God Sex and Marriage (the Heart of Man)

[Background music: Battle Hymn of the Republic] [Speaker 1] Church and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God really desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness on Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 2] Glory to our God for another time again in His presence for another edition of our marriage forum for this second Saturday in the month of September year 2021. We thank our God for how He has helped us from January, second Saturday in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and now we are in September. To Him be all the glory, to Him be all the praise in the name of Jesus Christ. And as we all connect together again this morning for the marriage forum, I trust in the Lord that it will be a time of refreshing in the name of Jesus Christ. I trust in the Lord that the Lord will meet us all at our different points of need as we look again to the scriptures this morning, considering again matters relating to our homes, our marriages, the home front particularly. We trust the Lord that the Lord will meet with us in Jesus' name. Let’s have a word of prayer as we begin again for this morning. Our Father, we are grateful unto You. To You be glory, to You be honor, to You be praise. We appreciate You for Your love. We thank You for Your mercies. We thank You for preservation. We thank You for all who You are and all that You are to us. We are grateful, Lord, we are grateful, Lord. Accept our thanks this morning in the name of Jesus Christ. Precious Father, as we continue again from where we left the matter in August, our topic: God, Sex and Marriage, Lord we pray that You would meet individual families everywhere they are connecting with us this morning. You will meet individual bachelors, spinsters, singles listening to us. Lord we pray, the Bible says Paul plants, Apollos waters, it is You that give increase. Lord, give increase to this meeting in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You our Father. In Jesus' most holy name we pray. Amen. We began the topic last month: God, Sex and Marriage. And we have been considering the text in Matthew 19. Matthew chapter 19. And our emphasis in the month of August is the need to appreciate the response of Jesus to the Pharisees when they came to him and they were asking him the questions that relate to the relationship between a man and his wife. And the answer that Jesus gave them in Matthew chapter 19. I would like us to look at that text again this morning. I'm reading from verse three. It says, "The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him and saying to Him, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?' And He answered and said to them, 'Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.'" But they said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and put her away?" He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your heart, permitted you to divorce your wife, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery. And whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." The disciples said to Him, "If such is the case of the man with his wife, then it is better not to marry." But He said to them, "All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given." So, that was the text we have been considering. And our focus in the month of August was the immediate response of Jesus. When he said, "Have you not read?" that was our focus. Have you not read? We emphasized last month that in responding to the Pharisees, the crux of the matter for Jesus was their ignorance. He said, "Have you not read?" So, we noticed that as far as Jesus is concerned, when it comes to the matter of a man and his wife, there were things that God has written. And if you don't make do with those things, if those things don't surface you—those things that God said, those things that were written, those things that look to you like "What is the Bible even saying?"—if you don't read that and take to that and take to that, then you will not be able to follow God in the matter of God, sex, and marriage. We said as far as the matter of sex and marriage is concerned, God is the author. It came out from God, it emanated from God. And when it emanated from God, God did not only make them male and female, He also said—and Jesus was telling them, "Have you not read?" So, many times you need to consider your life. Have you read? Did you take it to what has been written? Are you noticing what has been written? Have you read? Many times when you look into society and relationships today, what prevail and pervade is ignorance. People say things they don't understand, they affirm what they don't know. Today, there's a need to read. And when I say to read, there's a need to take cognizance of that which has been written. That was the emphasis for the month of August: have you not read? And we want to move on today. We want to take a step further beyond the matter of "have you not read that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female." Now, Jesus said, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man put asunder." That's for King James. For the New King James, it says, "Let no man separate." Let no man separate. Now, I will be coming back to the matter of "He made them male and female at the beginning." That will be another topic we'll be considering later on. Also, we'll be considering also along the line the matter of "and He said." He said "and said." He did not only make, He also said. And then the matter of a man leaving father and mother. We'll be coming to that too later. We also be coming to the matter of "joined to his wife." And then we'll be coming later on to the matter of "no longer two but one flesh." And then the matter of "let no man put asunder." These are matters that will be considered in this series. What I want us to look at today is the further response of the Pharisees. I'm trying to deal first with the matter of the Pharisees and the response of Jesus to them before we begin to come to some other fundamental matters about this matter of God, sex, and marriage. Now, when Jesus gave that answer and concluded with "let no man put asunder," as far as heaven is concerned, as far as Jesus is concerned, the case is closed. That is period. There should be nothing to say further. There should be nothing further to say. He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and then He said, "For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder." With this answer, the Lord was through. With him, there should be nothing called divorce. Because don't forget what I told you in the month of August. I said we want to look at scriptural matters. We want to follow the scripture in relating to this matter. Because there is so much confusion today. And sometimes I even wonder whether the confusion is not even coming from the church, from some individuals. There is so much perversity today, so much breakdown in social institutions, so much breakdown that what is even the truth is becoming confusing. But the Bible still insists that the church is the pillar and the foundation of truth. And truth, like I said in the month of August, truth is not what we feel. Truth is not what we think. Truth is not human philosophy. Human at its best can give you facts. A fact is something that holds based on prevailing evidence. But you see, the fact of human is never constant. For example, at a point in human history, it was believed that the earth is flat and not spherical. Because everything looks flat. And that belief continued as a fact until it came to a time that somebody else came with a further discovery. Of course, the person was burnt at stake by the church of his time when he said, "Look, I've come to discover that the earth is not flat. The earth is actually spherical. It's something in a circular form." And then they said he was preaching heresy. And after many years later, we all now agree that the earth is not flat but spherical. So, when you talk about human philosophy, how we feel, how we think, the best they can give you is facts. But you see, when we talk about truth, truth is not facts. Truth is constant. Truth is that which God said. God declares the end from the beginning. So, truth don't change, given whatsoever circumstance. Truth remains eternal. Truth is a constant thing. So, when we talk about truth, when we talk about the scripture, we are talking about the truth. We are talking about that which God said about marriage. Something that cannot change. Something that remains to all eternity. I said that is the angle in this forum from which we want to be looking at the matter of marriage. And that is why I said we are looking at God, the matter of God in this matter, then the matter of sex, and the matter of marriage. So, it is important, I just said I should emphasize that background again from which we are coming. Now, what I'm trying to say, looking at this context of this discussion in Matthew chapter 19, when Jesus made the statement that, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder." When Jesus gave this response, for him, the matter was closed. That is period. There's nothing further we should be talking about. There should be nothing further to say. We should not be raising further matters as creations. There should be nothing to bring forward again. It should end like that. That should close the case. We should not be raising further matters because that was how He who made them from the beginning wanted it. There should be nothing beyond that. Anything beyond that will not be correct. Anything beyond that will not be the truth. Anything beyond that is not it. If something beyond this happened, there must be a rebellion somewhere. Somebody have rebelled. Somebody have gone against that which was ordained. Somebody have moved out of that which the alpha and the omega of sex and marriage, what he put in place. There is a rebellion against it. If there's no rebellion against what he put in place, we should not be saying anything further than what Jesus has said here. Anything beyond this, I am announcing to this generation. Because our generation have become so wicked, so perverse, and so confused. Anything beyond this, I'm announcing to you that somebody, someone, somewhere, somehow has rebelled against that which God ordained. If there is no rebellion anywhere, we should not be talking about the matter of divorce. There should be nothing further to say because there is no reason for which a man should put away his wife. There is no reason for what God has ordained, there isn't any reason. Except there's a rebellion somewhere. Except a man is rebelling, a woman is rebelling. Except there's a rebellion somewhere. So, what I'm trying to say: anything beyond that this which Jesus said is a product of rebellion. May I announce to you that anything beyond what the Lord said between the verse three in his response to the Pharisees and the verse six, anything beyond it, the source of that thing is rebellion. We should get that straight. Because when the Lord spoke here, for him, the matter was closed. But they had something further to say. And that is what we want to focus on this morning. We want to look at that a little as our consideration this morning. Our focus this morning is the hardened heart. The hardened heart. The nature of the heart of man. The nature of the human heart. The heart of man. That is our focus this morning. That's what we want to look at. In August, our consideration was "have you not read?". This morning in September, we want to look at the matter: the hardened heart. A hard heart. The nature of the human heart. And let's look at again the discourse that was between the Lord and the Pharisees as we try to navigate this matter of the human heart. Now, it said in the verse seven: "They said to him, 'Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and put her away?'" He said to them, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so." Moses, because of the hardness of your heart, permitted you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. "I say to you (verse nine), whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another, commits adultery. And whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." So, we want to look at this verse eight, verse seven, and verse eight very closely. Moses, because of the hardness of your heart. Now, when the Lord made this statement, that statement that the Lord made is something we can easily assess, we can easily find in the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 24. It says when a man takes a wife—I'm reading from the verse one—"When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happened that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he write a certificate of divorce, put it in her hand, and send her out of his house. When she has departed from his house and goes and become another man’s wife, if the latter detest her and write her a certificate of divorce, puts in her hand and send her out of his house, or if the latter husband die who took her as his wife, then the former husband who divorced her must not take her back to his house after she has been defiled. For that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance." So, the matter of this certificate of divorce, we saw it mentioned in Deuteronomy chapter 24. The origin of this was not given us in this place. The origin of this matter was not given us in this place. What we are told here is that when a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happened that he finds no favor in his sight because he has found some uncleanness in her, and write a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand and send her out. Now, when you look at the matter that Moses raised in that place, that was what the Pharisees were talking about when they said, "Moses allowed us to put her away. Why then did Moses allow us to put her away?" That is where that matter was coming from. Then the Lord help us to see the reason for the matter. The reason why this matter came to this point. The Lord's response in Matthew 19 help us to see the origin of certificate of divorce. The origin of certificate of divorce, the Lord said, actually sprang from the nature of the humans' heart. It was a matter when Moses was giving the certificate of divorce for his generation. It looks like God was permitting, God was allowing, God was saying that yes, you can put away your wife if you find some things about her that you don't like. If you find some things about her that grieves you. If you find some things about her—I want to use some other translation. Some other translation says if you marry a woman but discover something about her that is shameful. That is for NLT. Discover something about her that is shameful. NIV, it says discovery something about her, something indecent about her. Amplified, let's see what Amplified gave us for that. It says if you found some indecency in her. So, what this indecency is all about, what this shameful thing is all about, we really don't know. But it says if the man finds something indecent, something shameful, something embarrassing. I'm just trying to imagine what those things could be. I'm trying to imagine what as many of those things could be. And please listen, it could also be the other way. It could be the woman too trying to put away the man for one or two reasons. You will say "Why do I say that?" Let us quickly check that out in the Bible. Let's check that out in the Bible. Because it could be the other way too, this matter that we are discussing. Very well, it could be the other way. Let's just see that in the Bible. Let's look at the book of Mark. Let's see how the rendering came in this same matter that Jesus spoke about too in the book of Mark. Let's see how it is put there in the book of Mark, just to see that it could be either way. It could be about the man, it could be about the woman. Let's see the rendering of how it is rendered in the other synoptic gospel. Let's see Mark chapter 10. The book of Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, let's see the rendering there. Mark chapter 10, that should be around the verse—let me quickly get that from here. I just want us to look at something about the discussion of Jesus again and the people of his time. Mark chapter 10, I read again from verse two: "The Pharisees came and asked him, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' testing him." So, it's just a similar rendering from what we have in Matthew chapter 19. "And he answered and said to them, 'What did Moses command you?' They said, 'Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her.' Verse five: 'And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Because of the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then, they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.''" Then in this gospel, it was the disciples that came to ask the question because they were wondering. "In the house, his disciples also asked him again about the same matter." Because they were wondering. So he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." Now, you notice that from the Gospel of Mark, we could see that it could be either way. That's the point I want to bring out. It could be the man wanting to put away the wife for some reasons. It could be the woman wanting to put away the husband for some reasons. It could be either way. And the bottom line is that either way we see it, either way we see the expression for divorce, either way, whether the man or the woman came up with something that she feel is not decent, something she feel is shameful, something the man feel is embarrassing—I mean either way. And if what is contemplated is that it is in putting our spouses away, that that's the way forward, the Lord said what brought men to that point, what led to all of those things that we saw, those things that were written by Moses, was actually an aberration. It was an aberration from what is the original. And that is why it is important in this matter to get some things clear. What is it that we must get clear? What we must get clear is that the institution of the family is an institution that the principles of God that governs marriage, they were put in place at creation. So that the law that came several years after cannot overturn them. Whatever anybody is trying to say, that is the position of Jesus. That that thing you saw that came several years after that Moses was putting in place—Moses did not put that in place because God changed his principles. What God said at that beginning was not a fact that some prevailing evidence can now take precedence over. No. What God said at the beginning was the truth. What God said is something that will hold for all time, till all eternity. It was not something that at a particular time was a prevailing fact, and so when some other facts began to crop up, when some other discoveries, when some other happenings, when some other things began to spring in society, when some other things began to come up here and there and they were now looking as if, look, because of these prevailing happenings around us, it becomes important to change an existing fact. What I want to announce to you is that Jesus said what God said was not a fact, it was the truth. What God said is something that you cannot change. Is something that stands for all times, till all eternity. There's no prevailing fact that can change it. There's no prevailing happening that can change it. It was not a fact, it was the truth. So, it is for us to look closely at this matter. Because today people have come up with different things for which they say it becomes right to talk about divorce. Let us talk about divorce. God permits divorce. What I am saying is that when you see divorce, when we are talking about anything about divorce, the matter is not something springing as a result of God changing his principles. It is something coming up because there is a problem with human heart. Anywhere we are talking about divorce as an option, the matter we are addressing is the matter of the problem of human heart. So, where divorce is a matter, then you must understand that we are dealing with individuals, we are dealing with people, we are dealing with those that are not followers of Jesus. We are dealing with individuals that their hearts have not experienced something. Maybe I should explain what I'm trying to say better to you. Can we try to quickly survey something that is very germane to this matter that we are discussing? So that it doesn't look as if I am trying to say something that the Bible did not say. Can we just quickly look at something in the Old Testament, something about the new covenant, God the new covenant vis-à-vis the old covenant, and then vis-à-vis this matter of the nature of human heart that we are raising this morning? It is just good for us to look at something in the scripture just for us to put in place this matter that I'm trying to discuss. I want us to go to the book of Jeremiah when he was talking about the new covenant that God will establish with Israel. When he said he will write his law in their heart. That a new covenant is going to establish with them. Let's look at that nature of the new covenant and let's look at it vis-à-vis the matter that we are discussing this morning. Let us go to Jeremiah chapter 31. Let's go and look at something there from around verse 31. Jeremiah chapter 31. Behold, I'm reading from verse 31. "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the days that I took them by hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them," says the Lord. "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord. "I will put my law in their mind, I will write it on their heart, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall know me, from the least to the greatest," says the Lord. "For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." Now, God spoke about a new covenant that he is going to make with the people of Israel. He said in this new covenant, it's not going to be like the old one that he had with their father. Because in that old one, there was a hardened heart. In the new one that God will be making, he said is going to be such that the spirit of God will be put in them. He's not going to write it again on stone. He's going to write it upon their heart so that nobody will need to teach the other person "know the Lord." Rather, what will happen is that the Lord himself will teach them. He will cause them to know his ways, he will cause them to know his law, he will cause them to walk in his ways. And one thing that is particular to this that the Lord is raising with them is something again you will see in another scripture. Because he said again in another scripture, just trying to make you see something about this new testament, this new covenant that God said is to establish with them. Because he said in that new testament that he's going to do something further that is important for us to see this morning. I want us to see the book of Ezekiel chapter 36. I'm reading this time from verse 22. Just trying to establish issues about this matter of a hardened heart. He says, "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "I do not do this for your sake, oh house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. And I will sanctify my great name which have been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord," says the Lord, "when I am hallowed before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out from all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my status, and you will keep my judgment and do them. Then you will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people and I will be your God."'" What am I trying to bring out to you, friends, listeners who are following me this morning? I hope you are seeing this—please, pay attention to these two scriptures that we read. Jeremiah 31 from verse 31, and Ezekiel 36 from verse 22 downward. You will notice that the new covenant that God is trying to make with these people will not be like the old one because in that old one there was a hardened heart. In the new one that God will be making, he said is going to be such that the spirit of God will be put in them. He's not going to write it again on stone. He's going to write it upon their heart so that nobody will need to teach his neighbor "know the Lord." But all of them will be taught by God, so they will not be rebellious against me. In Ezekiel, he said, "Look, I'm going to wash them clean. I will give them a new spirit that will make them keep my law. And they will walk in my ways." This new spirit, it will make the people to observe the judgment of God so that he can be his—they will be his people and he will be their God. What am I trying to make you see? That the New Testament, the New Testament is not like the Old Testament. This new testament, this new covenant that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, when Jesus died and the curtain of the temple from top turn into two and showing that we now have access by a new and living way to where God is. So that we now have spirit of God inside us, we are the temple of God. We have his spirit within us to teach us his ways so that we can abide by his judgment. So, the matter of a hardened heart, a stony heart, should not be a matter in the New Testament faith. The reason why there was matter of divorce emanating under the old covenant was because in that old covenant the law was written on stone. God did not write it on their heart nor put it in their mind. But in the new covenant which was established in Jesus, the heart of stone will be taken away, a new spirit will be given them. God will now dwell in them, we are the temple of the living God. His spirit will be in us. And that spirit, which Apostle John was speaking about, the anointing which we receive as people—the anointing teaches us. It make us to know the ways of God. The spirit of God convicts us of what is true, of what is right, of what is just, of the judgment of the ways of God. It's not like the old one. Now, I want you to compare what we have been reading. I want us to go to the book of First John now in the New Testament. First John in the New Testament, chapter two, towards the end of that chapter, around verse 26. Look at what the Bible says in First John chapter two from around verse 26. "These things I write to you concerning those who try to deceive you." There are so many deceivers today. There are so many liars. There are so many things that looks as if it is real but is not real. There are several spiritual bastards today on stage. And we must get some things clear. It said, "These things I write unto you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him." Are you seeing a correlation between all these texts I'm reading? "I'm going to make a new covenant with my people. That new covenant will not be like the old one that I made before. In the old one, I made laws with them. Those laws, that covenant was broken. This time, I'm not going to write it on stone. I'm going to put it in their mind. I'm going to write it on their heart so that someone will not need to teach his neighbor 'know the Lord,' but all of them will be taught by God, so they will not be rebellious against me." In Ezekiel he said, "Look, I'm going to wash them clean. I will give them a new spirit that will make them keep my law. And they will walk in my ways." This new spirit, it will make the people to observe the judgment of God so that he can be his—they will be his people and he will be their God. What am I trying to make you see? That the New Testament, the New Testament is not like the Old Testament. This new testament, this new covenant that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, when God, when Jesus died and the curtain of the temple turn into two and showing that we now have access by a new and living way to where God is. So that we now have spirit of God inside us, we are the temple of God. We have his spirit within us to teach us his ways so that we can abide by his judgment. So, the matter of a hardened heart, a stony heart, should not be a matter in the New Testament faith. The reason why there was matter of divorce emanating under the old covenant was because in that old covenant the law was written on stone. God did not write it on their heart nor put it in their mind. But in the new covenant which was established in Jesus, the heart of stone will be taken away, a new spirit will be given them. God will now dwell in them, we are the temple of the living God. His spirit will be in us. And that spirit, which Apostle John was speaking about, he said the anointing which we receive, the anointing teaches us. It make us to know the ways of God. The spirit of God convicts us of what is true, of what is right, of what is just, of the judgment of the ways of God. It's not like the old one. Now, I want you to compare what we have been reading. I want us to go to the book of First John now in the New Testament. First John in the New Testament, chapter three, just see that place again, around the early verses. First John chapter three, he said something there that is very very important for us to see, for us to know, and for us to appreciate. In First John chapter three, he said something. He said—that is chapter three, from verse one. I read up to verse six. "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God. Therefore the world does not know us. The world does not know us." The world don't know why we don't divorce, why we don't practice it. They don't understand us because it does not know Him. We and the world, we don't know each other. They don't know our own way of life, we don't know their own way of life. In our own ways, we who know who know their Father—in the kingdom, the Father hates divorce. Those in that kingdom, the world don't know them because they don't know their Father. They don't understand why the principle of the world cannot operate around them. And you know, I'm trying to make you get something clear: there are two kingdoms. They said they don't know us because they don't know him. He says, "Beloved, now we are the children of God. It has not been revealed what what we shall be. But we know when he's revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone that have this hope in himself," what does the person do? "The person purifies himself just as he is pure." The person want to follow the ordinances and the principles of God. Everybody that have this hope, anybody that have actually encountered God and have a new heart and a new spirit, anybody that have moved away from the hardened heart, anybody that the spirit of God is teaching and is convicting of what is right, what is just—he says he will convict the world of righteousness, of sin, and of judgment. Any man that is experiencing that in his heart, the person will be having that conviction of what is righteous, what is sin. So he purifies himself. "He says, but whosoever does not do that, live impure life, unholy life, that live ungodly life. Whosoever commits sin, commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. And we know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Whosoever abides in him does not sin, that is does not make a practice of sin. Whosoever sin," anybody that make a practice, anybody that is life is against the ordinances and the ordinations of God, anybody—when God is saying "I hate divorce" and you are saying divorce as an answer to your problem—anybody that does not understand these ordinances, you know what it said about the person? He said the person have neither seen him or known him. What am I trying to say is that when we are speaking of genuine conversion, when we are speaking of true believers, when we are speaking of genuine conversion, when we are speaking of Christians, we are speaking of followers of Christ, the matter of divorce does not come in. Where we see it, we should understand that there is a problem, and that problem is that somebody have not seen God or known him. We are dealing with a case of spiritual bastards. They look like they are of God but they are not of God. They look like they belong to God but they are not of him. That is the matter I'm raising with you. A hardened and a stony heart is not the New Testament heart. It is clear from what the scripture says in Ezekiel 36, Jeremiah 31 that we read, and First John 2:27 that we read. It's a clear thing. It's a clear thing from scriptures. It's a clear thing from scriptures. And very very important for us to see that and to understand that. As we close up for this morning, we'll be pressing on in this matter that the Bible raised in that place. Because there's still something that is important we look into before I will be going back to what Jesus was saying God ordained. In that Matthew 19, you will notice something very very clear there. The Mark Gospel did not raise that provision, but it was raised in the Matthew provision. He says, "I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality." This a matter today that we need to look about. This matter of except. Except. And I will be that if you are following us, please come with a open mind. Let's look at this matter from scriptures, let's compare scriptures with scriptures. And we'll begin to come to a full understanding of this matter. Because it was also the response of Jesus. Number one, he said because of the nature of their heart. But the number two he raised something fundamental again according to the Matthew gospel, which we cannot overlook. He said, "I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality." This is another matter. Because these are words coming directly from the Lord Jesus. We need to look at them in response to issues that surround us. So that we can find ourselves following scriptures and not being deceived in these last days. Wherever you are listening to me this morning, what I'm trying to make you see is that if you are not a follower of Jesus, you need Jesus. Jesus is the solution to the answer. And if you say you are a follower of Jesus and you are not practicing his principles, then you may need to listen to some of our other messages that have to do with the element of salvation, to know who actually is a Christian. To know what actually is a Christian. A Christian is that person who practices the will of God. Anybody that don't practice the will of God, no matter what he's doing, is not a Christian. That is the truth about it. That is the truth about it. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank You. We bless Your holy name. We give You glory and honor. We appreciate You for Your mercy. We say Lord our God, we are asking that for our lives, help us that we may be followers of scriptures. We may put—You said, "Happy are ye if you do these things that you know." Help us to put scriptures into practice in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, for many people for several people connecting with us this morning and listening to us, Lord we speak Your peace into families. We speak Your peace into lives. We speak Your peace into homes in the name of Jesus Christ. Every turbulent situation, Lord, every troubled family, troubled life, we say we speak to the storm: peace be still in the name of Jesus. May homes and families that are in confusion, may they find direction in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Blessed Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [Speaker 3] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's Word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission hit. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday, 5 PM; Adolescent or Singles class, every first Saturday of every month at 10 AM; Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10 AM; Family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp, by the first bridge, Ileri community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Igero Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 0803 861 1336, 0703 361 3848. God bless you.