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Perfect all right so I've been going through the book of Ezra and we're in the final chapter of the book of Ezra and This is really a pretty controversial chapter really Ezra chapter number 10 There's a lot of different opinions a lot of different ideas when it comes to this chapter about what's going on And I'm gonna do my best to make it clear I think the Bible is actually very clear on this subject, and that's kind of what we've been leading up to That's even why I took the detour in the book of Ruth to help you understand What I believe this chapter is clearly teaching and what we can glean from this chapter now Honestly when we read this chapter. It's a pretty bad way to conclude in the book of the Bible I mean it it really kind of just ends on a big downer It's been on this big up climb. You know they're returning to the land Cyrus made this great proclamation They're going there. They're building the house of the Lord. They're building the wall They're restoring them all the offices of the priests they even have people like Ezra coming in Restoring all these great things and the Bible makes it clear that Ezra Is a great man of God Ezra is one who knows the scriptures well. He's prepared himself the Bible makes it clear He's prepared his heart when he comes in He's really making sure that they're following the letter of the law perfectly and I think because of that Fact alone the fact that Ezra is such a good guy and because the Bible over you know Emphasizes the fact that he's prepared himself, and he studied the law that I've always come to this chapter with a particular And I've even preached. I've decided that I actually think that I'm wrong and that I've changed my mind But I've always preached that here in Ezra chapter number 10 that what Ezra did was that which is right But after studying this a lot more thoroughly and thinking about what the Bible says in every other single place I think you can actually conclude rightly that this chapter is an error that they did not do that Which was right that they should have not performed this great Exodus from their wives in this chapter now for sake of time I'm not going to preach every single verse here for the Jesse did a great job for all these names for us But verse number one the Bible reads Now when Ezra had prayed and when he confessed weeping and casting himself down before the house of God They're assembled on them out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children For the people wept very sore now to remind you chapter number nine It's told unto Ezra that the children of Israel have married strange wives now when it means strange It doesn't mean that they're weirdos or freaks. It means that they're foreigners. It means that there's someone not of the children of Israel They're from a different Nationality whether that be a Jebusite an Ammonite a Moabite and the Bible forbids that in the Old Testament The Bible had forbidden God had told him they were not allowed to marry these strange wives And we kind of talked through a lot of that in chapter number nine about well Obviously, they need to confess that sin It was a sin for them to have married these strange wives and in chapter number nine We see Ezra making great confession for the children of Israel Also in chapter number nine I had talked about well, what do you do after you screw up? What do you do when you commit sin? Well, you confess that sin then secondly you forsake that sin you stop sinning you whatever that situation is if you can can Not continue sinning in that way You need to fix it But you also still have to honor the commitments that you've already made if the sin that you committed Entails some type of commitment you don't abort the child, you know Hey, we committed fornication and we ended up producing this bastard child. Well, what do we do with this child? Well, you raise it. You love it. You give it attention. You treat it like every other child We would have possibly had so you still want to honor that commitment But you want to forsake the sin of what fornication you want to keep on fornicating? you don't want to keep living that type of a lifestyle you want to either get married or abstain one of those two things Also in this case, hey if I've married someone that I shouldn't be married to what should be the response Should I get rid of them? Should I put them away which would be a Divorce in our modern vernacular. Well, the Bible is teaching No You need to honor the commitment that you made unto God and stay married under this person Even if it was someone that you should not marry now in the New Testament. We have no provision We have nothing stating that you can't marry someone based on their ethnicity or their race or who their parents are or what language They speak it's all a spiritual distinction where the Bible teaches that believers should not marry an unbeliever But it has no distinction on race or what? Nationality they are if they're Chinese or Russian or from Africa or it doesn't matter It doesn't there's no commandment in the Bible that teaches you couldn't marry that type of person But you wouldn't want to marry someone that's an atheist if you're a Christian that's incompatible You don't want to have that type of relationship. The Bible teaches this in 1st Corinthians or in 2nd Corinthians chapter number 6 now What do I do though? I have to honor that commitment I'm kind of recapping chapter 9 because these really go together very well, but I still need to enforce God's laws in my life This does not mean just because I screwed up one time that I can just commit any sin that I want I've heard some people justify adultery in this way They would say well Jesus said in Matthew chapter number 5 that if you look upon a woman to lust after her You have to committed adultery if they're already in your heart So then why not just commit adultery? Wow, that is a horrible twisting of Scripture Just because you sinned once and even if you did commit adultery, you don't have to keep on committing adultery You don't have to keep on committing fornication. You don't have to keep on saying in fact, that's not a justification to keep sinning The Bible says what shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid is what the Bible says So we need to still enforce God's commandments and laws in our land and in ourselves personally Meaning what just because they're gonna by God's grace be able to continue in marriage to someone they shouldn't have married Does not mean you shouldn't teach your children not to marry a Moabite not to marry an Ammonite Not to marry these strange women you should you should still encourage them to not make that mistake you say that's being hypocritical Well, welcome to life You know me being a parent I've made a lot of mistakes That I hope that my children will not make there's gonna be a lot of things that I did wrong That I'm gonna teach my children and say please don't make my mistake please don't follow me in this error and that's a godly attribute and Really because we have the God of the Bible we can rest in his mercy and grace Meaning what I get to go to church not because I'm perfect but because of God's grace I get to be a pastor because of God's grace, you know All the things that I have are by God's grace and his mercy and even if I made a mistake in my marriage You know what? I can continue in that marriage by God's grace It wouldn't be that these people would continue in this marriage because they well, we don't care about God's commandments anymore No, and because of God's grace and mercy they could continue in that marriage now I'm gonna prove this a lot from Scripture. Well, let's read a few more verses look at verse number two and Shek and I are the son of Jehiel one of the sons of Elam answered and said in Ezra We have trespassed against our God and have taken strange wives of the people the land yet Now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing now Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wise and such as are born of them According to the counsel of my lord and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God and let it be done According to the law arise for this matter belongeth unto thee. We also will be with thee be of good courage and do it so first of all Notice that the idea to put these women away or to divorce their spouses is not coming from Ezra Is it it's coming from this guy Shek and I are the son of Jehiel So he's getting bad counsel in my opinion and I'm gonna prove that from the scriptures But it's also who would ever say hey, we can divorce our spouses. There's hope that doesn't sound like hope to me That's like the opposite of hope, you know divorce always is bad It always really the only person that likes divorce is the lawyer. So I'm guessing Shek and I must have been a lawyer He's like, oh There's hope in this thing You know Look up just think about how many hours we can bill to both of these couples and all the assets we can steal from them While they're going through the like a difficult situation, you know divorce lawyers have to be some of the scummiest people on the planet I Mean there's divorce billboards when you drive to Dallas when I drive to Dallas There's this stupid billboard. It says double your closet size and then it has the divorce lawyers website Well, the jokes on you because you know what? I don't already have half the closet My wife has like seven eighths of it anyway, so he's like barely increase your closet size You know, that would basically be what they would you know now they changed it to oops, you know Oops with a diamond ring on it What a wicked person to advertise divorce to encourage and to promote divorce is wicked It's ungodly and I'm preaching before I'm teaching here But go if you would to 1st Corinthians chapter number 7 keep your finger here and go to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 now Let's see what Jesus thinks about divorce and let's think what the Apostle Paul thinks about divorce and none of those go back to Jesus And then let's just find out in the Bible What God thinks about divorce now? Let me help you in the discerning if someone does something that's right or wrong first of all, if Jesus Christ gives you a Plain doctrine that's right and anything else that you read in the Bible that contradicts that is wrong Period I mean Jesus always spoke that which is right and you have to understand this in the Old Testament It's not always just right and wrong. It's what happened. It's history History is not always an account of everything. That's good and bad. It's just an account of what happened So just because Ezra did something does not make it right and one good lesson You can learn from this is just because this guy is a great man of God doesn't mean he can't make mistakes What great man of God in the Bible doesn't make mistakes I'm angry hard-pressed to find people in the Bible that are just perfect from a man's perspective I mean you could some people throw out Daniel and job But first of all, let's put job on a shelf. Let's put Daniel for a second You know Daniel had a surgery That probably most of us men would not want to have to enter into and you know It'd probably cause a lot of our problems to cease to you know I'm not interested in that road for all of us males that are still intact. We have a lot more problems Okay, then Daniel did all right, but most Abraham Abraham committed adultery David committed adultery. He committed murder. He tried to cover it up. He tried to lie about it. He was conniving The man after God's own heart mind you. Okay Solomon the wisest person on the planet He was complicit in the death of his own children to false gods Blout marrying all kinds of women Thousands of women. I mean that's insane when you think about it, right? Why because just because you're a godly man does not mean you can't make mistakes and you have to be careful Don't put your trust in man Don't put your trust in a pastor. Well, he's really godly though You know, I've heard a family member once false or say this and it's just bad doctrine They said well this particular pastor as much as God has blessed them and as much as they preach There's no way they could ever make a mistake. I believe everything that they teach It's like I can't even say that about myself Because you know what? Sometimes I've made mistakes and I've had to fix them like tonight Okay, so don't think that a man can't make mistakes. Of course they can and we're all growing and learning That's why you have to have your own relationship with God you have to read the Bible for yourself You have to be the priest of your own house We believe in the priests of the believer and what's going to be safe is up to the whole Congregation reads the Bible for themselves and study the Bible now let's study the Bible for a moment first Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10 the Bible reads and Under the myriad I command yet not I But the Lord Let not the wife depart from her husband But and if she depart let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband and let not the husband put away his wife So notice when the Apostle Paul is writing to us in first Corinthians step number seven He makes a caveat in here and says look even though I physically wrote this. This is not me. This is not my opinion This is God's opinion. He says hey, let not the wife depart from her husband Saying the wife should not divorce her husband Additionally, it says let not the husband put away his wife saying what no matter if you're the male or you're the female If you're the husband or the wife you are not to divorce your spouse period now he does say here if for some reason they abandon you or whatever or Somehow they divorce you without your control Notice you're supposed to remain unmarried and that is from God's mouth. That is not just the Apostle Paul's opinion It's not his opinion at all. It's what the Holy Ghost gave him. It's the word that Instructed him now. Let's give the Apostle Paul's opinion because in this chapter we also get the Apostle Paul's opinion Like what it says in verse number 12, but the rest speak I not the Lord so notice He's telling us very clearly. This is his opinion not what God said, okay It says if any brother hath a wife that believeth not and she be pleased to dwell with him Let him not put her away and the woman which hath an husband that believeth not and if he be pleased to dwell with her Let her not leave him for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband Elsewhere your children unclean, but now are they holy? So we actually have that spiritual picture that was given to us in the book of Ezra explained here by the Apostle Paul's opinion Now we don't have mobites and Ammonites and Jebusites today But we do spiritually What's a spiritual Jebusite? That's like your Jehovah's false witness. Okay, what's the you know, the Ammonites? That's like your symbols of God, you know, what's the Canaanite? That's your Catholic. These are not believers Okay, they're unbelievers if I get saved and my spouse is Catholic. What should I do? Well, according to the Apostle Paul's opinion you stay married to them notice and Wouldn't there be a question? What about my kids isn't is God gonna be displeased that I'm married to this unbeliever I mean, I have to think about my children. Well, doesn't he just tell us very clearly in chapter 14? He says the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband elsewhere children unclean But now are they holy So notice he clearly spells out for us that even with just one spouse One saved spouse the children are now considered holy God did not have to have both spouses for that child to be holy just one so if we apply this backwards if we go back to the book of Ezra and I find myself married to this Unbeliever if they're content to be to dwell with me. What did the Apostle Paul's opinion say? I should stay with them He didn't say well put them away. Anyways, just get rid of them. Think about your children. No, he says hey They're holy your children are holy and you need to stay with that person Now in his opinion, he'll teach that if this person just hates you and just runs away and divorces you on their own I mean you can't you can't even control that and in fact in America today, it's pretty similar People can divorce you without you even wanting to against your will against your wishes I mean they can they can figure out ways to get and put you away and put you out and that's wicked It's ungodly. It's not right But you say what happens if I find myself in that situation the Bible says you're supposed to remain unmarried That wasn't the Apostle Paul's opinion. Remember that was God's opinion. That was the Lord's opinion Now, let's keep reading in this look at verse number 27, okay So let me restate that so you understand because I want to make sure this very clear According to the Bible, even if you make the mistake of divorcing the Bible teaches you should remain Unmarried and in fact, I will not marry anybody that's been divorced The only exception I could even think of is if their spouse dies afterwards Okay, but if your spouse is alive and you've been divorced I will not remarry that person that person is to remain unmarried until their spouse dies That's the only time that they'd be loosed from that union from what God has joined together, okay, and You say well, why would I do that Pastor Shelley? And I'll be honest with you I've had a lot of people not one not two not ten a lot of people Come to me and they say hey my sport my spouse has put me away My I'm divorced What am I supposed to do? Well, I just show them what the Bible says because that's I'm not it's not my opinion up here It's God's opinion and I say you need to remain unmarried say that's not fair I think I should be able to get remarried and it sucks and I said well it does suck I mean, I agree with you. It's horrible But why would you want to remain a married first of all God told you that's the bet That's the only reason you need but here's another one it helps show to your children how serious you are about the Word of God and It shows how serious marriage is Because this is the signal that you give to your children if you decide to get remarried After being divorced then what your children look at marriage is. Well, if it doesn't work out I can get remarried like mom did like dad did They knew what the Bible said and they just did it anyways, and it seems like they're happy and in fact many people They get divorced and remarried and for the first little part like the first part of their other marriage Oh, it seems so good and it's so happy and it's so joyous. But if you look at statistics they get divorced even higher rates What you would think is crazy and then they get divorced and they get remarried and they get divorced higher rates And then they get divorced and remarried and they get divorced at higher rate. It just keeps getting higher You know why because they were never looking at marriage as a lifelong commitment That person did not look at it that way the person that remains unmarried, you know how they're looking at marriage Lifelong commitment till death do us part, you know They got in front of all these people and before God and said hey till death do us part they actually meant it and In fact when I was dating that was one of my number one criteria in a spouse that they didn't believe in divorce That divorce wasn't an option. That wasn't something that we were negotiating or thinking. Well, what about this hypothetical never? There is no divorce that is not an option we will always try to work it out We will always do our best and obviously, you know people say one thing and they'll go back on it But I wanted to know for my spouse That's how she's really felt and not just a lip service that that's truly what was in her heart And I knew that about my wife that was one of the great things about her as I knew she loved the Lord I knew that she was saved and I knew that she did never wanted to divorce That was something that was not on the table for her So and again, it wasn't because I was thinking sweet I can just do whatever I want no, it's because I love my spouse and I love God's Word and I'm gonna remain I would remain unmarried if I was in that situation Another thing is it going to show the importance to your children to marry a godly spouse? Because if they think oh wow If I'm stuck with this person until they die, I better pick well Right. It actually makes it a little bit more serious of a decision a little bit more sobering of a decision And so even a parent that remains unmarried, you know what? It could be good for their children to show them the importance of the commitment. They are making How much you love God's Word and the importance of marriage and the ramifications of their actions because you know what? I keep finding people divorcing You know, it stopped that if people would just stop remarrying all the time, too Because with all this remarriage it just kind of bandages is up and says well It's not that big just go ahead and do it. Anyways, if it screws up God wouldn't want you to be unhappy Well, then why did God tell me that? Why would God command you to remain unmarried and not mean it? Are we reading the same Bible? He he actually thought that you were gonna honor the commitment that you made to him. That's what God thought. Why wouldn't you? Now I I understand I've met people they say look my spouse committed adultery on me They Wouldn't stop they told me they didn't love me anymore. They married somebody else and I'm just supposed to stay stuck Single by myself while they're having a good old time Look God is not mine. What's over man? So if that's you also reap first of all Second of all, the Bible says marriage is honorable and all but whoremongers and adulterous God will judge So they will get their punishment you remaining unmarried don't think that that's the sad life the sad life is the guy that's breaking God's commandments and The Apostle Paul, I'm not gonna explain this whole chapter, but he says you're happier if you even remain unmarried From his opinion if you just serve God with rest of your life And at the end of the day when you get into heaven, you won't be married. There is no marriage There's no more giving in marriage. What does it profit you according to the Apostle Paul? He said it's kind of a distraction and in some ways it is but I believe that marriage is a good thing and we should honor marriage and we should take marriage for the seriousness that it Has and you know what? we need to preach what the Bible teaches so that our children marry good spouses and they take marriage seriously and Most people that end up divorcing if they just heard really good biblical preaching and they decided it wasn't an option They would have figured out a way to fix it You can always fix issues God has a lot of grace and mercy can show on you. I don't care how bad your marriage is I don't care what dark tunnels you go through. You can fix it. You can work on it I've known people that have gone in some really dark roads in marriage and now they're still doing great They got through it. They went through really rough patches and I'm not gonna go through the details But I'm telling you some really bad stuff and some of the people that you think they got divorced remarried and they're posting on Facebook about how their life's so happy you have no idea You have no idea. I Know lots of people that put things on Facebook you have no idea It's it's don't take Facebook as your life that's it's fake life, okay It's pretend it's a pretend world. This is the real world people here the Facebook Church doesn't exist Okay, the YouTube Church you come to real church with real people and who cares with the grass is not greener on the other side You didn't marry the wrong person. You married the right person. You need to stay with that person now Look at what it says in verse 27 This is still the Apostle Paul's opinion says art thou bound in a wife seek not to be loosed That's a good opinion. Hey, you married don't seek to be not married says art thou loose from a wife seek not a wife now Again it gets some language in here about what if your spouse departs then just kind of stay single Some people get this really wicked attitude that they they're like, well, I'm never gonna verse my spouse But if they divorce me, so they just treat their spouse like crap They treat them like garbage so to try to make them want to divorce them not spending time with them not investing in the Relationship and pretty much just trying to drive them away trying to have a battle to see who can divorce who first Who can make your life more miserable? That's a wicked attitude What did the Apostle Paul say he said seek not to be loosed that means you're not with any kind of effort Trying to destroy your marriage. You ought to be the best spouse that you can possibly be at all times. I Don't care who your spouse is. I don't care what they've done. You ought to just be the best spouse You can possibly be to them calling them on their birthday. I don't care if they're even with you Calling them telling them that you love them doing good unto them making it known that you want to be with them Providing for them doing whatever Being the best spouse that you can possibly be at all times I don't care and I know lots of people that are in bad situations I know people that go to church faithfully without their spouse. You know what you still love that spouse He's a good do good under that spouse. Don't seek to be loosed Don't wish that you had it differently, you know in 1st Peter chapter 3 I don't have time to go there, but the Bible talks about the woman with her Conversation being able to win over the heart of her husband You never know how much your good can overcome evil in any situation or in any case Look at verse 39 This is what the Apostle Paul said the wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth But if her husband be dead she is at liberty be married to whom she will Only in the Lord. So notice again, the Apostle Paul makes it crystal clear Even from his own personal opinion. When are you allowed to be loosed to your spouse death? Did he put any other caveat there none and he said if they end up dying you could get remarried But it would have to be another believer wouldn't it only in the Lord meaning another saved person Well, look what he says verse 40, but she is happier She so abide after my judgment and I think also that I have the Spirit of God So again, we've only been reading his personal opinion. What was the Apostle Paul's personal opinion not let the wife depart from her husband Not to seek to be loosed and you're bound until they die That sounds a lot like what the Lord told us to didn't it? But people twist 1st Corinthians chapter number 7 and is some kind of a caveat to make it where well I can divorce You can't divorce the Apostle Paul's telling us that it's not right. It's always sin. It's always wrong and It gets elevated when you get remarried not just from sin But to adultery go go to Romans chapter number 7 Romans chapter number 7 flip backwards in your Bible a couple books to Romans It's in the New Testament right after Matthew Mark Luke acts and then you have Romans Look at Romans chapter number 7 Look At verse 1 know you not brethren for I speak to them that know the law how that the law at the minion over man As long as he liveth for the woman which hath and husband is bound by the law to her husband So long as he liveth, but if the husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband So then if while her husband liveth, she'd be married to another man. She should be called an adulteress But and if her husband be dead she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress Those should be married to another man. So the Bible makes it crystal clear if a woman is divorced and marries another Person while her husband is still alive that is adultery according to the Bible Now again for sake of time. I don't have time to go through all this I'm gonna go to Proverbs 6 and read you another verse if you want to go there, but Some people ask this question Well, I feel like I have to get divorced because I don't want to be in this continual state of adultery Now that would be a fallacy that is not what the Bible is teaching I believe that the act of getting married would be the act of adultery, but subsequently there is no continual sin You're not continually sinning by being remarried Once your if your spouse is still alive now You could still be called an adulteress You still would be called an adulterer and think of it this way if I come up to you and I lie to you Right now I lie to your face I just tell you this bold it's a licious lie and then two weeks from now you find out Couldn't you come up to me and say you're a liar? But does that mean I'm in the current state of lying to you? No, I may not have lied to you at all that day So you're talking about a past event that's categorizing me as what a liar now, when do I stop being a liar? Well, technically speaking never That's why it says in all liars shall have their part in lake which burneth fire brimstone means everyone some people say Oh, that's like a habit of lying. It's called a habit of one You commit one lie. You're known as a liar. If you lie to your boss on the workplace you'll be known as a liar forever and The Bible works the same with adultery if you commit adultery one time the Bible teaches that your reproach Shall never be wiped away. Look what it says in Proverbs 6 verse 32 if you turn there look at verse 32 But who so committed adultery with a woman lacketh understanding? He that doeth it destroyed his own soul a wound in dishonor shall he get and his reproach Shall not be wiped away so notice that that reproach of being an adulterer and adulterer shall not be wiped away as Long as that husband liveth you can be called an adulterer You'll be called an adulteress but that does not mean that you and your new spouse are committing adultery every single day Every single moment every single second that's wrong It was the act of getting married. That was that initial act of adultery After that, you're not continually sinning. In fact, what did we say confess your sin forsake your sin honor your commitments and Then what rest in God's grace? So if you've messed up in that area if you're divorced and remarried in this auditorium this morning that initial act was adultery But that does not mean you're in a continual state of adultery what that means you need to just rest in God's grace And you need to you know, confess that sin and tell God hey, I'm sorry and not make the same mistake again Don't get divorced and remarried again Stay faithful to the spouse that you have now and wait until they both die. Okay, then you could possibly get remarried That's what the Bible is clearly teaching now go to Matthew chapter number 19, Matthew chapter 19 Now I went there first because some people try to pit the Apostle Paul against Jesus Christ or they'll try to pit Certain people in the Bible against each other and say oh this guy said it's okay and this guy didn't look Paul said it was wrong Paul says adultery Paul said it was a sin Paul said you were bound by the law. Well, what did Jesus say? Let's see what Matthew 19 look at verse number three The Pharisees also came unto him Tempting him and saying in him is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause now that's divorce again And he answered and said to them have you not read that he which made them at the beginning made the male and female and said for this cause shall man leave father and mother and Shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh what therefore God hath joined together Let not and put asunder Say hey, what do you think about divorce pastor Shelley let not man put asunder When they asked Jesus Christ, hey, can we put our spouse away for any reason can we divorce for any cause no fault divorce in America, what did Jesus say? let not man put asunder and Notice did Jesus bring up any caveats? He didn't say well, what about this situation Well, he just says don't Never not at all and notice when they Pharisees came up where they asked him because they really cared now They were tempting him weren't they they're trying to figure out some way to like trip him up Well, they weren't they didn't like that answer. Look at her seven They said him why did Moses then command to give a riding a divorcement and to put her away now Why did they ask this question? I Believe that the Pharisees knew when Jesus Christ was asked this question. He was going to answer it this way They knew he would say you're never supposed to divorce So they were gonna find try and find a contradiction with the Old Testament law Atheists do this all the time. They'll say is it God love and you'll say yeah God's love. What about hell? They think that there's a contradiction with the Bible. They'll say hey God says, you know not to kill anybody, right? Well, then how come he sells to put people to death, you know? They're just trying to make internal contradictions of the Bible the Pharisees They're like, well God hates divorce because the Bible says that in the Old Testament So how's this contradiction with Moses? Well, look how Jesus responds He said then the Moses because of the hardness of your hearts Suffered you to put away your wives But from the beginning it was not so and I send you whosoever shall put away his wife Accept it be for fornication and shall marry another Committeth adultery and whoso marrieth her is which is put away doth commit adultery So he's saying well Moses did technically allow this in the law But that was because of the hardness of your hearts and we have to understand about the law is just because something's lawful does not mean it's the best decision you can make and The Bible emphasizes this in Matthew chapter number five We don't have time to go there, but the Bible would teach is it lawful if someone you know? Gouges out your eye for them to get their eye gouged out Yeah from a law perspective eye for an eye tooth for a tooth, you know It's even more righteous than that is to give them grace When they harm you when they smite to you on the cheek, you just turned in the other From a legal perspective you'd be able to just slap them back and then they slap you and then you slap them back and then you So, but you know, it stops that cycle Someone decided to have some grace and mercy Is it lawful for God to throw all of us into hell Yeah, he's just and righteous to do that. We deserve it But you know what? We're not gonna go to hell if we believe in Jesus Christ because we get grace because we get mercy So just because something's technically lawful or technically legal does not make it the right decision It does not make it exactly what you should do What is Jesus saying? Hey? Just Because he suffered you to do that I'm saying unto you if you put them away and marry another you're committing adultery I want you to wake up and realize even from the beginning. I didn't have a provision for divorce in the beginning and Notice the provision for divorce is not an advertisement. Okay. It's what's technically lawful We have to understand the distinction the Bible gives instructions on how the children of Israel are supposed to behave themselves when they set up A king but you know what? He tells them when you set up a king in rebellion This is what you're supposed to do. Okay. Hey when you marry two wives This is how you're supposed to treat both wives. That is not an advertisement for two wives That was not an advertisement for a king that was just telling you how to handle yourself What's legal and what's lawful but according to Jesus Christ? What do we have at his own mouth? Let not man put us under he gives a clear answer that means you should never divorce period period now in order to contradict this You would have to have clear scripture. There is no clear scripture. The clear scripture is Jesus Christ And why would you want to contradict the red letters in your Bible when Jesus Christ is asked and he just clearly demonstrates He didn't bring up the caveat They brought up the caveat and then he explained to them that it was still not the right decision What he said the hardness of your hearts. Does that sound like a good decision? He wants you to have a tender soft heart So the tender soft-hearted person would never put away his wife would never do such a thing like that So what does the tender soft-hearted person want to do? They want to forgive restore people This is not hope to put your spouse away and notice if you commit The the act of remarriage it would always be adultery Now some people don't like this look at verse 10 his disciples saying him if the case of the man be so with his wife Is not good to marry Something to say if I can't divorce for any reason then I'm not interested. This is men going their own way a Bunch of weak pansy losers Men going their own way are losers They're degenerates they're jerks they cannot get a girl So, you know what happens because they can't get a girl they end up saying well, I'm going my own way This is like when I throw somebody out of church and they say oh I was leaving. Oh I'm sure I left the church you left when we kicked you out That wasn't leaving you got kicked out. This is like when someone gets fired and I'm I quit You Know men that can just find lots of women. They're not men going their own way It isn't it interesting. It's always the guys that no woman's interested in it at all. They're annoying obnoxious They can't hold down a job. Nobody can tolerate their presence for five seconds. Well, I'm just gonna go my own way then Look, you're just an idiot Now obviously the Bible teaches the concept of a eunuch someone who's just not interested in women Maybe he's born without a part of his body or perhaps he just has no interest in women Really and he just desires to serve God. That's great The Bible teaches that but these men don't let the men going their own way Teach you that because that's not what they're interested in. They're interested in fornication without having to pay the bill They're interested in all the benefits of women without actually having to lay down their life because they're a jerk Because they're you know, they they're an idiot really and look don't listen to these guys if you find one of these guys just Run away screaming. Okay, and you got to be thankful your spouse. I love my spouse Being married does not make me feel like man. I just wish I could just go my own way No, I like getting married. I love my wife She's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me on this earth and I encourage marriage marriage is a great thing Marriage is honorable and all notice what the Bible says say well, well, she doesn't obey you. Well, don't be a loser Interesting though guys that aren't losers don't seem to have a problem with their wives wanting to obey them and wanting to follow them Is because you're selfish that's why they don't want to follow you. It's because you're a jerk That's why they're not interested in being part of you Now go if you would back to Ezra we're gonna we're gonna go through this chapter for a few minutes I had to get a few things off my chest before we get there It's funny though that the people that always want to attack you They're never like happily married and they have a great job and they're really successful It's always these people that are just they're unhappy with everything and nobody likes them Nobody can tolerate them That's usually the biggest critics that we have and and one thing that I've just observed This is my own personal opinion, but something that I've observed is people that have a great marriage are often great church members The people that have really rocky marriages Oftentimes suffer now, that's not to say that you can't be a great church member What I'm teaching though Is that oftentimes it distracts people and causes people to get out of church because of their marriage situation? Because their spouse is causing them lots of problems because they have a rocky marriage So you sitting in the pew need to realize your marriage is very important to your walk with God to you serving God And hey, I know people that have a horrible marriage and they serve God really well So I'm not saying that the exception doesn't exist praise God for people that can serve God without a spouse But what I am telling you is that you need to work on your marriage every day You need to emphasize your marriage because your marriage is going to affect all aspects of your life including church and people Who end up just saying, you know nuts to marriage it ends up screwing up their whole life It ends up screwing every area including church Including the things of serving God the people that I see serving God great in the present They always seem to have really great marriages They seem to be really good in their spouse Why because being a great Christian is one of being a great servant and you know is a really good spouse Someone's interested in serving others. So it just happens to be that it's the same type of people Okay, so if you're in a if you're in a rough marriage, you know, I'll pray for you and I that sucks But just keep doing your best but you that's in a good marriage. Don't take it for granted You ought to you ought to continually work on your marriage and love your spouse and it's a daily fight in a daily battle And it's gonna be very important even for your work your walk with God Now we see in verse number five the Bible reads then arose Ezra and made the chief priests the Levites and all Israel to swear That they should do according to this word and they swear now again The Bible does not speak well of making O's and when you see O's in the Old Testament, they don't work out either People are making these great Proclamations Jephthah makes a proclamation that whatever comes out of his doors to meet him. He's gonna sacrifice Well, his daughter comes out and he has to end up offering her at a sacrifice unto God We shouldn't be making these great O's. I'm never gonna leave steadfast Baptist Church ever It's like what happens when we you know have to change the name, you know Cuz cuz some outside pressure or something And what happens when a tornado comes through and wipes us all out or so? It's like I'm still going yeah, you don't make proclamations like that You know don't make these great O's and I swear to God, you know, I've got a lot of people out soul winning Saved and they say I swear to God I'm coming to your church and we're just thinking like no don't say that I want you to come but don't make such an oath. I know your odds buddy. Where are the nine? Yeah look at verse six then as it rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Johan and the son of the lion ship and When he came thither he did eat no bread nor drink water free mourn because the transgression of them that had been carried away and they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem and all the children of the captivity that they should gather themselves together into Jerusalem and that what that Whosoever would not come within three days according to the council of the princes and the elders all his substance should be forfeited and himself Separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away Says then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gather themselves together under Jerusalem within three days It was the ninth month on the 20th day of the month and all the people sat in the street of the house of God Trembling because of this matter and for the great rain now one thing you have to realize whether in the Bible is always controlled by God period and I don't think that changed when we stopped recording biblical history today. God still is in control of the weather period okay If God's raining on your parade, it's probably not a good thing. Okay now I'm not saying that we should judge the circumstances for everything, but we should at least pay attention and whenever there's all these Warning signs going off when the tornado siren is going off. You should go back to the Bible and make sure that what you're doing Is right Now we can I think we can definitively prove that what they're doing is wrong here For a couple of reasons number one They're saying anybody that has a strange wife has to come and divorce their spouse or their land would be forfeited Now let's think about this in the context of Ruth chapter number one, two, three and four So you're telling me Boaz would had to come and divorce Ruth Now do you think that would've been right? They've been right for Boaz to come and bring Ruth and divorce her didn't have been right for salmon to divorce Jacob Rahab the harlot, you know Both of those women are in the lineage of Jesus Christ and they would have been strange wives according to the Bible or would have been Better to understand, you know, hey, there's God's mercy Was it a sin to marry one of these heathen women? Yeah, it was But you know the sin was not on Boaz's part because it was his brethren that had made that sin didn't it? It wasn't he that made it was Malon Malon married Ruth that was the sin of marrying the strange wife Boaz was following the law by raising up seed unto his brethren. He was not in violation of God's commandment there We see but anybody in the Old Testament that married a strange wife that was against God's commandment That was a sin But afterwards you need to just rest in God's grace and mercy That he's not going to just continually punish you because you're in this sin think about the book of Jeremiah Those that know the Bible well in the book of Jeremiah Jeremiah is constantly preaching to the Kings. Hey Turn back to the Lord and I won't destroy the city Why did he destroy the city because they were in constant rebellion not because he's saying well divorce your wives And then I won't destroy Jerusalem. He's just saying it get right now You know confess your sins and forsake them get right now And you know what God won't even destroy the city and he keeps giving them chance after chance after chance after chance He's not telling them thus say the Lord put away your wives now He's just saying in general they need to just turn back to the Lord and get right and God will preserve them and for their Whole history for the whole history the children of Israel. Guess what? They've been marrying strange wives So if that was the one problem, they would have had to just nuke bit the nuke switch, you know from day one Okay, obviously God's upset with that. I'm not trying to excuse their sin. What I am saying is that God's grace covers our sin What I am saying is that you don't make another wrong to cover up your sin I don't abort the child because I committed fornication. I don't divorce my spouse because I married the wrong spouse I don't do any of these things we even see with the inhabitants of Gibeah They don't put them to death after they made an oath to keep them alive or their children and God was mad at King Saul for doing such a thing We Said why would Ezra do this? Well, first of all, the lesson we can learn is great men of God make mistakes Man will fail you and notice he gets persuaded by another person Shekiniah the son of Jehiel didn't he now? I don't know. We don't know a lot about this guy, but it wasn't Ezra was just sitting there Just kind of like we're doomed. It's just like we're doomed and whenever you're a leader You don't want to just sit around doomed because then somebody will come around and whisper a bad idea in your ear You know leadership needs to just always have a plan and always have a vision and be ready to make quick Decisions and to press forward, you know, if you're in a battle, you can't just sit down and be like we're losing enemy We're losing our troops to the enemy. I don't know what to do. Let's just sit here and think about it No, you need to just get a new plan real quick you need to just decide to go a different way and to make a decision and Ezra just kind of lets this guy come in and teach him this and From the study of the Bible we can tell that it's wrong. Keep your finger and go to as Ezekiel chapter 47 Go to Ezekiel chapter 47 because aren't they saying you're gonna forfeit your land if you stay married to one of these strangers Isn't that what he's clearly saying? well, let's Line this up with other scripture and Ezekiel We have to understand the timing now notice Ezekiel is way far in the right of your Bible, but as Ezekiel before during or after Ezra It's Before it's before it's way before okay, it's deter. It's during the captivity of Babylon so it's in the 70 year captivity is that timeframe of the book of Ezekiel and his Prophesying is for what it's the picture them coming back to the land and Ezra and them building the house of the Lord I mean the last like several chapters of Ezekiel's what the building at the rebuilding of the temple, okay? He's clearly giving them instructions on building the temple That sounds pretty handy when they're gonna come back and literally not a stone was left upon another. It's like what do we do now? Well, how about Ezekiel? He just told us exactly what to do. Let's just do exactly what he said, right? But if we have the instructions and how build the temple wouldn't we take other instructions from the book of Ezekiel then that were from? Thus saith the Lord look at his eco 47 verse number 22 And it should come to pass that you shall divide it by lot so he's talking about dividing the land amongst the tribes of Israel when they return back to the land and it shall come to Pass that you should abide it by a lot for an inheritance unto you and to the strangers that sojourn among you Which shall beget children among you and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel They shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel And it's come to pass that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth there Shall you give him his inheritance sayeth the Lord God. So what did Ezekiel say? Ezekiel said don't divorce your spouse and throw them in the trash Give them inheritance among you whatever tribe that they sojourn in let them be as one born in the land So why would I then just throw that verse in the trash and say let's just divorce No, we need to take the whole scripture and say it would have been better For them to do what To allow the strangers to inherit with them and to not put away their wives and notice even their children would get this inheritance Look at the end part of a zig of Ezra chapter 10. Look at the end of Ezra chapter 10 notice when he gives the huge list of all these people it says in verse 44 and These had taken strange wives and some of them had wise by whom they had children. So think about this disaster They have all these people lined up they're just throwing all these women and children in the trash virtually I Mean that's horrifying. That's not hope that's not God's grace. That's not God's mercy That's not what we read in any of this New Testament scriptures and we need to let the New Testament Interpret the Old Testament for us. What did Jesus say let not man put asunder. What are the Apostle Paul saying? Hey, even if just one of your spouse is saved the children are holy the children are clean Why would I want to put them all away that doesn't make any sense Let's read a few more verses here because I'm not gonna read all those names again but Look at verse number 10 says in Ezra the priesthood up and said on them. He have transgressed and have taken strange wives That's right to increase the trespasses of Israel now therefore make confession of the Lord God of your fathers and do his pleasure and Separate yourselves from the people the land and from the strange wives Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice as thou has said so must we do But the people are many and is a time of much rain and we are not able to stand without neither Is this a work of one day or two for we are many that have transgressed in this thing Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities Come at appointed times and with them the elders of every city and the judges thereof until the fierce wrath of our God for this Matter returned from us only Jonathan the son of as a hill and Jahaziah the son of tikvah were employed about this matter and the shulam and Shabbat I the Levite helped them and the children of the captivity did so and Ezra the priest with certain chief of the fathers after The house of their fathers and all of them by their names were separated and sat down the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter and They made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month and among the sons Of the priests they were found that had taken strange wives namely of the sons of jeshua the son of joseph dak and his brethren mayasiah and Eliezer and jereb and gettaliah and they gave their hands that they would put away their wives and being guilty They offered a ram of the flock for their trespasses now Here's the thing were they guilty? Amen, did they trespass? Amen, was this a sin for them to marry strange wives? Absolutely, but notice what it is said in verse number 11 it said now therefore make it covenant the God Lord God of your fathers and do his pleasure and Separate yourselves from the people land and from the strange wives. Is it God's pleasure to divorce your spouse? I Don't believe so now Let's get another verse to get an idea of what God actually thinks go to Malachi chapter number two go to Malachi It's at the end of the Old Testament right before the beginning of the New Testament It's the book right before the book of Matthew Again just because someone says something just because the pastor says something Did God say that and you have to be careful? I've heard good men godly pastors say things and I say you know what that's not right That's not what the Bible says That's not what God's saying and the only way I can know that is because you have to read the Bible You have to study the Bible for yourself, and I'm not trying to say that to say Oh, I'm just so much smarter than I make mistakes, too I listen back to my own preaching and I think that wasn't right Or that wasn't exactly the Bible says or I need to say that differently I make mistakes myself and the only way we're gonna catch those if we're constantly studying Scripture But look at Malachi chapter number two verse 14 Yet you say wherefore because the Lord hath been Witnessed between thee and the wife of thy youth against whom thou hast dealt treacherously Yet is she thy companion the wife of thy covenant and did not he make one Yet had he the residue of the Spirit and wherefore one that he might seek a godly seed Therefore take heed to your spirit and let none deal treacherously Against the wife of his youth for the Lord the God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away For one covers violence with his garment saith the Lord of hosts therefore take heed to your spirit that you deal not Treacherously So when God talks about divorce, what is it? He says it's treacherous It's treacherously dealing with your spouse. He doesn't say do his pleasure What do we see when the Pharisees brought up divorce by Moses? He said it was because of the hardness of your hearts He suffered you to do it. That doesn't sound like it's his pleasure. It's not God's pleasure for divorce ever never divorce period Yeah, I've already made that mistake well don't make it again and rest in God's mercy but it'd be nice if people actually had that viewpoint and Mentality and heart when they got married. We got to teach our children and our families and our people Hey divorce is not the option. It's not his pleasure and People always want to emphasize the weirdest scenarios Well, I'm married to this jerk and this horrible person and Baba and look people are People are married to horrible jerks and That was your problem You're the one that said you're gonna marry. I didn't force you to marry him I've never forced anybody to marry anyone and I never will because that's your choice and if you choose to marry a jerk, you know what you got to live with that choice and Reap the consequence of that choice and then you can teach other people Don't marry a jerk Don't marry a loser. Don't marry a reject. Don't marry someone that's gonna be unfaithful to you I'm not saying you go around and advertise your spouse's sin But I'm just saying when it's just obvious to other people and you continually serve God, you know what that signifies to them Hey, I don't want to be like her. I don't have to suffer like that person. I don't want to suffer like him I don't want to be like them. I want to make sure that who I'm marrying is equally yoked with me Now I had a lot more my notes but after second time I'm not gonna go through it Go if you would to Hebrews chapter 7 I'm gonna finish here. What can we learn from this chapter? First of all, never divorce Even in this chapter now, I used to think that this was an exception No, I never I've never believed that divorce is ever an option for even one second I just thought well in the Old Testament they had to follow this commandment. So maybe they did but in further study It's clear to me that that's just not a good viewpoint because we're it's contradicting Jesus Jesus didn't say well unless you're married to a Moabite Unless you're married to he said except to be for fornication That was the only provision given law and that's obviously a completely different issue that has nothing to do with the strange wife issue that we have in the book of Ezra and In further study of Ezekiel and other passages through the study of Ruth It seems very clear that what they should have done is confess their sin. Stop marrying strange wives Put anybody to death that's gonna cause someone to worship false gods And then you know what rest in God's mercy and grace because they've restored themselves back under the commandments of God, okay But what does this chapter ultimately teach us? What does the book of Ezra ultimately teach us? We need a new covenant Notice what happened did they ever the children of Israel ever keep God's commandments? never There's not one instance Never did they keep the law perfectly never no person There's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sin is not For all of sin it comes short of the glory of God and when God gave them a perfect law They failed not because the law had any problems, but because he found fault with them is what the Bible says And so, you know what that was picturing The need for a new covenant the need for the New Testament and to me this makes sense You in the book of as you would think well, they finally got it, right? This time they're gonna keep all the law this time. They're not gonna make all the mistakes they did before Oh wait, just before the books even over they already made all the mistakes again, didn't they? They already screwed up as we're just sitting there perplexed like You know that should point you to that's like salvation when you're sitting there and you realize I sin and I deserve hell You know, you need someone to come and preach to you not divorce marriage The marriage supper of the Lamb they need to preach unto you. Hey God's faithful. Hey God's gracious Hey, God's merciful the need for the New Testament Look at Hebrews chapter 7 verse 22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better Testament The whole Bible is always leading up to Jesus Christ I've heard some people think like well that first covenant could have continued It was never going to continue it could not have continued It was just a temporary thing to lead us up to Jesus Christ. You know what the Old Testament is It's training wheels on your bicycle But the training wheels are there for one purpose To help you learn how to ride a bike as soon as you know how to ride a bike You toss the training wheels in the trash They wax old they're ready to vanish away We don't need the old covenant. We just need the new covenant and once you have the old covenant, you know What you're gonna fulfill all the old covenant if you're riding a bike successfully. Do you need the training wheels? No Would they help? No, they're gonna only be doing the exact same thing you're doing You're gonna stay upright on the bike And in fact if you're following the New Testament if you have the Spirit of God inside you and you're walking in the spirit You don't need the old covenant because you're not going to be sinning You're not going to be committing any of the sins You wouldn't you could be technically ignorant of the entire Old Testament law and Still not sin as long as you're walking the spirit why because that's what that's what the whole thing's picturing now Unsaved man can kind of fake it through the law Just like somebody can fake riding a bike with training wheels. So you're Judas Iscariots and your infiltrators You know what? They really like to do you like to make up all these rules To try and make it seem like they're spiritual. Oh You use microwaves You're so wicked You drink water with lemon You know your wife doesn't wear a hijab everywhere. She goes, you know You're just she's just a floozy, you know, they make up all these man-made rules to seem spiritual Why because they don't have the Spirit of Christ inside them. They have no idea how to ride the bike so they have to put all these training wheels on this like they duct tape training wheels onto the side of their bike that they Just have to kind of cycle down on yeah I can ride a bike and then you hand them a real bike and they're just like The Trinity is not real You know Did Jesus really die for everyone? I don't know Works are needed for salvation When you start actually holding their feet to the fire realize this guy's not even saved This guy has been faking it all the way And look, I'm not downplaying the Old Testament. The law the Lord is perfect converting the soul it fits in perfect Look, the training wheel isn't gonna stop you from riding the bike successfully But the reality is that was just a training wheel the point was to get you to ride the bike which was believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and now you have the Spirit of God inside of you and now if you walk according that spirit, you know what you're not gonna fulfill the lust of the flesh It's all about love anyways, if you're just loving God and loving your neighbor you won't sin You know, there's a lot of sins that aren't just explicitly stated in the Old Testament law Why cuz it's not gonna state everything that's possibly a sin. It just gives you overarching categories It's like loving God and loving your neighbor every single commandment follows one of those two So let me tell you something if you break if you do something that's not loving God or your neighbor Whether it's put in the Old Testament or not. It's a sin Anything It does not have to be expressly stated your sin. Hey if I throw a computer at someone's head, is that a sin? I Don't see any commandment saying that it's not you know that it is Like the thought of foolishness is stupid. Hey, that's a sin. Okay, so don't get this weird idea that it's a list of rules And we notice they were never gonna be able to follow all those rules because man can't we needed a New Testament We needed the Spirit of God, so I think this disaster just helps us realize hey the Old Covenant was always gonna fail They were in need of something else The coming Messiah the Savior that was gonna give them grace and mercy and truth. Look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 10 Which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of Reformation But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle Not made with hands. That is to say not of this building So the the Bible is telling us that the Old Testament was only imposed on us until the time of Reformation Say when was the time of Reformation Christ being come but after Christ has died on the cross was buried rose again That veil was rent and twain. It's no longer the Old Covenant We no longer have to offer sacrifices of bulls and ox and goats on the altar Christ is our once-for-all sacrifice and now we have a Better Testament, which is the New Testament. It's called bacon The better testament, I mean there's no creature that's supposed to be refused in the New Testament you can eat it all That's one reason why it's better. Okay, that's the carnal reason. All right, there's also spiritual reasons why it's better and You know, that's not that's out of the scope of the sermon, okay, but What I want to emphasize what does Ezra really point us to well, it points us to the millennial reign of Christ It points us to a lot of different things But we see that horrible ending and I believe it's to do what to help us see the need for Jesus Christ That's what Galatians clearly teaches go to one more place I'm sorry go to one more place and then we'll finish the sermon because it'll make sense if I go here Galatians chapter number three We have to understand the Old Testament did have a very Important purpose but people get confused about that purpose Don't wonder Just let the Bible tell you. Okay, anytime you have a question. Just let the New Testament tell you Okay, you don't think that God thought of your question? Well, they're gonna ask this question. I didn't put it in the Bible No, God has the answer to your question. Some people say what's the point of the Old Testament? Why give us the law? Well, let's see if we can find a question like that Look what it says in verse 19 Galatians 3 verse 19 wherefore then serve of the law What was the point of the law? It was added because of transgressions Till the seed should come to them The promise was made and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator think about this It was added because of transgressions in your house if your children always did that which is right How many rules would you have to create for them? But you have very few rules, wouldn't you the more? Sinful your children are the more they disobey the more rules end up getting introduced Don't they the more you have to say hey don't eat cookies before dinner Why did you introduce that rule because they kept eating cookies before dinner? Hey, no touch that don't stand on that don't go over here don't go don't touch mom and dad's room Don't go under the bed. Don't jump on the bed. Don't throw the pillow. It's like why are you adding all these rules? Because of transgressions. Why did God give us the Old Testament because man on his own sucks Man on his own is sinful. He gave you the law to have some kind of semblance of what to do But then some people get the works-based salvation out of that don't they they think okay As long as I kind of keep the rules then dad'll love me. It's not about keeping the rules, is it? Because your kids are never keep the rules. It's about you loving you loving your parents. That's what's important same with God God wasn't about I just want a bunch of people to strict strictly follow my rules as best they can No, he wants them to believe in Jesus Christ He wants them to love him and appreciate him and notice it's gonna be until the she should come So it was until that Savior came that they had those rules Why do you have rules and you have rules on your kids until they what grow up? Went through out of the house. You don't have all these rules for your kids and it says in verse 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith But after that faith has come we are no longer under a schoolmaster Look once you know how to learn about ride a bike throw the training wheels in the trash Nobody that can ride a bike uses training wheels Nobody you don't need it So why would you use the training wheels? Well? Because this isn't a perfect analogy if someone's trying to ride a bike and they keep falling over then you're like Hey let's put this training wheel up here and Get you learning how to ride a bike again Because anybody that can ride a bike is not gonna be making the mistakes of the training wheel are they and so the law can Still point out our failure our flaws and help us understand how we're not in the right spirit But the goal to the Christian life is not understanding the rules it's walking in the spirit And once you walk in the spirit, you're not gonna have to worry about what the rules are You don't have to focus so much on what every single verse and line is about you're more about just being filled with the spirit and Loving God and loving your neighbor and obviously divorcing your spouse is a horrible picture of that, isn't it? It's a picture of the law. What does the law do it puts your spouse away? What does Christ do? Don't put what God therefore joined together. Let not man put us under let's close in prayer. Thank you father so much this great chapter. I Pray that we would just get in our hearts and our minds The reality that we'll make an oath before you that it's till death do us part That you take these things seriously and that we should hear on this earth That when we pray and ask you to bless our marriages that you know We understand it's a lifelong commitment and that divorce is never a good option I pray that we would just raise a generation that takes marriage seriously and anybody that's made this mistake or has already failed in this Area, I pray they would just confess that sin and forsake that sin and they would show great grace and mercy on them And that if they're in another marriage that you could just bless that marriage And that your grace and mercy would just continue to reign triumph in that marriage and I just thank you so much for the New Testament thank you for making up for our failures I pray that we just continue to try to walk in the spirit so that we would Not fulfill the lusts of the flesh in Jesus name we pray