Transcript
Speaker: Well, good morning once again, everybody. Y'all having a good morning so far? I mean, come on. Y'all can't have a better morning when you have a baptism and worship like that, right?
Speaker: Especially after singing a song like that, where we know that we have a God who is faithful, a God who is loving, a God who is kind, a God who is just, and he's going to be for us and not against us, right? And and his his love and his compassion always goes before us.
Speaker: So if you're if you're downcast this morning, I pray so far that you've been uplifted. Amen. Amen. Well, if you have your Bibles, go ahead open them up to Luke, the Gospel of Luke. going to be in Luke chapter 16.
Speaker: We're going to be continuing our series through this Gospel. We've been kind of meticulously, methodically moving through this Gospel, and I hope it's been enriching to all of us, because it is a very, very powerful Gospel.
Speaker: Each of them are. But this morning, though, we're going to be in Luke 16, and we're going to only looking at one verse today, everybody. Now, I know you're probably thinking, good luck, Josh.
Speaker: Right? I know I have a tendency of going, taking my time with this stuff, but it's only because the Lord just impresses on my heart his truth, and and I love it, right? And I hope we all do. So, as we look at this verse, though, I pray that...
Speaker: the Lord will just prepare us for what we're going to looking at. Because as we've been working through this book, especially specifically in just Luke chapter 16 alone, we've been looking at this conversation or or this dialogue that Jesus has been having with his disciples, but also with this group of men called the Pharisees.
Speaker: Right. And if we know anything about the Pharisees, that that phrase Pharisee means to as one who is separate. Right. And so these group of men are laymen who have come together and they've created this group called the Pharisees. And their ultimate goal and job is to study the law and to uphold it.
Speaker: That is their desire. They want to emphasize the Torah study and legal obedience to the word of God. But unfortunately, as we've seen time and time again throughout this gospel and ultimately through Jesus's ministry, ah the the Pharisees, this particular group, have taken their their their ultimate goal of handling the word of God and they've taken it above and beyond what they actually needed to, right? To the point of ah the what we would call this term of legalism, right? we're almost ah we're We're almost emphasizing the weight of obedience to the law more important than obedience to God the Father despite our brokenness and our sin,
Speaker: And Jesus has been addressing this time and time again with the Pharisees. And in this particular chapter, he's been having this underlying theme this whole time of of addressing their self-serving greed and divided allegiance to the word and ultimately to themselves. and and And this heart condition, right? And so this overall theme deals with this idea of stewardship.
Speaker: of stewardship. and And Jesus, we see this within the parables that he's been giving up to this point, whether it's with the parable of the prodigal son, and then the parable of the dishonest manager or the shrewd manager.
Speaker: This is something that is running all way up to what we're going looking at today. So as we get into today's text, I don't want you to be like, wow, this is completely off-putting here, right? Because I'm not going to lie, today's verse, when we read it, you're going to be like,
Speaker: Did Jesus mean to put that there? Right? Or did Luke do a manuscript error? Like, no, this is not an error. Jesus did not just randomly have a random thought. He was like, ooh, this is a perfect place to put this, right?
Speaker: All this, as we read through this, it ties together cohesively. And so today, the goal of today's message is not to get on this topic and and make anybody feel guilty or ashamed or or or any of those things. Because today's topic is is one that is in our society, in our culture, it's kind of an awkward topic.
Speaker: It's uncomfortable. It's painful, right? And so again, my heart for today's message is not to bring shame, judgment, guilt on anybody who has gone through this particular topic. And you guys are like, what's the topic? I'll tell you in a minute.
Speaker: But because this topic has even affected me in my own life, I want to be transparent about I'm a byproduct of the topic that we're to talking about. But all have to say is that there is a theme that is woven into this particular verse that we're going to look at in context. But then I also want to take the time and I want to address this topic a little bit more as the Word of God addresses it and how we handle it today. And that topic is on divorce.
Speaker: On divorce. And even as I say that word, of you are like, ooh, right? But it's this is something that Jesus, again, this is not topic that he just wove into this passage as an accident.
Speaker: There's something about marriage that Jesus sees that is this idea of stewardship that he also ties into what the Pharisees are doing at this time. So we're going to unpack that.
Speaker: And then, like I said, we're then going to turn our attention to more of, okay, what is what is this covenant of marriage and why is it so important to Jesus to where he's going to talk to the Pharisees about this idea of stewardship and then how do we apply it to our own life today? Does that sound good? Can we do that?
Speaker: All right. So... um
Speaker: As we go into this, though, I'm going to read verse 18, and I'm just going to let it soak in for second, and then we're to back and reread verses 14 through 17 with verse 18. All right, is everybody there at Luke 16, verse 18? Y'all good?
Speaker: Okay. It says this, everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. And he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Speaker: Right? So again, when you read this verse by itself, you're like, wow, how does this fit into the context of the greater message of Luke right now? That's a great question. So let's go back and reread verses 14 all the way to verse 18 to see how this kind of fits together. Y'all ready?
Speaker: So going back, the Pharisees who were lovers of money. Okay, remember that phrase, lovers of money, heard all these things and they were and they ridiculed him talking about Jesus. And he said to them, Jesus, you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your heart.
Speaker: For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The law of the prophets were until John, since then the good news for the kingdom of God is preached and everyone forces his way into it.
Speaker: But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void. Then he goes on verse 18. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.
Speaker: And he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. Now, the reason want to read this together is because context is king, right? I hope you guys always remember that. Context is king.
Speaker: Right? Whenever we work through the scriptures, I pray that you always take what you read and read it into the greater narrative of context. Because there's a lot of pastors, a lot of teachers out there who like to take passages like this and bring it out. And they like to put their own agenda into it.
Speaker: Don't be deceived by that. Always bring it back to the context. And so this particular thing, like we talked about, the with the parable of dishonest manager, the parable of the lost, the prodigal son, this idea of stewardship comes up time and time again to where even here, verse 14 says, they were lovers of money and heard all these, when they heard all these things, they ridiculed him. This is showing the true heart condition of who they are.
Speaker: They were selfish, greedy men. now all of them, but a lot of these Pharisees were were self-seeking. And they took the law and they twisted it for their own gain. And they were being bad stewards of what has been given to them as the religious leaders, as those who are supposed to lead and shepherd the people of God.
Speaker: Does this make sense? And so as we read verse 18, keep that theme in mind because these men, going, they give you a little more context. Um,
Speaker: These guys, they fell under a specific rule of thought or or perspective of thought. There was two schools of thought during this time. There was the Sadducees who were under the the perspective of this leader called Shammai.
Speaker: And then there was the Pharisees who were under the perspective of Hillel. And they had different perspectives on the verse of Deuteronomy 24 verse 1. Right.
Speaker: This is if you go back to Deuteronomy 24, this is the moment where the people receive the certificate of divorce from Moses. Right. And you you when you read that, you're like, OK, well, if if Moses gives the certificate of divorce to the people, then it must not be wrong.
Speaker: But what we're gonna see here is that, no, that doesn't mean anything. It's actually what we're gonna see in Matthew is that because it's because of this the hard-heartedness of the people that God granted the certificate of divorce through Moses.
Speaker: It was never part of the original design for marriage. Because God is a God of stewardship. God is a God who desires faithfulness, not of brokenness. Does this make sense?
Speaker: So going back to the two schools of thought, the school of Shammai with the Sadducees, they took that particular verse, Deuteronomy 24, verse 1, and verses 1 through 4, and they took it literally to where it the only the only reason why you can actually divorce somebody is through sexual infidelity, right? Through adultery, right? Through your what your spouse cheating on you.
Speaker: um Whereas the Pharisees in the school of Hillel, they took it and they took it way more broad. They took it and they made it very a very broad definition. and They took it and they made it seem like where any kind of grievance, any kind of minor reason between a husband and a wife for divorce, the man has the right to divorce his spouse.
Speaker: just makes sense. So one was more strict while the other one was more lenient. And the Pharisees were much more lenient. So they took this text and they used it to their advantage.
Speaker: They used it to gain popularity. They used it to gain money. They used it for their own selfish desire rather than using it to uphold the people and to hold the people accountable to what the covenant God instituted for them.
Speaker: And so when you read, the again, when you read verse 18, this is not just some random thought Jesus had in some rabbit trail. He is truly addressing the same heart condition he's been addressing this entire time.
Speaker: He says, hey, you guys are taking advantage of the people. You're holding these people to a standard of the law that not even you can follow. But yet you're using it for your own advantage. So again, when you go back to verse 14, you see how even just on the topic of money where it says they were lovers of money, they heard all these things and they ridiculed him.
Speaker: Now you understand why they're ridiculing him because they're hitting to the core of the sinful pride that these Pharisees were were walking in. Does this make sense? And here's the sobering reality.
Speaker: A lot of us in this room are no different.
Speaker: Myself included.
Speaker: We have a tendency of taking the word of God and we like we take the things that we like and we follow those. And the things that we don't like, we change to fit our own agenda and our own advantage. It doesn't take much to look out to our culture today and see how the word of God has been twisted to achieve an agenda or an idea.
Speaker: Even just the covenant of marriage alone, this idea where God brought a man and woman together to have a covenant union where they the flesh come together to become one, that that no man separate.
Speaker: And we've taken it, we have twisted it to where now we are trying to push this agenda that it's okay for a man and man to be married, a woman a woman to be married, and now we're throwing transgenderism in there. i don't even know what to believe anymore.
Speaker: Actually, I know it's a belief because it's in the Word of God. Like, that's the reality. Like, this is the truth. But our culture is being so deceived by this. And this is a sobering reality that we all must come to understand.
Speaker: As believers, we must stand firm on the Word of God and understand what the the true heart of a believer is about. It is, one, loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Never wavering from that.
Speaker: And then loving your neighbor as yourself. Right? And the Pharisees were not doing this. Not all of them. I'm not saying all of them are guilty. But the majority of them, if Jesus is addressing it's because the majority of them were acting out this way.
Speaker: Does this make sense? it Again, this is a when I was preparing this week, i Victor and I were talking. We have our meeting every Monday morning. And I was like, dude, I feel like you do this on purpose.
Speaker: And he's like, no, no, no, no. I'm just giving you a hard time, Victor, if you're in here. But I was like, i feel like you do this on purpose, man. i mean, you know, this is always the hard topics I get. But as I was reading through, though, it's very humbling. it's It's very sobering to stop and think about this. How are we stewarding not only the things in our lives, our money, our possessions, our time, our relationships, but how are we stewarding our marriages?
Speaker: We live in ah in a a culture that divorce is okay. Okay. even in the Christian church. Let that sink in for a second. And again, I'm not sitting here saying this because I know many of you in this room have either walked through divorce yourself or you've been a part of a family who's walked through divorce. I'm a byproduct of that. My parents were divorced if I was in third grade, going into fourth grade. And of course, as a third, fourth grader, I didn't really think anything of it I was like, okay, as long as I get to hang out my friends, I'll be all right.
Speaker: But as I got older, the ripple effects of that divorce, of that breaking of the coveted, had traumatic impacts on me. And ultimately, how I even view my own marriage today and how I treat my wife.
Speaker: It is a daily grind, a daily battle for me to surrender my marriage to the Lord so that way I can walk in marital faithfulness with my wife and treat her as Christ loves the church, as a man is supposed to, as the husband is supposed to. This is a daily battle.
Speaker: And it's not one that we need to waver on. Amen? Thank you. That's awesome.
Speaker: This is a daily battle, but yet we are here and we're super leaning in on it. Now, how we go about addressing that, I'm not saying that we need to leave this church with pitchforks and fire and all that stuff and say, you're going to hell you're going to divorce. That's not what I'm saying.
Speaker: But we do need to have a standard of holiness and righteousness and of saint and sacredness for this covenant that we desire to uphold it ourselves.
Speaker: in our own marriages. Now, some of y'all this room are really little or young and you're like, I don't wanna touch a boy or a girl. Great, that's totally fine. Some of y'all are still single.
Speaker: Right? And and you that's totally great. Singleness is a beautiful thing. Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians where he's saying it's actually better for you to remain single because your attention is not divided.
Speaker: You're able to have your full attention on your relationship with the Lord rather than having to worry about your spouse or your kids. So singleness is not a bad thing. However, there is this thing about the covenant of marriage that lays a foundation for all of us, no matter what season you're in, that we should desire. And that is faithfulness to God as our King.
Speaker: He is the groom and we are his bride. Y'all ready for this? going read you you guys a couple of passages of scripture.
Speaker: Isaiah 54 verses 5 and 6 says this, For your maker is your husband. The Lord of hosts is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. The God of the whole earth he of whole earth he is called.
Speaker: For the Lord has called you like a wife, deserted and grieved in spirit. Like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God.
Speaker: So that's in the Old Testament. Let's jump to the New Testament. Let's hear what Paul has to say about it Ephesians 5, verses 25 to 32. It says, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Speaker: That's a powerful picture. Not only did Christ come and just die and take the sins, but he he gave himself up for us. And husbands, we are to emulate that for our spouses.
Speaker: Are y'all ready to take up that mantle and do that? Are y'all ready to lay down your life for your wife today? Because I'm not going to lie, there's days where I wake up, I'm like, man i don't know if i' have the strength for that.
Speaker: i Am I the only one? do I need to resign? like It's a battle. But we're we are supposed to lay down our lives for our wives as Christ laid down his life for the church.
Speaker: And he goes on, he says, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor. In splendor. without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.
Speaker: He who loves his wife loves himself for no one never hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it just as Christ does the church because we are members of his body. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother And hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
Speaker: One flesh. Get this, y'all ready? This mystery is profound. It is a mystery, right? This idea of this covenant marriage of how two people become in one flesh and how it ultimately lasts for a lifetime.
Speaker: In the light of sin and brokenness in our own hearts, it is a mystery that any of us stay married.
Speaker: but it's by the grace of God because that's how he designed it. That's how he desired it for you and I as as men and women, as we come together in one flesh. You see, the the the covenant of marriage ultimately reflects the divine picture of the triune God and his perfect relationship with himself.
Speaker: If that's what it's based off of, then we should desire that, right? We should we should long for that. and's And that's the only reason why there's hope that our marriage is even last.
Speaker: But again, going back to this idea of divorce, and even in the Christian church, it's like, man, what a sobering reality. For people to claim to know Jesus and to love Jesus with their heart, soul, mind, and strength, but yet they're willing to give up their spouse for their own personal convenience,
Speaker: that is something that needs to be addressed.
Speaker: That is something that needs to be addressed. You see, the marriage covenant, as the title of this message is, it's it's much it's not about convenience. It's about upholding the covenant.
Speaker: The moment we put our own convenience ahead of our spouse or ahead of any relationship, especially Christ, is the moment that we need to stop and assess where we stand in light of Jesus.
Speaker: Because, you know, it's you see these social media videos of these guys who are out there, they're street evangelists, and they they ask these guys on the street, like like, hey, if you were to rate yourself on the scale of one to 10, where you stand before Jesus right now, and you hear all kinds of numbers, right? You know, I'd say about five, six, is seven, you know, about getting into heaven.
Speaker: And that's a very sobering reality as well, because we, as especially we as Christians, we should be a 10 out of 10 every time.
Speaker: Jesus desires all of us and not just part of us.
Speaker: He desires us to go on into a relationship with him, surrendering everything, our flesh, our desires, our conveniences for our own self, to lay them at his feet to where he can use us fully and completely for his glory for his purpose.
Speaker: And one of the greatest tools that we have for that to be displayed is the covenant of marriage.
Speaker: is the covenant of marriage. But going back to Ephesians 5, it says, the mystery is profound. And I'm saying that i that it refers to Christ in the church. Right?
Speaker: So the covenant of marriage is something that should be held highly honored and fought for every single day. Right? And the Hebrews 13 verse 4 says this, let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous individual.
Speaker: So again, going back to what Jesus is talking about with these Pharisees who who are supposed to be the ones who are supposed to be leading and guiding the people, but yet they're the ones who are who are flippantly passing out certificates of divorce for their own monetary gain.
Speaker: Not only are they going to be judged, but those who they're allowing to have these divorces are going to be judged.
Speaker: But it's only by the grace of God that we can actually seek the forgiveness that we seek, right? That we can find in him. So again, hear me say this If you're in this room and you are a divorcee or someone who has experienced divorce in your own life, the grace of God is not too far gone for you, right? Like the grace of God meets you right here, right now. There's no judgment for what you've done because again, going back to Deuteronomy 24, the certificate of divorce was given to mankind because of the hardness of heart.
Speaker: he God knew that our sin was going to lead us. So he granted it so that way there would be less heartache and less damage. But that was never part of his grand design. and he and so he But with that, he's also saying, hey, where there is sin, there is grace that bounds all the more.
Speaker: So seek his grace, seek his forgiveness today. And those who are in a situation like me, for example, who my parents were divorced and I later on, it it started tagging my identity. it started ah It started feeding into my insecurities as a man and how I lead my wife.
Speaker: If you're in that situation, bring that before the throne of grace of God. Allow him to take that from you because Satan is going to take any and every kind of foothold in your life to make you disqualified for the gospel.
Speaker: And I pray that we will fight that good fight of faith and understanding that God's grace is, we are never too far God to receive God's grace.
Speaker: Some of you with us in this room need to hear that today. But Satan is going to do whatever he can to try to destroy the covenant of marriage and to try to destroy the the identity and security that we have in Christ.
Speaker: So we have to be ready to fight that fight.
Speaker: But there's three things I want to say as we begin to start um landing the plane here with this is that marriage in of itself, like i said before, is more than about convenience.
Speaker: There's three things that marriage is about. Y'all ready? Marriage is about experiencing God's goodness through relationship with a significant other.
Speaker: You see, we get to see a side of God that we would never be able to see without the marriage covenant. And again, going to those who are single, going to those who are not in a relationship right now, you're seeing the goodness of God through the marriage that is remaining faithful now, whether it's your parents, a leader, somebody in your life who you look up to.
Speaker: Those of us who are married, we are setting example of the relationship that God has himself here right now for others to see, which leads into the second thing. The marriage is about living on mission for God's kingdom.
Speaker: about living on mission for God's kingdom. Like I said, God's desire is to bring heaven back down to earth. God's desire is to restore you, to redeem you, and renew you of your sin. And how did he do that? He did that through his perfect son, whom he sent to be the groom for his church, which is us, the bride.
Speaker: He laid down his life for you, and I said, well, we can be sanctified and glorified and redeemed. And in the same way, we as married couples, we as the church are supposed to live out that example of Christ's sacrificial love to those around us. We are to live on mission. And then the third thing is this.
Speaker: Marriage is about displaying the mystery of the gospel to those around you. You see, there is a lot of men and women out there who are married today who do not know Jesus.
Speaker: And they get married because they're consumed about this fleshly, romantic idea of marriage and how their spouse is gonna fulfill them or it's gonna fulfill their sexual desires, it's gonna fulfill their identity, it's gonna fulfill their hope.
Speaker: But the reality is that there's only one thing that could fill that void in their heart, that's Jesus.
Speaker: And for those of us who are in Christ, those of us who know Jesus and are married and we are desiring to uphold that covenantal marriage, We are revealing this mystery to them every single day that we choose to fight for our marriage. Even when the times are so hard that you feel like you cannot keep going on, you are revealing this mystery of the gospel, this love, this love that surpasses all understanding and knowledge in our own hearts when it comes to the reality of our sin.
Speaker: Have y'all thought about that?
Speaker: That's a crazy thought, that my marriage to my wife right now is a living testimony of the gospel.
Speaker: And it can bring someone to know Jesus. So not is it just about you, but it's about you and your spouse. It's about this relationship. So again, marriage is so much more than what the world is leading it on to be.
Speaker: Marriage is displaying the mystery of the gospel. Marriage, again, like I said before, marriage forms a picture of the bond of love found in the triune nature of God, and it is something that should be cherished above all things.
Speaker: Above all things.
Speaker: So again, going back to verse 18 here in this particular section of scripture, it's not displaced. It's not out of context. In context, Jesus is addressing the same heart condition that many of us struggle with today, and it's this idea of stewardship. It's self-free.
Speaker: We need to stop and assess our our heart condition right now with how we treat our spouses. And again, for those of you who are single and who are one day hoping to be married, you need to stop and assess your heart with how you how you will one day see your future spouse.
Speaker: how you would choose to love them, serve them, and surrender to them every single day, right? So we and we must be cherished above all things. So we would again, when we look at this in context, it does fit.
Speaker: And Jesus is is not only just reaching out and calling out the Pharisees with this, but the word of God is reaching us right here, right now in our own culture, in our own society today with how we handle this.
Speaker: So again, marriage is the greatest example of God's love to the world. And Satan, going back to this, he's gonna do everything in his power to destroy it. You see, the one this this covenant of marriage, that sounds like a broken record here, but like this covenant of marriage is is something that God cherishes so much. That's why he gave it to Adam and Eve back in the garden, for them to live it out.
Speaker: But yet, when sin came in and destroyed this covenant picture, And now Satan, just as he did back in the garden with Adam and Eve, he's going to seek to destroy it and to twist it for his own gain. So that way the gospel message, this mystery of the gospel is diminished and destroyed.
Speaker: He wants to make, he wants rather than a marriage covenant to be selfless and sacrificial, he wants to make the marriage covenant Satan to make it seem like it's inconvenient. He wants to make it outdated. He wants to make it limited or boring.
Speaker: And nowadays even controversial. Who can get married? Who cannot get married? What is a man? What is a woman?
Speaker: But Jesus is saying this. This is what marriage is. And this is how it should be defined. If you go back to matthew to Matthew's account here, I want to read it from Matthew's account. um Matthew 19, if you want to turn there, you can, or you can just listen as I read it. Matthew 19, verses 1 through 10, the Pharisees, again, are asking Jesus about this certificate of divorce. Listen to how he responds.
Speaker: Now, when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. A large crowd followed him and healed them there. The Pharisees came up to him and tested him by saying, is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?
Speaker: Again, the Pharisees' mind, They said, yes, it is lawful, right? He answered, Jesus says, have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.
Speaker: So there are no longer two, but of one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. They went on, the Pharisees, why then did Moses give ah ah one to, or give a command, sorry, why did Moses command to give a certificate divorce and send her away?
Speaker: And he said to them, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning, it was not. It was not. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual morality and marries another commits adultery.
Speaker: So even here, Jesus works. From the beginning, marriage was never intended to be separated. And Satan's desire is to take that most sacred relationship that God gave his his creation, his humanity, and to twist it and to destroy it for his own gain.
Speaker: So if my question, again, for us today is, are we ready to fight for this?
Speaker: Are we ready to fight for this beautiful covenant which the Lord has given us as a gift to use for his kingdom's purpose and his glory?
Speaker: I really do hope so. Because there is no greater testimony and witness of the gospel than a marriage covenant.
Speaker: And again, I hope that maybe that one day, all of you who are in the room, who are young, who are single, I pray that you will experience this wonderful covenant. It is not easy.
Speaker: There's days where, like I said before, where you may want to give up. But it is the most beautiful and rewarding covenant that you'll ever experience in this life. Because it gives you the biggest glimpse of God in heaven that you'll ever see here on earth.
Speaker: So... But maybe some of you are in this room, like i said before, who have been hurt by divorce or who have been in ah been a part of divorce and you're still walking through the trauma. You're still walking through the heartache.
Speaker: I pray that today you will just truly lay that down before the throne of grace. You'll allow God to meet you right here, right now and restore you. Because he is not a God of division and or a God who seeks to leave his people, but he is a God of restoration.
Speaker: He's a God of love and a God of hope He wants to bring you back into fellowship with him He wants to give you the right understanding and purpose of what it means to have a relationship with him and relationship with others.
Speaker: So maybe we need to bring that before him today. But again, let's not let Satan have a foothold over this wonderful covenant which the Lord has given us. Let's not um allow him to to take what is sacred And to be to be experienced beautifully and to make it scarred or diminished.
Speaker: Let's fight this good fight of faith together, right? Can we do that?
Speaker: But as we go into this time of invitation, if you do need if you do need to bring it before the Lord, I pray that you'll do that. And I pray that if anybody in this room, though, um If you've never surrendered that to the Lord, that you'll do that. And then ultimately this is that maybe some of you in the room have never actually surrendered your life to Christ. Maybe you don't even understand what it means to be in relationship with the Lord. And I pray that this morning you can do that.
Speaker: That that'll be the start for you to understand the the ultimate desire of God to have a relationship with you. Because he loves each and every one of us. He created each every one of us uniquely and wonderfully for his purpose and for his glory.
Speaker: And he desires that relationship. So I pray that as you today, that you will have that you'll start that relationship.
Speaker: That you'll come to know him personally more and more every single day. But let me pray over us. We'll go into this time of invitation. I'll be down front. If you need to come talk to me, I would love to chat with you or set up a time. But i invite you guys, go before the throne of grace right now.
Speaker: surrender Surrender any heartache. Surrender any brokenness to him. And do not allow Satan to have a foothold of or over any of that in your life. Allow God to use you to the fullest. So let me pray.
Speaker: Father, that we come before you. And Lord, we recognize that sin is ugly. That sin reigns on this side of heaven because of the of our own selfish hearts. But Lord, we thank you for the greatest gift of grace that we can receive through Christ Jesus. And that despite our sin, you had a divine plan from the very beginning that you would send your son Jesus to redeem us.
Speaker: to restore us, to renew us into right relationship with you. And Lord, one of the things that is is very rampant in our world right now is this idea of divorce.
Speaker: And Lord, I pray over those who either have walked through this journey, those who've been affected by it, or those who may even be walking through it right now or even considering it. Father, I pray that you will just truly reveal your goodness to them and your ultimate desire for the covenant of marriage to them.
Speaker: Lord, it's not to be a burden, but Lord, it's supposed to be a blessing. And yes, Lord, I understand that there are situations that are hard and situations that come up that may justify the cause of divorce in our own eyes. But Lord, I pray that your grace and your mercy will always go before and that we will seek to desire you in every way.
Speaker: But Lord, please be with those in this room who are, like I said, who have been hurt by it. I pray, Father, that you'll bring restoration and redemption and forgiveness. And I pray over the marriages right now in this room that you'll continue to protect them. Because Lord, we're we're all broken.
Speaker: We're all sinful. it's only by your grace that we are saved. But Lord, we're all just one step away from falling into that snare. So Lord, please protect us. But again, Lord, thank you for this morning. I thank you for your word that is timeless and that it reaches our hearts even to this day.
Speaker: Reveal the areas of our lives that we need to surrender to you. But Lord, we love you. We praise you. We thank you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Speaker: This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.
