Divorce

Matthew 19:3-8

3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 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’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

Last Sunday, the topic of divorce came out. I wasn’t planning that. Through that night and the next morning, I felt God wanted the topic exhumed not buried. Anyone who has been divorced has a unique story, and all the details can be complicated.

I don’t expect the world to keep a covenant with a human when they have no covenant with God. Roman’s 1 when truth suppressed, a form of God’s wrath is released, causing a spiraling of societal morality.

Part of that spiraling is that people become covenant breakers. These are the times that we are living in now. Anyone that is honest must admit that divorce has become rampant in the church.

People that are considering divorce, please seek the Lord! Humble yourself before God and get his heart on it first.

Romans 14:12

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Judgment seat of Christ

Paul’s awareness of the judgment seat of Christ motivated him. and he wants his readers to be motivated. God's grace to us in forgiving sin does not mean He's careless about how Christians live their earthly lives. We will stand before Him and be held accountable for our choices we made in this body.

With that said, I am really just using the thought of marriage and other relationships as a springboard to describe gods plan of doing a deeper work in the hearts and lives of his people.

Our ❤️ belongs to the Lord, it’s the place He lives. He likes clean places

Today’s message is really more about relationships and how God uses them to work in our personal lives.

Longsuffering [Galatians 5:22] is a fruit of the Spirit that is learned through having patience with other people. In spite of their shortcomings, in spite of their wrong doings in my life, endurance in these relationships teaches me longsuffering. And longsuffering is the character of god.

The alternative is divorce! Divorce from my wife, my husband, my children, my cousin, my workplace, my Christian brother’s and sisters because they all aggravate me And I’m done,

The scripture says that God is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance [2 Peter 3:9]. All I can say is thank god he didn’t divorce me when he didn’t like what I was doing.

We must really seek God's wisdom regarding relationships. It is likely there are times that we are trying to separate ourselves from people that we shouldn’t while maintaining relationships we shouldn’t.

The beauty is that the Spirit in us will lead and guide us in all truth, and always, I mean always in consistency with His word!!

In Ephesians 5, Paul uses marriage between a man and a woman as an illustration of the relationship between Jesus and his bride.

   φόβῳ χριστοῦ. [fear/reverence for Christ]

Ephesians 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.  [Reverencing Christ]

    Hupo=Under

hupotasso- submit self unto/under

Ephesians 5:22

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ  [Submitting to the Lord]

Submission requires meekness

1. Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

2. Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

3. Ephesians 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love

4. Colossians 3:12-13 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Meek— praus, which is translated as “strength under control.” In ancient Greece, war horses were trained to be meek — strong and powerful yet under control and willing to submit.

Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Gave Himself

• sacrifice                     Deacon/servant

• Servant/ minister/ ++diakonoe— The son of man came to minister/serve -one who executes the commands of another

He puts us into an environment of relationships where we can practice learning his ways.

Ephesians 5:29

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church:

Ephesians 5:30

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Ephesians 5:31

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

Husband and wife are so different to start w/ and we, as His bride, are so different than Him in the beginning of our relationship. Individual Christianity starts w/ a biblical truth—faith in Christ kills the “old man” [ephesians 4:22] and resurrects the “new man”. But that’s just the ceremony and now the “one flesh” begins.

He doesn’t have his own personal flesh here anymore, except that’s not exactly true, because we are here, and we are his body, and if we are truly saved, his spirit is in us.

According to 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. We are one w/ him in spirit, but does our mind think like him? And does our body/flesh act like him?

What causes the body to move? [mind]. What is the helm that drives the mind, causing the body to move in a certain direction? Could we say that the will of man is like the helm of a ship sailing on the sea and wherever the helm pulls the rudder, in that direction, she goes?

Father not my will but your will be done [LK 22:42].

Let “My kingdom come, let my will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That’s what he said, right? No, he said, “father, in heaven…let your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We might can say that we are married to god through salvation and we can definitely say that our spirit is one with his if we are born again, but our mind and our will needs a whole lot of cross work done to our old man and a whole lot of resurrection power for our new man. And the more we and our will dies, the more he and his will lives.

So why don’t I act like him—the new man? There are a lot of different men running around out there.

1 Corinthians 2:14 - 3:1

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

1. ψυχικός— 1 cor 2:14 the | natural man | is the soulish man the one who operates with his mind and his will his emotions. He perceives and engages his world through his thinking. His soul is leading not the spirit

2. πνευματικῶς— 1 cor 2:15   He that is spiritual

| spiritual man |. He engages the world that he lives in through the eyes and mind of the Spirit of God. The spirit is preeminent over his own mind and thinking. His mind is subject to the mind of Christ — Gal 5:23- love, joy, peace, longsuffering

3. σαρκικός— 1 cor 3:1the  |fleshly man |. The sinful nature arouses the human to want what he wants rather than what the Spirit of God wants. 1 cor 3:3 envy, strife and division.

Romans 8:6

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

1Corinthians 2:16

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Family describes closeness. Israel was broken down into families, clans, tribes and a nation. The church is a larger whole broken down into local bodies, but the bodies are supposed to be his body.

There is nothing like the closeness of a family unit. In the church setting, there will be things that will happen that will frustrate the believer and Satan will convince them that they need to leave, but god wants to do something on the inside of us, and he places us in an environment where he can put his finger on some things in our lives that he wants to deal with.

A real church provides an atmosphere and opportunity where closeness of relationships can take place. But There isn’t a more intimate relationship than husband and wife.

they are one flesh and what man will harm his own flesh? Who would tear his own flesh apart? Jesus allowed his flesh to be torn, but his body was torn, so that ours could be healed. His flesh was ripped like the veil, so that we could gain access into the presence of God. Hebrews 10:20

By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Jesus tore his flesh, so that his bride could be brought closer to him not to put her away. These relationships that we have in marriage, with our children and in a genuine church setting, they cause a closeness that god uses to expose things in us.

Instruction from the Apostle Paul

Romans 8:12-14

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Illustration: second person shooter vs 1st person

active voice- the subject is active in the verb…

You, through the Spirit. It’s almost like a search and destroy mission where we allow the Holy Spirit to search the heart and try the reins. Okay, Lord we’re going in: lust, fear, pride, contention, anger, arrogance, condescending attitude. Unteachable Spirit. You’re not like my Jesus. Get out of here.

Passive voice- the action of the verb acts upon the subject

But we’re not just sitting on the couch

In order to walk in ch 8, one has to be crucified in ch 6

Romans 6:3-7 3 -- Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

4:22-24]. Which means that you have become a new creation in Christ: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Colossians 3:1-3

1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Judgement Seat

JUDGMENT FOR BELIEVERS? YES!

Slide: Revelation 20:10-13 Great White Throne Judgment —Judgment of the dead— not teaching that

Slide: Isaiah 5:11-12

11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning,

Flemings: wade, rob, Brennan, me

Cares— distractions

There are many cares causing distractions and concerns in the the world today.  Jesus said take no thought for tomorrow. Times have changed and so many believers are not in the word, not being in the word and learning how to trust God, causes people to resort to what the world trusts in. When God’s people get entangled in the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches, it rob them of time that could have been devoted to God. Temporal time is precious. James called it a vapor and once it’s gone, there’s no more and then the accounting of God begins.

There are many in the church living their lives exactly like the world, acting like there is no tomorrow. Focused on what they think makes self happy, or what seems to be the most important at the time, but it’s momentary. There is little regard for God and the things that God has done for them. I have noticed that approaching them with the Lord produces irritation. If there isn’t overt irritation, then there is no spark for the things of God. They say they love Him, but it seems they are just giving lip service to God and their hearts are far from Him—God sees that. I want you to know that He is watching us and has something to say…

Slide: Isaiah 29:13

Wherefore the Lord said,

Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth,

and with their lips do honour me,

but have removed their heart far from me,

It’s not in their hearts as God’s word. It’s only the teaching of men

and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Slide: Luke 12:33-35– Jesus said.                  (a depository)

33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;

2 Timothy 4:6-8 JUST READ IT, NO REFERENCE

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Cares for the true Christian also

I can’t stress enough the importance of us living for the Lord and raising our children to know Jesus and training them to serve Him. How do we balance all these truths, being a witness to the lost, being faithful to church, so we can function as the body of Christ, no I mean be a real church according to what the scriptures say. How do we do that: live for Him, work, raise our children so that their souls are not lost? PRAYER, seeking God for His will over our lives. But the distractions of life and the opinions of the world influence our decisions.

This also is not going unnoticed by the Lord. How will we explain to the Lord that we loved Him but football practice was more important than the house of God? We, His people will also be judged. We will be judged based on our works:

Slide: Judgment seat

2 Corinthians 5:9-10

9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

We must pray individually as believers about God’s will for our lives, our jobs, our children, but I have to emphasize that we have an excellent opportunity to join forces together with heaven and concern ourselves with the work of God, if we will intercede together to do the work of the Lord, and if we will, we are promised that He will concern Himself with our business— I would like to see the people who are doing outreach from the church to come to at least one intercessory prayer time per week if possible.

Slide: Inheritance

Ephesians 1:16-23

Jezebel wants to steal the inheritance of God:

1 Kings 21:1-7 Ahab wants Naboth’s (Fruits) vineyard. Naboth doesn’t want to give up his inheritance. Jezebel takes it by force.

1 Kings 21:3

And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Luke 12:35-48

Use these scriptures for the following Wednesday

As a Pastor, a large part of what I feel in my heart is that I want you delivered to the Lord as a chaste virgin ( ) that you receive your inheritance that Jesus paid for you to have. But no matter

Jesus

John 4:32 I have meat to eat that you know not of. John 4:34 My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work, and then He talks about harvest again…4m until harvest but look, lift up your eyes and look the fields are white and they are ready

how hard I try, and even with the Holy Spirit moving, I’m sorry, but this is true, you have to want what God wants for you. You have to choose to believe the word of God and the promises that God has for His people that He communicated in His word. It’s your choice to believe the woman of wisdom over the spirit of Jezebel. If you choose to believe a lie and live a life plagued by fear and anxiety that will be your choice, if you choose to stay out of the house at God and pretend to yourself, convincing yourself that you’re okay whenever you are blatantly disobeying the will of God, then that is your choice. By the grace of God, I will study and I will plead with God that He move in our services so that His -expel that He loves will experience His hope and power, but if, even with all that, His people choose to do their own thing, to their demise, it will be what they chose.

Faithful servant

Parable of the talents

Matthew 25:14-20

Matthew 25:14

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

His people, called by His name have a primary purpose in this earth. The purpose of His people is that they would partner with Him and be committed to the work that He has called them to engage. He said that:

Matthew 9:38

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Reward

Matthew 16:27

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.1 Corinthians 3:12

with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire— also check out the NIV & YLT

This one and James religion pure and undefiled in these passage we realize that God’s heart is to serve without expecting anything in returnn

Matthew 25:34-46

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 -- When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 -- Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Matthew 6:1-4

1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Repentance

Matthew 3:7-8

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Paul really believed the word of God! He believed that we are in a spiritual battle. He believed that souls are important to God. I have read the story so many times. I understand what happened, I just can only compare what I read to what has happened to me in an attempt to really try to understand what he may have felt. He sat blind for some period of time. Blind and somewhat isolated in this house on a street called strait. He may not have been completely alone. Surely, as a high ranking Pharisee on his way to do official business, he would have had others with him. Maybe some of them were also at this house as he tried to work through in his mind what just happened— before Ananias got there to lay hands on him, so he could recover his sight. Before his encounter with Jesus, he thought he was so right. I wonder how much anguish he was feeling during that period. The bright light had shone from heaven and Jesus directly spoke to him and told him that as he persecuted Christians, he persecuted Jesus. His whole life was planned out for him. He had the best education, the best life could offer a Jewish man at that time, but it was all for nothing. This encounter will transform his life. I would love to know what he saw or what he realized in his own heart, how it made him feel to have thought he was right and the realized that he wasn’t.

Prayer Matt 6:5

Fasting Matt 6:16-18