Hope Church LV Sermons
Warnings :: Part 3 Honor Marriage
this message is your warning what you are about to hear is a passage of scripture from the most powerful sermon in history the words we're about to read are from the heart and mouth of Jesus Christ himself these teachings are radical and are to be taken seriously this will serve as your warning that the sole purpose of this series is to examine six heart-sings of Jesus we will examine each saying together as a church and then have a time of personal response you are about to be challenged please open up your heart and mind to what is about to take place part three on our marriage a couple of weekends ago we began a series together studying some difficult sayings of Jesus we said about these verses that it's Jesus telling us not necessarily what we want to hear but he's absolutely telling us what we need to hear it's the truth these verses are contained in the middle of the sermon on the mount that great sermon that Jesus preached and right in the middle of that sermon Jesus begins to take to task the Pharisees and the scribes he'd been talking about the law he'd been describing their interpretation of the law and I told you it's very important that you understand what Jesus does in these verses is not contradicting the law what Jesus is dealing with in these verses is the Pharisees and scribes interpretation of the law and he's showing us how their interpretation had missed the very heart and essence of the law in doing that Jesus began in Matthew chapter five by first addressing a law that dealt with relationships the first life application that we looked at in week one I want to put it back up on the screen I want you to read it out loud with me this morning here's what we said ready as a Jesus follower it is impossible for me to be right with God and not be pursuing rightness in my relationships with others wouldn't necessarily what we wanted to hear it's what we need to hear we'd rather leave those things alone but what Jesus is saying is it's not possible for my relationship this way to be right in my relationships this way not be right at least as far the Bible says is it depends on me I'm to pursue rightness and then Jesus after dealing with that application that principle moved from the general discussion of relationships to dealing specifically with the most important of all human relationships Jesus began to deal with the scribes and Pharisees teachings on marriage and out of all the laws that are in the Old Testament and all the hundreds of interpretations that the scribes and the Pharisees had given it's very interesting that Jesus chose two of the six examples that he was going to address to deal with the subject of marriage it communicates that to Jesus marriage was a big deal and last weekend we laid a little bit of some foundation about this idea of marriage being a big deal remember the verse Hebrews 13 4 look at it on the screen it said marriage is to be held in honor among all and Jesus speaks straight to the heart of that verse when he deals with two of the different interpretations of the scribes and Pharisees to relate to this issue of honoring marriage now last weekend we laid some foundational material to understand why marriage is such a big deal and I just want to quickly review that for you all right we're just going to breeze by it but here's what we said last weekend number one marriage is a big deal because marriage is a building block of society listen since the Garden of Eden the marriage relationship has been the cornerstone of every civilization in history marriage is a building block of society but a second reason we said marriage is a big deal is because marriage is precious to God and marriage is precious to God for several reasons first of all because he made it he created marriage remember the fat cat bank we looked at last week because God made marriage because he created it it's precious to him but it's also precious to him because of its design he designed it to be a living picture of himself and his relationship to us you see marriage reveals the image of God we were created in God's image and a husband and wife and a loving relationship revealed the character and image of God in society but secondly marriage portrays the gospel it's the very relationship between husband and wife that Jesus used as an example to demonstrate the intimacy that he desires with you and I in our fellowship relationship with him marriage is a big deal so last weekend we laid a life application statement and if you'll remember Jesus used some very drastic language to communicate this principle I want to put it back up on the screen here's what we said honoring my marriage is worth whatever it takes say that out loud with me honoring my marriage is worth whatever it takes now this weekend Jesus continues to challenge the Pharisees interpretation of the law as it relates to marriage if you have your Bible I want you to turn to Matthew chapter five we're going to begin reading in verse number 31 we're continuing our study straight through verse by verse of the Sermon on the Mount here's what it says it was said remember the pattern of Jesus in these verses he's telling you what the scribes and Pharisees have been saying it was said whoever sends his wife away let him give her a certificate of divorce verse 32 but I say he's saying here's what the scribes and Pharisees have been teaching here's what they've been telling you but here's what I say here's what the law really says that everyone who divorces his wife except for the reason of unchastity makes her commit adultery and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery we gave you the warning statement upfront right some of these things Jesus is dealing with are not necessarily things we want to hear but they're what we need to hear it's the truth as I was studying this week one of my favorite commentators that I love to read a great preacher is Martin Lloyd Jones and I want to give you a quote by Martin Lloyd Jones about these very verses look at it on the screen he says we come now to consider our Lord's statement on the subject of divorce how often do we hear an address on a text such as this is it not true to say that this is the kind of subject that preachers tend to avoid and thereby of course we are guilty of sin it is not for us to study some parts of the word of God and to ignore others it is not for us to shy away at difficulties these verses that we are now considering are as much the word of God as anything else which is found in the scriptures but because of our failure to expound the Bible systematically because of our tendency to take texts out of their context and to choose what interests and pleases us and to ignore and forget the rest we become guilty of an unbalanced Christian life that in turn leads of course to failure in actual practice it is a very good thing therefore that we should work our way through the Sermon on the Mount in this manner and so find ourselves face to face with this statement you see there's a great tragedy in modern Christianity particularly in America and here's the tragedy churches all across our country decide what are we going to preach on by simply getting in a room and saying what topics do we want to discuss what do we want to address and we begin to pick topics that we think will draw crowds and make people feel better about themselves and give us all that pick me up that we want when we come to church so we can go out feeling a lot better about ourselves and here's what happens we pick our topics and we creatively decide how we want to communicate it and then we go to the Bible and say okay where are some places in the Bible that help us say what we want to say instead of starting with the word of God and verse by verse walking through the scripture and saying what does this book say because you see when you do it that way guess what you wind up talking about some stuff you wouldn't pick let me just be honest if we got in a room said hey what are we going to preach on last weekend we did adultery this weekend is divorce those wouldn't have made my top five list I don't see these texts coming and go oh boy I can't wait to deal with that but there is great great great truth in just walking verse by verse through God's word as it was written so this weekend we come to these verses and before I begin to unpack the truth that's here I want to ask you to do two things number one I want you right now to ask God to open your heart to the truth even if it's uncomfortable and even if it's contradictory to what you've believed in the past so I want you to take a moment right now bow your head and I want you to ask God to open your heart to the truth the Psalm is said in Psalm 119 verse 18 open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your law that's what I want you to pray right now God open my eyes Lord would you open our hearts to the truth in Jesus' name amen here's second thing I want you to do hold your judgment until you've heard everything I'm going to say don't just listen to one phrase and run out of here with your heart wrapped around that and say you're not going to believe what Pastor Vance said hold your judgment until you hear everything and once you've heard everything if you still want to say that send all your emails to Pastor Mike he would love to hear those when you talk about the issue of divorce they're four commonly held beliefs concerning divorce in Christian circles depending on the denomination you grew up in depending on the region of the country that you grew up in they're four commonly held beliefs concerning divorce the first two are the extremes the first view is that divorce is not permissible under any circumstance for any reason some churches some people teach that that there is never a reason there's never a circumstance where divorce is allowable the other extreme is the second view and that is that both divorce and remarriage are permissible for any reason whatsoever the other two views are somewhere in the middle one of them says divorce is permitted under certain circumstances but remarriage is never permitted so some people teach that it is God has made allowances for divorce but there's never an occasion where remarriage is acceptable the fourth and final view is that both divorce and remarriage are permitted under certain circumstances now obviously the Bible can't teach all four of those they're contradictory the scripture can only teach one of these and that's what Jesus is referring to here in Matthew chapter five now as we begin this this morning here's what we must be careful of we must be careful that we don't lower God's standard and create an attitude of permissiveness that erodes the sanctity of marriage in our culture the other thing we must be careful is that we don't elevate God's standard and create an attitude of harshness that erodes the very spirit and liberty that is found in grace so with those two parameters let's dive into these verses and ask our three questions here's the first one what is the commandment what is the commandment that Jesus is here addressing well Jesus is addressing the commandment that was given concerning divorce in Deuteronomy chapter 24 we're not going to turn over there this morning but it was a commandment that was given by Moses and this is the first of the commandments that Jesus is addressing that is not given in the 10 commandments but it's important you can read it on your own later on Deuteronomy 24 beginning in verse one and following Deuteronomy 24 was not God's commandment for divorce Deuteronomy 24 was God's allowance of divorce because of the sinfulness of humanity the reality is that divorce was never God's design what had happened in the Jewish culture is the same thing that's happening in our culture today and that is that divorce was so rampant that God gave a portion of the law to speak to it to do two things to promote the sanctity and preserve the sanctity of marriage in their culture and to protect the abuse of women in their culture both of those things were happening because of their their their view of divorce in the in the Jewish culture women were being abused they're being treated as property sent out on their own with no support nobody to take care of them and secondly marriage was being eroded from within and God in the law addressed the issue of divorce not creating it not commanding it but providing some allowances by his grace that would preserve the sanctity of marriage and protect the abuse of women now what had happened is the Pharisees in Jesus' day had taken what God had said about the law and had reduced it to the teaching that simply said you can divorce your spouse for any reason whatsoever there are writings in Jewish history where they talk about men divorcing their wife because she talked to another man or because she had a dirty house or even because she had burned the breakfast that's how rampant divorce had come and or become in this culture and Jesus steps on the scene and begins to bring clarity and I want you to take your bible turn over to Matthew chapter 19 because in Matthew 19 we see a more complete dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees that will show you the difference in how they viewed the commandment Matthew chapter 19 beginning in verse three let's what it said some Pharisees came to Jesus testing him asking him is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all you see what they were saying it's lawful for any reason at all and here they're challenging Jesus on this very question Jesus isn't lawful for any reason at all and Jesus says have you not read that he who created them from the beginning male made them male and female and said for this reason shall a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined his wife and the two become one flesh so they are no longer two but one flesh what therefore God is joined together let no man separate you know what Jesus said guys before you can ever wrap your head around what God said about divorce it's very important that you understand first of all what God said about marriage they want him to talk about divorce and Jesus goes guys don't you remember what he said in the beginning in the beginning when God created marriage and then look what he said then the way they respond verse seven they said to him why then did Moses command to give her certificate of divorce and send her away you see what they're doing they're twisting the law they said Moses commanded us to give a divorce and walk away send him away he said to them because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives but from the beginning it's not been this way and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for immorality and marries another woman commits adultery you see the difference in their view Jesus began by saying guys if we're ever going to understand what God has to say about divorce it's important that we first understand what God has to say about marriage and Jesus gives them four principles or four statements if you will about God's design for marriage and I want to give them to you quickly here's the first one Jesus reminds them that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman it's a very hot topic in our culture today but it's important that you understand that every word for male and female husband and wife that Jesus Christ uses in the original Greek language are all gender specific they're not neutral terms marriage is between one man and one woman secondly marriage is a relationship above all others Jesus reminds them that this is the reason a man leaves his father and his mother and is joined to his wife Jesus is communicating that next to Jesus the most important relationship in my life is with my wife and the health of every other relationship in my life rests on the health of my relationship to my spouse third thing Jesus says is that marriage is a relationship for life for life he says for this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh so they are no longer two independent persons but one we live in a disposable world if you look up the word disposable in the dictionary its definition is designed to be thrown away after use the point is when you've gotten everything you want out of it and it is no longer useful to you you simply throw it away disposable our disposable attitude towards the world has affected our view of marriage today our culture sees marriage is something that once your use with it is over you throw it away the statistics are true that 50 percent of all first marriages end in divorce 67 percent of all second marriages and 74 percent of all third marriages end in divorce Jesus reminds the Pharisees before you begin to talk about divorce and what God says about divorce don't forget that God's original design is one man and one woman for one lifetime he used that phrase joined it together in the Greek language it means to glue together and the implication is that God sees the marriage relationship as the same kind of one flesh that existed before woman was created out of man remember the garden of Eden God calls Adam to fall into deep sleep took a rib and from that rib made woman the implication of these words be joined together is that God sees marriage as a one flesh relationship that existed just like one flesh before woman was ever created out of man one flesh it's for life the fourth thing Jesus says about marriage is that marriage is a relationship that is a covenant between a man a woman and God he says what therefore God has joined together he said the word of God says a man shall leave his father and mother listen and be joined it's in the passive voice here's what that means it's not the man and the wife that decide to join themselves together it means someone is acting on them joining them together the implication is that when a Christian when a follower of Jesus Christ gets married it's more than just two people falling in love marriage is a declaration on behalf of a believer that I recognize that God has brought this person into my life to complete me it's a covenant that exists between a husband and a wife and God himself where God in his sovereignty has joined these two lives together Jesus looks at these disciples these these Pharisees and scribes and he says if you're ever going to understand if you're ever going to have the right perspective about what God says on divorce it is imperative that you understand God's original design that marriage is between one man and one woman for one lifetime it is a preeminent relationship that is a covenant relationship between two people and God and it's only in the understanding of that foundation that then Jesus begins to explain what the bible has to say about divorce well how did he explain it well I want to read the verses again and then we'll talk about it first of all Matthew 19 verses 8 and 9 he said because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives but from the beginning it's not been this way and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for immorality and marries another woman commits adultery and I turn over to Matthew chapter 5 verse 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife except for the reason of unchastity makes her commit adultery and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery when Jesus began to explain this commandment his explanation defined marriage as a permanent relationship that is only to be dissolved in the rarest circumstances Jesus in his explanation reinforced the original design of marriage given by God in the Old Testament to be a permanent relationship but in his explanation Jesus does teach that God in his divine mercy has made allowances for divorce but anything outside of the parameters that Jesus gives us he says are dishonoring to marriage remember the statement honoring my marriage is worth whatever it takes that's the principle that Jesus is underscoring here before he gives us his parameters on divorce he reminds us of the foundational truth of marriage and then yes Jesus does speak to the allowances that the scripture gives us but it's important that we have the right heart attitude toward the allowances what God gives us here are demonstrations of his grace and his mercy understanding the hardness of the heart of humanity and Jesus in clarifying those issues says anything outside of this scope is dishonoring to marriage as God made it so with that let's get to the third question this will spend the rest of our time what's the application for me today and what I want to do here is I want to try to in the time that I have left give you four principles about divorce and then at the end we're going to draw some applications all right here's the first one God hates divorce God hates divorce don't miss hear what I'm saying I did not say God hates divorced people that's not true don't let the enemy tell you that don't let anybody else tell you that don't let your flesh tell you that that is not the truth of scripture you say why would you say God hates divorce look at Malachi chapter 2 verse 16 four I hate divorce says the Lord God of Israel why would God choose such strong language to speak about such a sensitive issue well I think there are a few reasons let me give you a couple number one I think he uses this language because of what causes divorce and again don't tune me out after I make this next statement stay with me but ultimately all divorce is the result of sin sometimes it's direct sometimes it's indirect but all divorce is the result of sin sometimes it's the sin of pride sometimes it's the sin of selfishness sometimes it's the sin of sexual unfaithfulness sometimes it is the sin of a lack of forgiveness but ultimately all divorce is a result of sin how do we know that because God's original design was one man one woman one lifetime when did that change at the fall when sin entered into the picture sin eroded God's original design of marriage I'm not saying that every person that went through a divorce is their fault and they've somehow that's not what I'm saying I'm saying that ultimately the reason we have divorce in our culture is because of sin and listen to me sin breaks the heart of God sin does not break the heart of God because he is disappointed in you or he's disappointed in me because of our sin sin breaks the heart of God because God knows sin brings destruction and sin brings death and sin brings damage and sin brings chaos and God knows that his design is best God knows that his design is right God knows that his design will lead us into the life that he created and when God sees sin eroding his very design it breaks the heart of God God hates divorce because God hates sin but God not only hates divorce because of what causes divorce God hates divorce because of what divorce causes there is implication spiritually socially to divorce let me give you a couple of them since we are made in God's image divorce damages the reputation of God's character in society remember what we said that we're made in the image of God male and female remember we said they're different right men demonstrate the image of God in ways women do not women demonstrate the image of God in ways men do not when you see a husband and wife in a loving relationship together you see a more complete picture the character of God in society divorce damages the reputation and character of God in society number two since marriage illustrates the intimacy God desires in his relationship with us divorce distorts the very message of the gospel of all the relationships that exist on planet earth Jesus chose the relationship between a husband and a wife to illustrate the intimacy that he desires in his relationship to us divorce distorts the love relationship the forgiveness the grace of the gospel it distorts the very message of the gospel in society but there aren't just spiritual implications there are social implications you see since marriage is a building block of society divorce erodes the very foundation of our world you don't have to be a genius to be able to uncover the statistics in society on the impact of divorce specifically as it applies to children and teenagers as on focus on the family's website this week James Dobson gives some of these statistics children from and teenagers from divorced homes often suffer academically and are less likely to graduate from high school children from divorced homes are substantially more likely to be incarcerated for committing a crime as a juvenile children from divorced homes are much more likely to engage in drugs and alcohol abusively as well as sexual intercourse before marriage the website went on to say before you say not my kid remember that the children and teens represented in these statistics are normal kids probably not much different from yours or mine their parents didn't think they would get involved in these things either and then Dobson said for all he underlined the word all for all children their parents divorce colors their view of the world in relationships for the rest of their lives God doesn't hate divorce because he hates the people and God hates divorce because he loves the people and God knows that deviation from his original design always brings consequences God hates divorce second principle God in his divine mercy has made some exceptions what Jesus is teaching us here is that because of the hardness of the heart of humanity because sin has entered the picture God in his grace has made some allowances but these allowances by God are not given to give us a license to justify our desire to walk away from a marriage these allowances are given and they break the heart of God because of sin and its effect on humanity but with that I want to give them to you this morning first of all there's the allowance of sexual unfaithfulness Jesus said in Matthew chapter five I say to you that every one of divorces his wife except for the reason of unchastity that word unchastity is translated in Matthew chapter 19 is the word immorality but it's the same Greek word in both texts it's the Greek word pornea we get our English word pornography from this word it's a word that refers to any form of sexual sin and Jesus is here saying that when sexual unfaithfulness has entered the marriage relationship God in his grace has made an allowance that will dissolve that marriage but before we get too far down this line of thinking remember week number one it's not possible for me to be right with God and not be pursuing rightness in my relationship with others you see inside the context of a Christian marriage is a follower of Jesus Christ when sexual unfaithfulness enters the relationship our first response before God should be to seek reconciliation and find forgiveness I know what you're thinking pastor impossible I can put up with a lot of stuff but sexual unfaithfulness in my home there's no way that I could ever reconcile there's no way that I could ever offer forgiveness and listen if you are looking to the to your own resources to find that you're exactly right there's no way humanly speaking that I can ever seek reconciliation in that situation or all for forgiveness but God did not ask me to do that in my own resources Christ in me desires through me to manifest grace and reconciliation and do miracles that we didn't even think were possible listen last weekend we had couples here at the front after the services to meet with couples that were struggling and hurting and marriage is at the end over half of the couples that were up here last weekend meeting with other couples are couples that have in some way experienced sexual unfaithfulness in their marriage and seeing God do a total work of transforming grace that has put them in a position today that now their marriage is so strong they are counseling and leading others on how to find intimacy with God in each other God can do things you did not think were possible but what Jesus is saying is when sexual unfaithfulness has entered a marriage and reconciliation is not possible divorce is allowable you say pastor what do you mean reconciliation not possible well I can't give you an answer on that here's what I can tell you to do seek the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God through his word and biblical counsel from someone you trust but what Jesus is saying is when there's sexual unfaithfulness and you've reached that point where reconciliation is no longer possible God in his grace has made an allowance where divorce is acceptable in his sight here's the second one desertion by an unbeliever turn over your Bible to first Corinthians chapter 7 first Corinthians chapter 7 beginning in verse 12 listen what it says but to the rest I say not the Lord but that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him he must not divorce her and a woman who has an unbelieving husband and he consents to live with her she must not send her husband away for the unbelieving wife is sanctified through his wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her husband for otherwise your children are unclean but now they are holy yet if the unbelieving one leaves let him leave the brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases but God has called us to peace here's what was happening in the New Testament people were coming to Christ sometimes a husband would come to Christ and his wife would not sometimes a wife would come to Christ and the husband would not you had marriages that were unequally yoked believers married to unbelievers and what Paul is saying is as long as that unbeliever is willing to stay in that home you need to stay in that marriage because you are the light of the gospel into their lives and the lives of your children stay in there and hang on but Paul says if the unbeliever says I've had it with your God I've had it with your faith I've had it with this Christianity thing I've had it with you loving God more than you love us I'm out then Paul says in that case God in his grace has made an allowance for the believer to allow that unbeliever to leave and the bond of marriage can then by his grace be dissolved these are the only two allowances ever made in scripture so I want you to understand today this is not simply saying well I just don't love him anymore so God said I can get a divorce that's not what the bible teaches this is not the bible teaching well I've reached a place in my life where I understand I just deserve better than this this is not the bible teaching that we can divorce because we just don't get along anymore Jesus gives two very specific narrow allowances and they're the only two made in scripture but there's a third issue that I want to speak about this morning before we move on to the next point if you are living today in an abusive situation although I cannot give you a chapter and verse that gives you biblical allowance for divorce I can tell you that it is not God's desire for you to remain in that situation you should seek immediate separation and find biblical counsel to help you through your time of healing and decision-making process God's grace is sufficient to lead you through that situation listen you're not to be anybody's punching bag get out of that situation seek biblical counsel to walk you through that decision-making process number three god hates divorce godness grace has made some allowances number three wherever there are biblical allowances for divorce remarriage is always acceptable in god's sight I didn't say it's always best I just said it's always acceptable turn over in your bible to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 look at verse 39 I want to read a verse that nobody will have a problem with this one everybody agree with this one because when you deal with this issue of remarriage even some people that believe God's made allowances for divorce they don't agree that there's any grounds for remarriage at all and some would say pastor how could you even say that this morning well let me show you something in the bible 1st Corinthians 7 39 a wife is bound as long as her husband lives but if her husband is dead she is free to be married to whom she wishes only in the Lord we all agree with that right if somebody's spouse dies the bond of marriage is broken God has dissolved that and they are now free to remarry the word bound in 1st Corinthians 7 39 is the exact same word that Paul used in the same chapter talking about if the unbeliever leaves let him leave the believers not under bondage in such cases same exact word same exact context same exact chapter in the bible now he adds that phrase only in the Lord meaning it doesn't mean we just go out and get remarried I begin to now seek God first and as I seek God first God will bring into my life what he thinks is best for me the word divorce that Jesus uses in Matthew is a word that literally means to let loose to unbind to let go free wherever divorce is allowed the bible teaches remarriage would also be allowed fourth and final principle any divorce or remarriage outside of these principles is adultery Jesus didn't say this one time or two times but three times and mark in Matthew chapter 5 verse 32 and Matthew chapter 19 verse 9 and mark chapter 10 verse 11 and 12 three times he said except for this case divorce remarriage is adultery now if that sounds harsh it's because we've been so influenced by our culture that we've totally lost sight of God's original design for marriage now with that we're going to end our service a little bit differently okay we're not going to stand up and sing today a little different topic so I want to give you some final applications I want to help you as God's spoken into your life from this text today I want to help you so here are the final applications here's the first one if you are here this morning and you are considering divorce you need to know first and foremost it breaks the heart of God divorce was not his original design but you also need to know that in his mercy God has made allowances where he will dissolve the marriage covenant but they are narrow they're not what our culture says it's not what society would tell us it's not what if you google it on the internet and see all the ads for it was none of that you'll see all the adjectives cheap no fault all those things that's not what the bible's talking about if you're considering it today know that it breaks the heart of God because it's not as original design but God in his grace has made allowances and if your situation fits you need to understand that today number two if you are divorced and not remarried if you've already been through a divorce and you're not remarried here's the question of the day for you was my divorce based on biblical principles and only you and God can answer that question was my divorce based on biblical principles if so then listen to me today you are not under bondage walk in the freedom of the grace and mercy of God there are no scarlet letters in the family of God there are no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God if your situation fits the context of scripture no one else is to be your judge before God you are free be encouraged today but if your divorce was not based on the teachings of scripture let me tell you what you need to do this morning number one you need to confess it to God as sin and seek his forgiveness let me show you a great verse first john chapter one verse nine if if we confess our sin he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness don't think this morning that this is something beyond God's scope of forgiveness it is not you can't go back and undo the bad decisions of your past but before you begin to feel too overwhelmed with guilt about the bad decisions of your past I want you to look around the room because there's a room full of us that have bad decisions in our past and but for the grace and forgiveness of God where would any of us be God wants to forgive you second thing you need to do this morning is you need to prayerfully reconsider reconciliation with your spouse if possible if you're divorced and you're not remarried and you understand your divorce was not biblical I'm asking you today to prayerfully before God consider reconciliation with your spouse if that's possible if that's not possible here's the third step you need to seek biblical wise counsel before entering another relationship just seek biblical wise counsel to make sure you're making wise steps remember what we said only in the Lord now as I seek him first here's the third application and we're finished if you are already divorced and you're already remarried here's your takeaway today if your divorce was based on biblical principles then so was your remarriage the bible says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus embrace the forgiveness of God and move forward move forward you don't have to feel second class you don't have to feel less than somebody else there's no condemnation but if today you've been divorced and remarried and your divorce was unbiblical so was your remarriage you say well pastor what do I do now if we confess our sin he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness you know what may need to happen for some people here this morning a husband and wife for the first time may need to go before God and say God we realize that even our marriage was not honoring to you but God today we ask you to forgive us and today we surrender our marriage to you and promise from this day forward to seek to honor marriage as you designed it to be honored John MacArthur said it this way the point is this in whatever state you are now in start seeking God's will God is great at putting together broken pieces and aren't we all thankful for that the umbrella was this honoring my marriage is worth whatever it takes whatever it takes I want us to bow our heads together and I'm going to have a time of prayer right now for all married couples in this room if you're here today and you're married I want to pray specifically for you this morning Lord Jesus I pray today for the marriages in this room God I pray that you would strengthen these marriages God I pray that you'd put a hedge of protection around these marriages Lord I pray today that these marriages would be a picture of the character of God in society Lord I pray that these marriages would demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ Lord I pray for intimacy and oneness and fellowship between husbands and wives God I pray for your grace to be demonstrated and manifest into every one of these marriages God I pray today for marriages that are on the brink of divorce God that you would do a work of reconciliation and redemption and restoration and forgiveness God I pray for marriages today maybe that are already divorced that need to be reconciled God that your grace would draw them together and do a life-changing work that would be a platform and a testimony to the greatness of God Lord I pray for marriages today that are already divorced and remarried and they've understood maybe for the first time today that it's been totally outside of your parameters God I pray for your grace for those marriages today that as they repent and receive your forgiveness that they would begin to walk now in the freedom of forgiveness of Christ God I pray for marriages now secondly I want to pray for every single in this room today a teenager college student adult Lord I pray for the singles in this room today God those that have not yet been married Lord I pray for them today that you would guard and protect their purity that you would build safeguards into their lives that they would understand the value and the honor and the sanctity of marriage and God more than anything else they would not be seeking that person but God they would be seeking the person you and allow you to bring that person into their lives God I pray that you would guard them Lord I pray for those maybe that that know from you God that you've not called them to be married there are some that we understand have a unique calling to be single in life Lord and to be more devoted to your work and God I pray especially for them and you're blessing in favor on them God may we be a church that honors marriage now in closing I want you to look back up here and I want to do one final thing and I'm done I want to challenge you this morning I want to give you a seven day honor marriage challenge and it has three components praying planning partnering here's what I'm going to ask you to do for the next seven days for the next seven days I want you to covenant to pray with your spouse every day to pray for protection intimacy oneness spiritual development and also pray that God would give you the wisdom to develop a plan it's the second component that over the next seven days as you seek God together you'll be intentional to strategically plan ways to do whatever it takes to honor your marriage I want you to think daily weekly monthly and yearly as you pray for the next seven days you ask God to give you a strategic plan as a couple that you can be very intentional about honoring marriage the marriage that God's given you and thirdly I want you to partner with another couple I want you to connect with another couple to share ideas and hold each other accountable to the plan that God has given you say pastor why would you do this let me tell you why we need to do this because we need to take marriage seriously marriage is a big deal and the enemy's attack is on the home the enemy would love to do nothing more than destroy your marriage listen God's design is the very best for you and it's time that we as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ begin to honor marriage and to protect marriage and to be a demonstration an example to this world that Jesus makes a difference in the family so here's what I'm asking you to do I know this is a little bit awkward but if you're here today and you're married and you say I'll accept the challenge I want you to just stand up right now wherever you are just stand up you and your wife just stand up don't do it unless you mean business with God if your spouse is not here today you can stand up on their behalf that's all right Lord Jesus have your way in these homes God I thank you this morning for the generations that are going to be changed because of what's going to happen in the next seven days or there's some of these people that are standing that they look back over their life and they see in their parents and their grandparents they've seen broken marriages failed marriages dysfunctional families and God what's happening today is God you're changing that or as they seek you over the next seven days you're going to build a plan into their lives to be intentional not just to sit back and do nothing but to be intentional about pursuing God and honoring marriage and Lord they're going to pass on something to their children and their grandchildren their great-grandchildren this different than they've ever seen before God may we be a people that are passionate about your design God it works and it's right it's in the name of Jesus Christ we pray (soft music)