Divorce and Remarriage - What does Jesus say? part 4

If you would take your Bible and turn back with me turn back to two places. I know that we read Three places we were in three places in our scripture reading but turn to Matthew 19 That verse 9 that we read earlier and then our first Corinthians passage verse 15 of chapter 7 now I'm going to mention other passages like I always do we're gonna mostly work from Matthew 19 I will reference Matthew 5 because really Matthew chapter 5 verse 31 is a repeat of Matthew 19 verse 9, but when I mention other scriptures, maybe you write those down This is a subject that you need to go back and study your on your own So you take good notes and you be a good student and take what we're studying this morning And go back and study it on your own and allow the Lord to form it in your life Now like I said earlier this morning, we're finishing up our messages on divorce and remarriage Really?

There's a lot that's connected with all of this I think that we have all all seen that there is so much more than just those two words divorce and Remarriage and we're gonna end up with four individual messages now. They really all come together to form one message Now I want you to notice what I have said in the title of a message really I've just carried it all along Divorce and remarriage and then a question. What does Jesus say? That's what we've been doing all along in these messages.

We've been examining what Jesus has to say about these Subjects I have said numerous times that I have taken Jesus approach in Matthew 19 Jesus started with the issues of the day. He started with that contacts those who were before him Then he went back to Moses day in the Deuteronomy passage that those Jewish leaders were really abusing Then he goes back even further to Genesis 2 with that first marriage with Adam and Eve and then he came back to his day Really if you think about it, Jesus went around the block. He covered a lot of ground.

I Guess I'm gonna make an excuse for myself if I've been very long and covering this I'm really just being like Jesus I've tried to explain that to my wife. I don't think it went over very well Now I notice what notice what we have here notice what's going on to fully Examine what Jesus has to say about this we have to even go forward even more We have to go forward into the New Testament We know that Jesus is the author of all of the Word of God now think about this with me Jesus was the author of the Word through Moses back in Genesis chapter 2 and in Deuteronomy chapter 24 Jesus was the author through Matthew and Matthew 9 in Matthew 19 And then in Mark and Luke when mark and Luke write about these subjects and Jesus is the author of what is said about divorce Further on into the New Testament, which is where we're going to go this morning in Romans 7 I'll mention that and then in first Corinthians chapter 7 and all that Paul wrote there Jesus was the author and as the author of the Word of God Everything said about marriage and divorce and remarriage and all that is connected from Genesis to the Gospels on into the New Testament It is all from Jesus.

That's why that question is accurate What does Jesus say? Now before we get into our passages, I want to show you my approach with this third lesson on divorce and remarriage Right here in the Sermon on the Mount. This has been my approach and been a part of my application all along First we have maintained these messages within the context. We have the context of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus has this great crowd there.

There are the 12 disciples and I believe there were some other believers there's the Jews and then there's the Jewish leaders that were right there in the middle and we've always Kept these messages within that original context that audience and then second we have broadened with the application and applied it to us in our day and I believe the Relevance of this topic demands that approach that is why I have stretched these two verses in Chapter 5 into four messages This is very relevant for us today divorce and remarriage Really is everywhere in our culture now I'm going to come back to these two different contexts at the end of the message Now in last week's message we covered two truths First we looked at the topic of the biblical exemption or the biblical Allowance for divorce and then second we looked at the topic of of sin in divorce Several times in the message.

I did say that I was not exhaustive. I left a lot out there I know I did not cover all that needed to be said about these subjects. So this morning We're really gonna pick up right where we left off. This is really a continuation of what we looked at last week again I could have combined this but I would been I just would have been too long I want us to have the time to just digest this one bite at a time And if we're a little slow, I think it's okay.

I would rather us get it then miss so much So you see what how we're going to examine these truths this teaching this morning We're gonna look at the exemption for divorce This is a continuation of that subject and then we're going to look at the remarriage after divorce. I Will also make quite a bit of application at the end of the message Wrapping really not just this message up but everything that we have looked at Now as I say often I do encourage you to take notes We want to listen with our ears or minds on our hearts.

Yes, but we want to be good stewards We want to be able to go home and in our own personal time allow what we study together to be formed In our lives and in our families. So let's start off number one the exemption for divorce this Exception for divorce now last week we did learn that there is biblical Allowance for divorce.

We also learned that there is sin in divorce when it is outside Of what the Bible allows, you know this sports language when we get out of bounds, you know, we're out of bounds So when we get out of bounds with what the Bible allows we're out of bounds Now I want to mention what we looked at last week here and then I want to jump ahead into the New Testament We have been working from Matthew 5 and Matthew 19 back into the Old Testament And now we will work from Matthew 5 and 19 ahead into the New Testament again covering a lot of ground So first the allowance for divorce from sexual immorality Last week we said this was both in the Old and the New Testament in Deuteronomy 21 1 Moses God through Moses permitted divorce if a man found some type of sexual impurity In his wife and in Matthew 5 32 and in Matthew 9 19 9 Jesus said the very same thing.

Let me read those verses. You don't have to turn there Deuteronomy 21 1 Moses says when a man takes a wife and he marries her if then she finds no favor in his eyes because Because he has found some indecency in her and he writes her a certificate of doors and he puts her out And then Matthew 19 starting in verse 8 Jesus is mentioning this Deuteronomy 24 passage and he said to them the crowd there because of your hardness of heart or sin Moses allowed you to divorce your wives But from the beginning it was not so and then verse 9 and I say to you whoever divorces his wife Except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery now remember Jesus affirmed what Moses said in every way Jesus did not lower the standard that God set forth through Moses nor did he raise the standard that God set forth through Moses Deuteronomy 24 verse 1 Matthew 5 32 Matthew 19 9 are in perfect harmony As a matter of fact the word indecency I'm reading from the English transluc- English standard translation the word indecency in Deuteronomy 24 1 and the word or phrase sexual immorality in Matthew 5 and in Matthew 19 Both of those words describe the same thing Some form of sexual sin some form of sexual lewdness or sexual behavior The words are not adultery in the original language and you can't make it be adultery in the original language One word that comes to my mind.

I've already mentioned it is harmony. You know when something is in tune It's in harmony. Is it not musical instruments are are supposed to be in harmony and in tune together Voices are supposed to be in harmony or in tune together Now the second allowance for divorce we read this earlier is from desertion Now here's where we left off last week.

There is a second allowance for divorce Now I want us to go back to these first Corinthians passage You have your Bible turned there first Corinthians chapter 7 and I want to read verse 12 on down to verse 15 But verse 15 is where we will really really be here notice what Paul says To the rest of you I say remember earlier. He's giving a lot of information on marriage To the rest I say I'm not the Lord that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she Consents to live with him.

He should not divorce her if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever And he consents to live with her she should not divorce him for the unbelieving husband Is made holy or sanctified because of his wife in the unbelieving wife is made holy or sanctified because of her husband Otherwise her children would be unclean But as it is they are holy or set apart or sanctified now verse 15 is where I want us to go but if the Unbelieving partner separates let it be so in such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved God has called you to live in peace Verses 12 to 14 that we've read they're all about the Christian who has a spouse that is a non-believer a non-christian Paul says that if the non-christian the Non-believer if that spouse will stay will then stay together.

There's no call for divorce do not separate That's what we see in the verses, but look back at verse 15 but if the unbelieving partner Separates that is they leave let it be so in such cases the brother or a sister It is they are not enslaved God has called you to live in Peace now notice what what Paul is saying here? And this is Jesus through Paul in verses 12 to 14 He is saying that if the non-believing spouse will stay then stay married But if they choose to leave what does he say let it be so? Now there are a couple of specifics.

I want us to focus in you know here first deal the believing spouse is Not enslaved is what the verse says this simply means that that they are not a slave They are not bound to that marriage bond. They are free To say that they are set free like a slave would be set free from a master and this is very very accurate I'll mention this a little more later and then second this phrase peace through the separation Because the non-believing spouse has left the believing spouse can now live in peace this Contentious marriage bond is over.

God is saying that the believing spouse can live at peace in these circumstances But notice something else here that we see Paul saying He is assuming that the the leaving spouse the the deserting spouse is a non-believer now. Why is that the case? Because if this troubled spouse was a true believer he or she would say stay He or she would stay and work out the problems within the marriage So Paul is assuming that the one who leaves the one who deserts They are not staying to work out the marriage because ultimately they are an unbeliever Now in summary notice what we see here the exception in the voice.

This is true biblical teaching Let me turn really all of this around all divorce is sin. We've discussed that we'll mention that more as we continue except when sexual immorality is the cause or When there is desertion one spouse leaves the other spouse the spouse that stays at home is free from the marriage bond Here Paul is saying to the remaining spouse. Let it be so another words Don't force things let them go you are not bound to that person live at peace. Let it go You are free Now an application. What do we need to see here? Now?

There's really a lot that we can apply here, but there's some things that just came to the surface for me During my week of study really the weeks of study here And we must see that all of this all that we are dealing with it is because of man's sinfulness Moses allowed divorce back in the days with the Jews why because of man's sin Jesus said the very same thing divorce was not a part of God's perfect plan for marriage but sin entered into the human race and therefore marriage and marriages have been having problems ever since and inevitably sometimes those problems lead to divorce I Don't know if this will make you feel better or worse But if you go all the way back into Genesis 2 and in chapter 3 when sin entered the picture you can see that immediately Problems within the marriage arose with the first man the first woman Adam and Eve But we must remember the standard of God God designed marriage and it is his desire that divorce never happened Genesis 2 said that God himself Performed that first ceremony and what did he say let no man separate But we also need to see how God feels Yes, how God feels God detests divorce Malachi 2 13 to 16 says that God hates divorce now I don't have to know that I've mentioned that verse that much and we need to see that God hates divorce And if God hates divorce, we should hate divorce But I also want to ask you another question here Why does God allow divorce?

Think about that. You might say pastor you've already answered that about five different ways. It's because of sin Well, that is right But that is not all we must see that divorce is a grace gift as well Now that trips some of you up, but let me finish divorce is a grace gift as well For the spouse who has been a victim of sin.

What is the sin? immorality and desertion Listen, it is a concession for sin But to the true believer this awful painful horrible thing of divorce can be a gift So as what to live in peace, we don't celebrate that no, but it is a grace gift God's standard is held high Yes God's standard is that no man would separate and God's feeling about divorce is true and real and we must Remember that he hates divorce. But listen God's concession because of sin ultimately Becomes mercy it becomes mercy and grace.

I Don't remember where I ran across it this week or these past few weeks but if you look back in the economy of God with the Jewish people if you go back and study under the Jewish law many of the sexual sins that were committed ultimately constituted death Some scholars say that this divorce in Old Testament times was grace.

Otherwise it was death So what do we have here the biblical exemption for? divorce But then number two, I want us to see this remarriage after divorce this remarriage after divorce Now here's what we do have a lot of debate from noted biblical scholars that have far larger brains and minds and hearts and education than we do really all the way down to laymen in the church pew there are many who differ as To whether a person is allowed to remarry even after a biblical divorce Now I said this last week that this would stir up some questions now I don't want to absolve you of your responsibility to go and study you're on your own but questions are good Years ago.

I heard the old southern Baptist evangelist manly Beasley said that good preaching many times stirs up questions And so when these kind of questions are stirred up They're good because we need to get into God's Word and let God form us and help us and adjust our lives So what he's trying to teach us so your questions are good Now we've already established that any divorce on any grounds except for sexual immorality or desertion it's sin period it's sin We learned that in Matthew 5 Matthew 19 really these past few weeks also, if the unbiblical II divorced person were to marry another they would be marrying in adultery both would be Committing adultery it would be a an adulterous union.

I think we've already seen that fairly well Now Paul addresses this potential problem earlier in first Corinthians 7 this problem of remarriage when they shouldn't remarry He says that if a believing or a Christian woman sinfully divorces She should remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband that she unbiblical divorced We see that in first Corinthians 7 10 and 11 the same standard is given to the the believing husband who divorces unbiblical Neither of the two have the right to divorce and marry another that would be adultery Paul says that in Chapter 7 verses 10 and 11 go home to your spouse be reunited but the question the question that must be answered here can a biblically divorced believer Remarry and I believe the answer is yes now.

I will show you how I come to that conclusion First of all, I come to that conclusion from Jesus and his exemption clause Now we see Jesus relate this exemption clause to marriage in two places Matthew 5 and Matthew 19 if you have your copy of God's Word open to Matthew 19 look back with me and what does he say and I'll say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery now out of that verse which is a repeat of Matthew 5 32 Notice what Jesus is saying whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery plain and simple unless Unless they fall under the exemption whoever divorces and marries another commits adultery except for The exemption sexual immorality look back at the verse Now the context of the verse was the Jews and their divorce and remarriage for all types of trivial reasons Really there were adulterers and it was all around in that context But the major subject Jesus is dealing with really I see it as a two-sided coin biblical divorce and biblical remarriage or unbiblical divorce and unbiblical remarriage you see So the exemption here permits the divorce and permits the remarriage But then second from what we've learned from Paul Paul gives us this freedom statement now all of first Corinthians 7 is Paul teaching on Marriage for me and I was when I was in this chapter this week It reminded me of the importance of this chapter But all through the chapter Paul is elevating the seriousness of marriage and the true standard that it was set out That he set out from God from the beginning but in verse 15 Paul finishes with this desertion clause.

What does he say? But if this unbelieving partner separates desserts Let it be so in such a case this brother or sister is not enslaved Now the key to what Paul is teaching is found in the word enslaved Some of you use the New American standard it translates this not under bondage This word enslaved is from the word that Paul used is often to describe his personal relationship to Christ in Romans 1 1 Paul called himself a Servant of God the New American says bond servant now the in the original language Used the word doulas which spoke of the the lowest of low slaves and see this doula slave was not free They were bound to their master Paul was a doula slave the lowest of slaves to Christ Well, this word enslaved is a form of that word Meaning the believer is not enslaved the believer is not bound They are not a slave to that original marriage that a regional marriage bounder covenant.

They are what they are not enslaved They are free. They are free from the marriage bond and listen if they are free and still bound How can they be free? Now in summary notice what we see here Jesus said that the one who is released from the marriage covenant is released because of sexual immorality They are free. They are released.

They are released to be remarried not an adultery No, Paul says the same thing the believing spouse is not enslaved to the original marriage covenant Only because of the desertion so they are released They are free from the original marriage bond and they have the freedom to remarry another believer And there are plenty of scripture that deal with marrying another believer So they are not released to still be bound and they are not free to still be bound Now here I want to point out the position taken by those who do not believe in Remarriage after divorce I will share why I think that they are wrong and then I'm going to share that in in two ways First those who hold to this position first they cite Mark 10 chapter Mark chapter 10 verses 1 to 12 and then one verse in Luke Luke 16 18 now in those passages Jesus does does teach on divorce, but he doesn't mention the exemption clause And then they also cite first Corinthians 7 39 and then Romans 7 1 to 3 and those passages Paul is dealing with the death of a spouse and remarriage to a believing spouse None of those passages take into consideration The exemption clauses that are set forth by Jesus and Matthew 5 and Matthew 19 Nor how the innocent spouse is set free earlier in verse 15 Now what should we see here?

What must we do? We must look at the totality of scripture to understand what is taught on any subject Jesus teaches on marriage from Genesis to Deuteronomy to the Gospels to Romans and the first Corinthians the entire body of scripture pertaining to marriage must be taken into consideration in Matthew 5 and Matthew 19 and first Corinthians 7 verse 15 They clearly teach the innocent spouse is free They are released.

They are free and released to marry a believing spouse And we can't single out Romans 7 1 and 3 and then first Corinthians 7 39 at the expense of Matthew 5 and Matthew 19 and the earlier verse in Corinthians first Corinthians 7 15 The two ways I believe this position is an overreach those who do not permit for remarriage after a biblical divorce.

I Believe they mean well I believe they see everything go off to the right here and it's not good and I believe it's an overcorrection Now let me share with you two reasons why I believe they are not correct first the clear teaching of Jesus and Paul Matthew 5 32 19 9 first Corinthians 7 15 listen They do not contradict these other scriptures They add to what Jesus is teaching in those other scriptures those passages complete the entire body of teaching on these subjects and Then second this is the second reason why I hold this position When we look at what respected Bible scholars have taught throughout the centuries During the Protestant Reformation God brought forth many many scholars But two of the most influential Christians really possibly since the first century that would be Martin Luther and John Calvin Both taught that Jesus Allowed the innocent victims within the divorce both taught that they were allowed to remarry and they cited these passages this same argument In more modern times we have theologians on the Presbyterian side like R.C.

Sproul And then on the Baptist ik side like the John MacArthur's and they teach the same thing that the innocent victims of divorce are allowed to remarry another believer So for me those two reasons why I believe this spouse this believing spouse. They are a victim here They are a victim of divorce and they are allowed to remarry first the exemption clause by Jesus the freedom clause by Paul They are set free They are released and to me how can they be free and how can they be released if they're still bound from that previous? covenant And then second the opinion of so many noted scholars who have thoroughly studied this subject throughout history Some of you may not know the history of church confessions.

I Thought about this yesterday afternoon and I went digging back in some of my church confessions They're historical documents by Christians throughout the ages who have sought to articulate what they believe from the scriptures If we go all the way back to England into the 1600s those great Puritan believers who sought to articulate what they believe they develop that great Massive work called the Westminster Confession of Faith and it has impacted so many different denominations from Presbyterians to congregationalists to Baptists and those great minds believed that those who are biblically released were biblically allowed to remarry Now as I move away from the scriptures There's some more material that I really feel like needs to be covered This is really helping us wrap up all that we've been looking at the past few weeks Now we need to see that when this is all broken down.

There are really four approaches to this divorce situation Number one no divorce is permitted at all Some believe that no divorce is permitted at all really I think they've got to pull pages out of their Bible to come to that conclusion Now some of those people could be well-meaning they just want to go back to Genesis 2 and hold that standard high But we can't leapfrog over what the scriptures say But then the second position is divorce anytime anywhere for any reason Isn't that what the Jews were doing in that day and isn't that what we see so often in our day?

I'm gonna speak more to that here in a moment, but then this third position divorce is biblically allowed But there's no remarriage that is allowed. There are some that hold to that position now again I think it's just an over correction and Then the fourth position divorce is biblically allowed and there is an allowance for remarriage to another believer Now here I'm going to test your memory Do you remember our two contexts of all that we've been studying the Sermon on the Mount?

The beatitudes these lessons here where Jesus is explaining in these six lessons really what he meant in John 5 verse 20 Remember the two contexts everything that was going down on there with Jesus and then in our context Question number one what approach did the Jews have in their day? number two Divorce anytime for any reason remember I said several times that in their Jewish heritage They had had ribos and scholars that had reduced the meaning of Deuteronomy 24 verse 1 and in Jesus day listen divorce was the most flippant thing They divorced for any reason and they were remarrying after these flippant divorces and listen sin and divorce sin and remarriage it was everywhere and in Jesus day It was this perpetual sin and really if you understand it, it was adultery everywhere What did Jesus do Remember I've said this so many times.

I mean he was very Confrontational he went right to the source of the problem. He went right to the Jewish leaders They didn't have to wonder what he thought he went back to what Jesus said or God said in Genesis He went back to the original meaning of Deuteronomy. What did Jesus do? He? purposely intentionally did everything he could do to destroy their external religion and how they had reduced it down to accommodate their sin But what about our context what about today with us what about our culture What about our families and even what about our churches?

I'm sad to say many in our culture many in our families and even many in the church They have number two as well divorce any time for any reason and listen many churches and in many people in our culture They're just like the Jews in Jesus day Listen many divorces today are not sifted through the teaching of the authority of God's Word and what are the results? What are the results so many divorces that are unbiblical so many remarriages that are unbiblical and I've used this analogy Several times it's like a bucket of marbles of sin. It's dumped out.

It just goes everywhere in effect so many Now remember I've said this numerous times the Bible commentator William Barclay helps us with our approach He said that Jesus was a a practical reformer. He was not this theoretical Idealist and see we must become practical reformers not theoretical idealist We cannot hold to the ideal of biblical marriage at the altar and then do in life as the culture does no We must practically reform our ideas and our practice to what God's Word says In our marriages and our families and in our church And you know what this is hard work It gets real personal It can be very painful It could require lots of repentance for some.

I mean this gets real touchy This is where people say well pastor, you know, you're kind of meddling here But why do we do these things? Why would we take this approach? Why would we be serious? Remember our motivations for the glory of God if we desire God to get glory in our lives and in our families and in the Lives of our children. Listen, we ultimately do this for the glory of God.

That's what worship is all about We take God's Word and as we see what God's Word says about anything and everything in life And when we adjust our lives to the the Word of God God gets glory in our life And then we do this for the good of our families How many families are destroyed and hurt and fractured? It just goes on and on and on we adjust ourselves to what God's Word It says here for the good of our families and for the good of our children and our children's children And then ultimately for the good of the church because what does the church desperately need?

Solid men and women solid families who do the work of the church And really the work of the church is built on them and their lives and then also to impact our culture in our society Now as I begin to conclude I Do know some of you have questions What do you do? You just ask Listen bring them to me. I might not have the answer right away, but I know where to find it Right here in God's Word and I will gladly walk you through the scriptures I will help you sift through what the scriptures say and I will work my fingers to the bone to help you adjust your Lives to your lives to what God's Word says, but only on one condition If you're willing to accept what God's Word says if you're willing to repent in any way and oh this can be hard This can be difficult and sometimes this can take time.

So there's no such thing as a dumb question If there is I've cornered the market Another two questions, I believe I need to answer I need to put out there before we conclude First what do we teach as a church the leadership here? What do we teach? God's standard for marriage we can never ever back down from what God said in the beginning God's standard for marriage, but and also we must teach divorce is a provision Yes, it's a sin.

It's very painful Oh, we can't measure the difficulty that divorce brings in a life But it is provided and it can be a great grace gift and listen for a believer remarriage to another believer is permitted as I was studying this week. I was doing some listening. I Read I studied but then I also listened and I heard a scholar say something like this You know when we're dealing with all of these subjects, they must be dealt with Under church authority now, let me explain what I mean by that.

We know that God's Word clearly Deniliates that we have government authority those who are in authority over us Romans 13 starting in verse 1 and we are to make ourselves Subject to those government authorities who are over us, but we also have church authority We have church authority and church authority isn't there to Lord over You know church authority is there to help you and to help you through God's Word and to help you deal with these problems And you know ultimately if you come to a place of divorce church authority and the people of the church in the work of the church is there to help you be declared as Innocent and then to also deal with the guilty I've walked down that road quite a few times and when the church gathers around the one who has dealt with this awful thing and they've been Declared innocent they've been propped up as doing this thing, right?

Listen, that's when church authority shines and you can't deal with these things outside of the work of the church And then second what do we do I Mentioned what do we teach? What do we do as a church? What do we do as leaders in the church? When a marriage is in trouble, what do we do? We love those people involved We love them. We pray with them. We cry with them. We teach them. We encourage them We counsel them we pour our lives into them. We do all that we can do to help them reconcile Listen because God's desire is that no man's separate no couple separate God hates divorce We love them. We pray with them. We help with them.

We cry with them. We do everything we can to help them And then when that marriage is in trouble and it just seems like there is no solution, what do we do? There is biblical divorce It's painful. It's bitter But sometimes it is bitter medicine and sometimes it becomes a great gift because that innocent spouse Can go into freedom and go into peace And then when that marriage partner will not reconcile now, this is assuming they're a member of a church When that marriage partner will not reconcile what do we do?

It's called church discipline I've taught you thoroughly about church discipline What do we do when they will not repent when they will not work to save that marriage when they stay in their rebellion? And they stay in their sin and they rebel against God's Word says What does Paul say you have to ultimately treat them as an unbeliever and that's where that church authority comes That's when the body of Christ comes to help the innocent deal with their situation and then the deal with the guilty appropriately and ultimately they are turned out why because of sin and rebellion and a refusal to do what God's Word says I Don't know where this came from but as I was wrapping things up really yesterday and last night I just had two images that came to my mind that reflect our responsibility One of them is a mountain climber I've never done any mountain climbing.

I remember when I went to India in 2014 we were in the north of India if you know Your geography, you know that India's kind of triangular shaped and north of India is Nepal Well, what's along the border of India and Nepal? Mount Everest Some of the highest mountain peaks deep my highest mountain peak in the world. I never forget we were flying And we were flying parallel Well that mountain range the Himalayas and my friends said look out the window.

There are the Himalayas I said yeah, he said notice their eye level with us We were at 30,000 feet But I have this image in my mind You know those mountain climbers work their fingers to the bone and you know when they get to one of those tall peaks many times What do they do? They plant a flag there. What are they saying? We've been there. We've come we've conquered we risk our lives See, that's what we do.

We work our fingers to the bone We're on our hands and knees and we're climbing to the great heights of what God's Word says about marriage and divorce And remarriage always holding high the flag of God's standard never ever wanting any marriage to be dissolved. No But I had another image come to my mind I think this came from a documentary that I watched I don't watch a lot of TV a lot of what I watch is black And white my wife says I'm boring. I like history.

I was watching a Documentary of some of those English explorers when they went to explore the South Pole, you know, it's where it gets really cold I Didn't have time to go get some of the details But you know They were sailing in some very adverse conditions and and those professional sailors and navigators were we're just Navigating some of the most treacherous waters on earth and they had the crew there and they were Navigating through those storms and see that's what we're doing in the life of the church and leaders in the life of the church We're helping you navigate the storms of life and you know, sometimes these storms They come about and they produce problems that ultimately end up in a rocky marriage or a difficult marriage or even divorce And we're just in the boat with you helping you sail along through these storms loving you Praying for you helping you always holding high the standard of what God's Word says But ultimately helping you in these matters Now what's the title of the sermon I've said it over and over divorce and remarriage, what does Jesus say?

But then what's the series title? the series title of This sermon on the Mount series is the extraordinary Christian life I've said so many times we don't have the ordinary Christian life and then the extraordinary Christian life. There's only one Christian life But what do we have the extraordinary? Christian life that's the Christian life and all of this is a part of it If we're not careful, we can look at the extraordinary Christian life almost with rose-colored glasses It's just all gonna be peaches and cream and easy.

No, it's not Because we're on this side of the fall But what are we seeking to live the extraordinary Christian life and we can live the extraordinary Christian life even navigating the difficult waters of divorce and Intermarriage and everything that comes along with it if we do it God's way So let's pray Let's commit what we've studied this morning in the past few weeks And let's pray that the Lord will work in our lives We would bring glory and honor in our lives with this subject Really in everything that we are So let's pray and we'll sing one closing song and we'll dismiss