Bible.
All right.
So when he died, she goes back to her first husband, God's buck, throw up.
This is an abomination before the Lord.
And you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord or God gives you as an inheritance.
In other words, while you're in the land doing this, don't do this.
Don't exercise or be part of that abomination.
I submit to you, there are more ways in this to bring sin than just that abomination.
But clearly that abomination would be a sin before God.
And God should be pleased by what he's done calling his people out in the Promised Land,
giving them this land that they didn't plant.
They get the harvest.
They didn't build.
They get to live in the houses, all that.
He defended them in combat while they were going in.
Lord, your God is giving you an inheritance.
And while there, don't bring sin on the land.
The place that God takes you, don't bring sin there.
Last verse five.
When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any
duty.
He shall be at home one year and shall give happiness to his wife whom he has taken.
So this is another state where a man marries a wife.
It's his first year with his new wife.
Maybe he's in the military.
Maybe he's not.
Maybe the king is calling up levies, whatever.
Either way, he's free not to go out into the military for the first year.
He is not to enact his duty, according to this, can't be charged with any duty.
So it could be a temple duty.
It could be an army duty.
It could be a city servant duty, whatever.
He can't be charged with any duty that takes him away from his wife.
You could say it this way.
He's got to be able to sleep at home every night during the first year of his marriage.
This is Moses.
God speaking through Moses to what it would be like.
When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any
duty.
He shall be free at home one year and shall give happiness to his wife whom he has taken.
And so for a year, he is to be committing his undivided attention, at least staying
at home, so that they can build a marriage.
Before I go into exposing the text in three points, which I have written here on my paper,
I want to share with you a story.
Mary and I went to Tennessee.
While we were in Tennessee, it was over Christmas break.
We got there on about the 26th of December and we had the girls with us.
And while we were there, Malia developed an ear infection and it got pretty severe.
So we called back up here to Prairie'sburg to our doctor and we said, Malia developed
an ear infection and she had had a physical at the doctor maybe about four months before
or something and they looked that up and the doctor said, okay, we'll call you in an antibiotic,
give her some Tylenol for the pain or whatever you need to do, Tylenol, ibuprofen overlapping
if necessary, that kind of thing and go to the pharmacy and get an antibiotic.
So we did, we went to the pharmacy.
While we were at the pharmacy waiting in line, I noticed there was just gazillion drugs
back there hanging up that people were coming to pick up and we were waiting in line for
the antibiotic and as I am want to do, whenever I am able to do, I began a witnessing conversation
with the lady who was giving us the antibiotic.
She was wearing a cross around her neck.
By the way, I submit to you that if you ever see anyone wearing a cross around their neck,
that is an open invitation to witness.
The very least you can say, hey, I like your cross.
Yeah, okay.
If it's a crucifix, then you can, which means it has Jesus still on the cross.
You can comment that we're grateful that Jesus is not still on the cross but did go to the
grave and resurrected on the third day and so on.
You can begin that conversation.
If it's an empty cross, you can say it's funny.
Our faith is the only faith that uses an implement of torture and death for its main symbol,
the cross, which point they'll go, yeah, that's true.
And then you can begin to talk about what a Christian believes.
You can go right into sharing the gospel pretty quickly and you might even say something like,
do you recall what Jesus said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 and go straight to that.
Talk about being born again.
And if they are Catholic and not born again, they just might get saved if they believe what
the word says and if they are a Christian living outside the will of God, living on
their own, but they just like to wear a cross because crosses are pretty, you'll have shared
the gospel with somebody who desperately needs it.
So the lady at the counter back to the story was wearing a cross.
I commented on her cross, began witnessing to her and she had an amazing story, which
I'm about to tell you.
It's brief.
She lived in Washington state.
Jamie, you know Washington state.
Jamie lived in Washington state for quite a while.
Living in Washington state in a small town, I don't know where she married a young man
coming out of high school.
She was 19 or 20 years old.
He was a couple years older than she was.
Turned out that this young man was into drinking alcohol.
Whenever he drank, he was physically violent.
They stayed together for about nine years with him being physically violent whenever
he would drink too much.
By that time she had two children, one of which was seven and one of which was four.
She just couldn't take it anymore when the violence began to turn toward the children
and not only her.
So the YWCA paid her way to relocate elsewhere.
They'll do that.
So she fled to the YWCA.
They paid her way to relocate and ultimately they settled her in Tolahoma, Tennessee, where
she got her pharmacist license and became a pharmacist.
She went off social media.
She canceled her cell phone.
She disconnected from her old life in every way so that her husband who had beaten her
every time he got drunk or often anyway and had turned to beating her children fairly recently
would leave them alone.
Nobody knew where she was.
She was far away.
Fast forward about five, six years and her elder daughter is a teenager now and there
she got involved with a church, went to a Bible study, went to VBS, went to something
and she got saved.
And so that led this woman, mind you that I'm talking to you at the pharmacy counter
with a cross on her neck so you can imagine where this is going, to get in church.
She gave her life to Christ.
Her second daughter gave her life to Christ.
So there became a Christian family, a single mom, two kids serving in the church, actively
serving in the church there in Tolahoma.
So she's going to church one day and she runs into somebody who looks kind of familiar and
it turns out, and mind you this is really weird to even happen because we're 1500 miles
away, right?
But this person used to live in Washington, recognized her from where she used to live
and says, aren't you so and so?
Now mind you she's not going by that name.
So she says no, no that's not me.
And she said, well I don't mean any trouble and they let it go.
Well over several weeks she gets into conversation and she basically shares there in the same
church.
She shares the truth of what had happened that she had relocated and she asked them not to
share anything on social media, nothing about back home or whatever.
And she says, well I hear what you're saying in the story, but wasn't your husband so and
so?
And she said, and the person that she met said, yeah that was my husband but I don't
want nothing to do with him.
And so he proceeds to tell her, I can't remember what the man or woman, but he proceeds to
tell her that back home in Washington her husband has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord
and Savior, begun going to church and has been going to church for several years.
So where he goes to church by himself.
And they personally witnessed this.
Fast forward two years of very trepidatious discussion cautiously reaching out and like
that she finds out that this story is true.
Her husband living in Washington, now her daughter is now 16 years old and hasn't known
her father in eight years.
And she finds out that her husband is faithfully serving in a church in Washington state.
They elect to meet, they get together for coffee.
And ultimately he moves to Telehoma, they get back together, they reconcile their marriage,
raise their children the rest of the way, the 16 year old daughter was a bit of a hurdle
because she was very concerned but she was very blessed also to finally know who her
father was and they reconciled their marriage after all of that.
That is the grace and mercy of God.
Hear it here in the text.
The first thing I want you to see in this text then is that a good marriage is a thing
to be built, protected, prioritized and respected and I emphasize this in my notes it's all
in caps by all.
All people everywhere should recognize the sanctity of marriage, how valuable it is.
I use these words fairly selectively.
I felt like God was speaking to my heart when I said I said built, marriage takes work,
you build it from the ground up and you start a long time, a long, long time.
Listen to me married people, you start a long, long time before you ever say I do.
If you started building your marriage at the moment that you said I do, you had already
missed the boat.
Like the kids who try to memorize all the Bible verses at 5 minutes to 11.30 on Sunday morning
to make sure they get the prize, you go saying I do and try to fix yourself completely in
marriage counseling.
Sorry, that's not the way it works.
Men will be men that they were created to be first in Christ's image if they have accepted
Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior but otherwise in the image of the world if they have not
and when they get into their marriage that's who they will still be.
Why do you think there's the stereotyping and the joking about the woman is always fixing
her man for the rest of her life because matters screwed up and they will be for the rest of
their lives unless Jesus Christ has already taken care of some things.
The bottom line is a marriage has to be built and it starts by building a man and building
a woman.
If I was going to build a bridge I would get the parts together first wouldn't I?
First you build a man, you build a woman and then you put a man and a woman together and
you build a couple or a marriage.
A marriage is a thing to be built, it is a thing to be protected.
It will be challenged in every way, shape or form.
It is said to say that the three things most married couples fight about are sex, money
and communication.
The third of which makes it almost impossible because they don't want to communicate because
they are not good at it or every time they do it it screws things up so then they can't
talk about sex or money.
The bottom line is it is a thing to be protected from outside influences and from literally
everything except God.
It is a thing to be prioritized, that it be put up over more important than any other
choices.
A man ought to love his wife more than he loves his kids, I am sorry but it is a fact.
If you can't love yourself you can't love somebody else and loving your wife is loving
yourself.
A woman ought to love her husband more than she loves her kids for the same reason.
If you can't love yourself it is hard to love somebody else.
And your man and woman become a couple, a marriage and so it ought to be prioritized.
In fact man if you pour into your wife she will be a better mother for your children.
If you pour into your husband he will be a better father for your children.
If you push your husband to be a better father for your children you have already missed
the boat.
You are trying to put a bandage on a gaping wound.
You are trying to stop a collapse lung with a pixie stick.
It is not going to work.
You have to get back to where it was supposed to be built, protected, prioritized and then
respected.
Give it the respect.
Give the other person the respect that they deserve.
If your husband or wife is choosing to follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that
alone makes them a child of God and they deserve the respect of a child of God.
But notice it is not built, protected or prioritized and respected by him or by her.
If it was only by him and not by her it is doomed.
If it was only by her and not by him it is doomed.
If it is by just them it is doomed.
Because it is by all.
Just the same as it says a man is not supposed to be called out for his duty.
We will come back to that in a moment.
A man is not supposed to be called out for by his duty in the first year of his marriage
because all of society is supposed to be protecting the sanctity of marriage.
Why is it a problem that we have redefined marriage in the United States of America?
Not because we are against certain sinful behaviors but because we are commanded and
led by God and the kingdom of God to protect the sanctity of marriage at all times.
That all men and all women and all married people and all unmarried people and all governors
and all officers and all businessmen and all housewives and all husbands and all teachers
and all doctors.
We could go on if you want to but the bottom line is that we are all called to build, protect,
prioritize and respect marriage.
Marriage is the foundation for a future society.
I am sorry to say whether you like it or not two men are not going to get together and
foster a baby.
It is just not going to happen.
That happens in marriage.
Except it also now happens outside marriage.
So we propagate that which happens outside marriage by more stuff.
It is going to happen outside Godly marriage over and over again.
We raise our children.
I raised my child, my eldest child who was born outside marriage and she had her first
child outside marriage.
I am not pointing fingers at anybody but the bottom line is the future society of the United
States of America and the entire world and especially the kingdom of God depends on as
if that marriage literally were the cradle for the future depends on building, protecting,
prioritizing and respecting marriage by all.
Marriage represents the union of Christ and his church.
That is the main purpose for it.
Ephesians 5 verses 21 to 33 Paul is writing about marriage.
I am flipping there pretty quick.
I am moving along kind of excited.
I apologize if you miss anything but here we go.
Ephesians 5 beginning of verse 21 and he basically says, be subject to one another in
the fear of Christ marriage.
Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord for the husband is the head of the
wife as Christ also is the head of the church.
He himself being the savior of the body but as the church is subject to Christ so also
the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
Just love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her.
You know if I need to put it there I will be prepared to die for your wife in your preferences,
in your strength, in your weaknesses, in your life.
Verse 26 that he might sanctify her having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
word that he might present to himself the church in all his glory having no spot or
wrinkle or any such thing but that she should be holy and blameless.
So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.
He loves his own wife, loves himself for no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes
and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church because we are members of his body
for this cause a man shall leave his mother and father and shall cleave to his wife and
the two shall become one flesh.
Get it?
This is all about an image that God is painting all the way back to Adam and Eve.
This mystery is great but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church nevertheless
let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself and let the wife
see to it that she respect her husband.
This is all about God showing us that the cradle for society is a man and a woman in
a proper union.
Do you understand it that everybody on the planet were wiped out if there was one man
and one woman God could start a new society?
We know this because he's already done it in Adam and Eve.
Yes he would have to renew our DNA which is old and weak and tired comparatively.
Yes he would have to renew our bodies and our relationship with him would have to be
good otherwise in innocence or in righteousness as it was through Adam and Eve.
Yes that's true but the bottom line is he could do it because the cradle for the future
of society all society is the marriage of man and women because it is a representation
of the union of Christ and his church.
Bear these things in mind and always seek in all that you do as commanded by God to
preserve the sanctity of marriage.
Second thing to see in these texts then is duty, honor and dignity are required nutrients
to nurture marriage.
So we said that we were going to build, protect, prioritize and respect marriage.
We said that we were going to pit ourselves to preserve the sanctity of marriage recognizing
it as the cradle of all future society and the representation of the relationship between
Christ and his church.
By the way if there is no relationship between Christ and his church we are all going to hell.
That makes that pretty important and it makes our marriage pretty important representing
that relationship.
Duty, honor and dignity then are required nutrients to nurture marriage.
You want to nurture marriage you want to see it be the right kind of thing?
Duty, honor and dignity are required.
The beauty of this is that in a relationship with Christ these things are self supplied.
The man recognizes his duty, holds himself in honor and practices dignity because he
is made in the image of God and is walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
And he supplies duty, honor and dignity.
The woman the same and so when they come into marriage they bring with them duty, honor
and dignity enough to fertilize that marriage.
Let's say for example they don't.
That marriage will not succeed certainly not in representing the image of Jesus Christ
and his church but possibly at all.
Once lost duty, honor or dignity once lost might be regained through repentance.
We might say look I have not behaved with honor.
I lied or I didn't hold up my responsibilities or whatever.
I didn't treat so and so with respect.
I repent and I turn to Jesus and Jesus re-institutes in me makes me born again so maybe I was married
not a Christian and now I'm turning to him for the first time where I was married a Christian
but I realized I didn't honor what I said and so I'm turning to him again.
And Jesus then provides the duty, honor and dignity in the life of a person the nutrients
that are necessary to nurture a marriage but be careful about writing people off then because
you may look at a person in this present day or time and they may not be worthy of your
ongoing relationship.
I know some folks and folks some folks I would call friends and they will lie to me and I
could go man they lied to me again I'm done with them but be careful about writing them
off right.
Remember what this is all about or where this all comes from a man who had a wife who found
some immoral and decency in her and she couldn't be his wife anymore she was clearly disqualified
now she went off and became the wife of another man and now he's gone by divorce or by death
and this first man is thinking about taking her back and he's saying you can't do it.
There is a prohibition in taking her back why would he even think about taking her back
he divorced her because we are too quick to cut people off in general and he cut her off
saying she had an immoral and decency that was no good and now maybe he's thinking either
a he can tolerate it it wasn't as bad as he thought the grass is always greener on the
other side of the fence after all or he's saying it's clear that she's all fixed up
now she got passed that saying and I submit to that either one of those two things are
true if he is if he can get past it now or if he realizes that she it's fixed in her
now either one right he wrote her the papers of divorce in the first place prematurely
he never should have done that he cast her out besmirched her honor made her mistrusted
in society etc for an immoral failing that she had rather than tearing with her to try
to work through it or whatever he didn't have duty honor and dignity and mine in his relationship
with her he may with the world he may be a soldier in the army and shows great respect
for command he may be an officer in the city and shows great respect for the mayor he may
be a leather worker and does a great job and always charges a fair price but in his marriage
he didn't have duty honor and dignity he wrote her off thinking she was no good and could
not possibly be qualified to be his wife you know what he had well if he later would possibly
take her back he at least had arrogance and short-sightedness at the very least he thought
he was all that in a bag of chips and didn't deserve to be saddled with somebody who wasn't
as good as him so he wrote her off and now he's looking at her down the road after she
was clearly desired by somebody else now he's thinking well maybe maybe it wasn't such a
bad thing that I had you don't write somebody off lightly ever doesn't matter how bad they
are how much they offend you don't write them off lightly understand that God sees the end
and at the end they may go to heaven which means they would be a child of God and God
already sees that God was at work in my life for 25 years before I became a Christian in
fact I was submit to you that I could recount to you several miracles that God did in my
life before I was saved answering stupid prayers that I wasn't praying to him or didn't think
I was I was just praying to the sky or to the stars star lights are bright for star I see
tonight I wish I may I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight and then God does a miracle
really before I was saved why because God knew when I was 25 years old that I would
give my life to Christ and 26 become a child of God and ultimately become a servant of
God and with all my mess ups and all my mistakes God's never written me off God didn't write
you off with all your mess ups and all your mistakes so let's not be quick to write people
off marriage requiring very various levels of tolerance you've got to tolerate what they're
doing well at the same time wanting better for them that's what marriage is it's not
a we compromise right well I think we shouldn't lie well I think we should rely on Wednesdays
and Fridays well you're right can we just do Fridays no it's not like that it's not
compromise it's tolerance well I think we shouldn't lie why I think we should only lie
on Wednesdays and Fridays okay I'm asking you please don't I really believe this is
what God wants us to do now I'm sorry I think I'm gonna continue to lie on Wednesdays and
Fridays okay well just understand that on Wednesdays and Fridays I'm not gonna trust
you because you just told me you're gonna lie on Wednesdays and Fridays so there's
only trust there but I love you and I'll stick with you and I'm gonna help you I'm gonna
over time we're gonna try to work through this okay it's not compromise it's a varying
levels of tolerance required at different times you and put it say it this way because
it's how I feel you sometimes you got to just put up with their crap why for the sake of
your duty and your honor and your dignity you put up with their stuff so because the
marriage is nurtured in duty honor and dignity not in chastisement or critical nature or
talking bad about what they do or your pet peeves coming through all the time think oh
I don't like it when you do that that's not duty it's not dignity and it's not honor and
it will not nurture the marriage bed we see God's example here in the text of how he comes
back and he says look I'll tolerate your writing a certificate of divorce when you shouldn't
have I'll tolerate that I mean it's gonna happen right there's gonna be women who are
found in a morality and you're gonna write them a suit you shouldn't but you will and
when you do that then they go off and marry somebody else and I'll tolerate that even
though it's not appropriate but that man loves that won't be there's gonna take care of her
wherever it's a marriage and if it becomes a god the marriage great but I'll tolerate
that set of circumstances but here's what I won't tolerate I won't tolerate you writing
them off as I have not done to you I will not tolerate you writing them off and then
later going ah you know I didn't mean to write her off she's actually kind of attractive
or I kind of do one or whatever and since her new husband died I can have her back now
no God says you can I'll tolerate those stupid little things to a point but this is where
I draw the line when you take the marriage bed and you drag it through the mud so that
the relationship of Jesus Christ the church looks like two pigs wallowing in the mud
making piglets when you're destroying the image that I have created the image of my
son who would die for the church that's enough I'm done no more
once a person regains their duty their honor and their dignity they may make matrimony
possible or possible again but there is a moment in time at which it is no longer possible
to go back once instituted in another marriage what did she have to do she had to become
one with that person as Christ was one with the church as the church is one with Christ
she had to go embody that image that's what their new marriage had to be about now she's
done that so when she goes back she's now setting an image of I bonded with Christ now
I've lost Christ he died or he divorced me so now I'm going to go back and bond with
the person from before so now what image do we have there we have an image of the church
bonded with Christ now separating from Christ and going back to be with the world that's
an abomination to the Lord we don't go back to who we were before we don't go back to
being with who we were before we chose to be with Christ once instituted in another marriage
that is to say our marriage to Jesus we never go back to the first again duty honor and
dignity are required nutrients to nurture marriage and they are self supplied once lost
maybe regain through Christ once regain may make matrimony possible or possible again
but never when a person has been dismissed goes there and wants to come back because
that is an image of leaving Christ and going back to the world the third point then is
personal uncleanness due to God's commands applied is a very real thing I got to break
that down for you because it is only distantly related to this past scripture it's very clearly
there when you see it personal uncleanness was personal uncleanness is there anyone in
this room that God has ever told them they must do something or they must not do something
that's not in the Bible the Bible doesn't tell you you have to do it but you know God
has told you you have to do it anybody have it do you think of one okay so I'll use myself
as an example God has told me years ago to give up soda that's not a sin to drink soda
I know now that it was for my betterment that God was doing something good for me at the
time I would probably be dead if I hadn't done it but I would never tell you don't drink
soda personal uncleanness personal uncleanness is when you know what you cannot do or you
know what you are supposed to do because of God's talking to you personally but you'd
have a hard time finding it written in here if it's written in here it's never my personal
interpretation if God says don't do it in this book that's don't do it for all of us
and on that we can begin to practice Matthew 18 accountability we can say his word says
it's a sin you're continuing to do it I think it's a sin but you say you're a Christian
come on let's talk about that right but if it's your personal preference your personal
idea or God is maybe God is doing it in you to create dignity so you can stand up firm
maybe you're a person that thinks you should work out every day five days we God has told
me I should work out every day five days I know that's something I'm supposed to do
and I and I try really hard sometimes I fail at it but I pretty much always get it maybe
that's you or maybe you're a person that says we should go to bed by a reasonable time every
night or get up early right and you know that's how your life works and God has given authored
that in you all right so if you quit that when God tells you what to do for you that
would create personal uncleanness bless you God has commanded you and now you quit therefore
you are defiled unclean for the service of the Lord personal uncleanness due to God's
commands applied is a very real thing how do I know this from this text has anybody
already seen it you already figured out how I know that there is a different standard for
one person is tech than there is another the woman who cannot go back and marry her first
husband can she marry again she can't right it doesn't say she can never be married again
especially for husband died right we know that her husband died her second husband after
her first husband divorced her her second husband died what she what can she not do she cannot
go back with her first husband because that would be an abomination to the Lord but she
could marry somebody else right her first husband cannot take her back because that
would be an abomination to the Lord but all other qualified candidates are open to marry
her if they choose you see the difference God is saying to that man who dismissed her
and now would potentially take her back you can't do that it's different for him than
it is for anybody else and if he takes it not only is it going to make him kind of feel
bad but it's an abomination to the Lord and it will bring sin upon the land right I submit
to you if God says to me that I have to do something and I choose not to do it and you're
not going to like what I'm about to say but if God says something to me very clearly and
I choose not to do it then you're all going to suffer for it every church member in this
room everyone who's latched themselves to me as a brother or sister in Christ recognizes
my profession Jesus Christ if I choose not to do what is it God has told me to do you're
all going to suffer for it because that is an abomination to the Lord God clearly told
me what to do I'm intentionally choosing not to do it that's an abomination to the Lord
which according to what it says here brings sin upon the land to which I am called what
land to am I called to you just just 2103 union street right just going to bring there
well by the way if it just brought it there that's going to affect my wife it's going
to affect my current daughter my current son living in my house and everybody that was
raised there so there goes Alicia there goes Amalia there goes Aaron right so now they're
all affected and all and their spouses are all affected see how this goes so even if
we didn't count that limitation of if we only said it's only the house in which I raised
kids right everybody would be affected and by the way once they're all affected they're
all going to affect all of you that's how it goes it's going to spread from person to
person so if you're here today and you're not doing what it is that God has called you
to do you've not been serving in the capacity that God has led you to you're affecting your
spouse your kids if you have them or anybody else that stays in your house and not only
that but everybody that's in the church which means when you choose not to do what it is
that you were told to do you're affecting me I'm suffering because your church didn't
do what you were called to do and that's the way it goes and there's no duty honor and
dignity in that right but there's an exception given here isn't there for the first year
of the marriage so the first year of the marriage because why because the marriage represents
the marriage of Christ in the church which is the cheap and foremost point it is the
thing because we started out saying we must build protect prioritize and respect that
marriage because it represents the marriage relationship with Jesus Christ duty honor
and dignity are required as nutrients to nurture that marriage so we should try to have those
things and build protect and prioritize respect those things but personal uncleanness due
to God's commands applied is a very real thing you got to do what you got to do in
the Lord and I got to do what I got to do in the Lord and it's not always the same
we you and I might go to a restaurant together and the server might come to the table and
God might say to you hey witness to the server and God might not say to me witness to the
server and then another day we might go and God might say to me witness to the server
now we all know acts one eight we all know Matthew the great commission right so we're
all called to witness all called to talk about Jesus all the time supposed to be but on that
particular day God says to me do it and I don't do it you're going to suffer for it
or he says you do it and you don't do it I'm going to suffer for it we ought not to go
out to eat if we're not ready for God to say talk to somebody about Jesus because it very
well could happen and personal uncleanness due to God's commands applied is a very real
thing I want you to be real critical of yourself for a second not to accuse yourself that's
that's the job of the enemy but I want you to think about yourself and how many things
maybe God is telling you to do that you're not doing and I want to ask I want you to
ask yourself if that's true am I practicing my duty is my duty to God and am I doing
the things that God has called me to do and if you're not then you are failing to provide
the nutrients that are necessary for your marriage or for the marriage of anybody that
you know your parents your friends your brothers and sisters in Christ the church mine I ask
you to ask yourself for a moment about honor have you been honorable do you do what you
say you're going to do when you said you were going to do it are you walking around thinking
about what God would want you to do or what needs to be done even if God is not right
there at that moment in time telling you what you're supposed to do or for example if it's
your parent are you doing what your parents would want you to do remember that the obey
and honor your parents command was given to adults not only children so as an adult are
you doing what your parents would want you to do now if it's sin that they would want
you to do then you can dismiss that but if it's not are you doing what they would want
you to do because that's honoring them if you're not practicing honor how will you build
protect prioritize and respect the marriage bed I don't think I need to go on the bottom
line is you have a responsibility between you and God to figure out what you're supposed
to do and I submit to you that you shouldn't write God off oh did you think I was only
talking about people I submit to you that God was saying we should not write him off
the very one who went to the cross and died for us should never be written off he loves
you will you find flaw in God has got allowed something to happen in your life that you
didn't like now that you've known God for a while does he ask hard things of you have
gone through things that you might just feel like saying oh my God like the unsaved youtubers
do a million times in every video taking the Lord's name in vain oh but you know the 10
commandments really when it says taking the Lord's name in vain you know that's kind of
old or something there's some excuse why we can go ahead and do that no don't write God
off his commands are still his commands and your personal uncleanness due to God's commands
is a very real thing so much so that if you are thus defiled there are going to be places
that you cannot go back to callings that you cannot now fulfill duties that you cannot
now do because you have defiled yourself the great blessing is that you can become undefiled
if you go to the Lord your God repent turn to him and let him do the work we're in our
conclusion now let me say to you that in this marriage between the church and Christ God
tolerates an awful lot from us God hates divorce that's what Malachi 2 16 says yet it's all
too common in the world even Jesus himself speaking in Matthew 5 3132 says the only reason
for divorce is immorality sexual immorality on behalf of the other person and they're
like but Moses said you can write a letter of divorce if you don't like what she's like
and he says that's not what it said and now you know that's not what it said the only
cause for divorce is sexual morality in the other person by the way he did not then say
if the person other person is adulterous or sexually immoral you should divorce them that's
not what it said you can divorce them they shouldn't and they will they will drain all
the duty honor and dignity out of the marriage they have not built it protected it prioritized
it or respected it clearly if they have been adulterous they have missed every command
and they have personal uncleanness they may even be defiled to the point that you may
not be able to help them get beyond what they've done and if God authorizes it then we can
do it and there were no great harm will be done you can divorce them for immorality but
oh thank you God that he has not divorced us for our immorality sexual or otherwise oh
thank you God that he has tolerated us all through after having clearly given us the
commands to build protect prioritize and respect marriage to be a person of duty honor
and dignity in all things because if the cradle is marriage and it is required for the future
of mankind's society on earth then I submit to you in heaven then by our not holding the
sanctity of marriage by our not nurturing it in duty honor and dignity by our not building
it protecting it by our not doing these things that we are called to we are literally bringing
about the end of mankind and the kingdom of God help us help us remember you say well
I'm not married how does this apply to me if you can't hear it then you're either distracted
or a little too fully yourself because you have the same job duty honor and dignity because
they are the nutrients to nurture marriage you're just build protect prioritize and respect
marriage even if you're not married even if you're a kid we all have the same duty God
help us because we're living in a day when the world at large has divorced God and in
divorcing God they have decided that marriage godly marriage not all that important but it's
the cradle for the future and if we go the way that society is going on if we would join
them and go that way there will be no future if you're here today and Lord has spoken to
you somehow during this message you said you know what you're not going to hold up your
marriage you're not honorable you're not respectful you're doing damage to the relationship between
price and deterrence or maybe you said you're not protected marriage you're not respected
marriage you've not built yourself up to be married if you're not married yet or as a
married person you just say well I'm good now she can take care of that or he can take
care of that I don't have to do anything to get hurt that's not true you're not building
your marriage maybe your efforts in working your job and paying your bills instead of
building your marriage and if that's you you need to repent and turn to the Lord and let
God call you forward into the kingdom of God and your example of Godly marriage your example
of supporting married and unmarried person or a young person will make possible the success
of God and someone's marriage and the future's back on the table you mustn't have worked
God you must be grateful that God tolerates us up and down every day that's pretty easy
to come forward at this time and meet our closing hand and if you are responding in
some way then you come and respond publicly or raise your hand about where you are and
I'll let you speak God help us we'll stand as we sing this hymn and this will be the
closing hymn of our service
nonprofits
and trust in me, His presence daily will.
As the red light.
Pastor Daniel Stevenson, I want to thank you for dialing in today to New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.
You've been listening to his people in East Toledo reaching New Heights in Jesus,
and I want you to know that this podcast is reaching around the world.
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But you know God is calling you to do that.
And if that's so, check out that page because there's a thing there called non-resident members
and the requirements which you cannot meet to be a full-fledged member of New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.
You may still be able to be a non-resident member until you find a church home near you
or until God frees you up and helps you cross those barriers so you can serve at New Heights Fellowship Baptist Church of East Toledo.
If you'd like to know more information at all about the ministry and there's so many different ways,
you can get it in our Life 4 Toledo app in the App Store or on our church website at newheightsfalschurch.org or churchtoledo.com.
God bless you today.