Transcript

Let’s go to Matthew 26. Our time does not allow me to deal with the next part of Luke as the next time we’re together, Lord willing, we will look at Luke 16 and talk about divorce and remarriage. By the way, I just want to make it clear to you as I make it clear to my own soul, Grace Life Church is not punting the ball on the sanctity of marriage. It’s an ordinance of God. Now look, there is grace, amen? If you’ve been through a failed marriage, in a failed marriage you’ve humbled yourself, you sought the word of God and you’ve sought the church elders to make the mess as best you can now, I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen, we’re going to love you unconditionally. We’re going to help you and pray with you and encourage you and get you through it. But you listen to me, you’re not going to be a member of this church and throw a marriage away. I don’t care if it’s a difficult. What was for better or worse? What does that mean? It’s always difficult. We counseled with a lady some years ago who said that she, her husband was just not nice to her and he argued with her and he raised his voice. Of course, she did a lot of that too and she called that abuse and wanted out of the marriage. I said, “Heavens to Betsy, if that’s grounds for divorce, 80% of our marriages would be over in this church.” We can always say, “Hey, I haven’t been right and I want to humble myself and I want to do the best I can from here on out.” We’re not throwing away the sanctity of marriage here. There is grace and compassion and long suffering and patience for anybody who is willing to try, no matter where they are. If that’s where you are, we’re for you but when you pastor a church that is trying to be biblical, folks, every day we fight something else. I’m just saying that because I’m preaching on that next Sunday. By the way, the Bible gives some concessions for divorce and remarriage and we’re going to be as liberal as the Bible is liberal. Amen? As gracious as the Bible is gracious. By the way, some of our best members have been through a broken marriage but they were humble about it and got right with God where they needed to and went on for the glory of God. Amen?

That’s not my message but it’s coming. You know, it’s not easy to pastor a church. One of our men told me this morning he’d been visiting some churches while he was visiting relatives and he said, “I guess I’m spoiled. It’s just amazing the nonsense I’ve sat through in churches.” I said, “No, I’m spoiled. I have a congregation that really loves me for leading them biblically.” Do you know how rare that is? I’ve worked with pastors the last couple of weeks that are just dying, trying to get started to be biblical. They are just getting attacked right and left and here I am, if I didn’t do that, you would fire me and you should fire me if I didn’t do that. I’m a blessed man and I thank you for letting me serve as your pastor.

Matthew 26. The Lord has gone to Jerusalem. He’s having the Passover meal with his disciples. You know, God has this magnanimous plan. That’s really not the best way to say that, he has this stupendous plan. He had decided before the foundation of the world that by his own means, through his own merit, he would save for himself a people out of all sinners. He would save for himself a people that through saving them he might demonstrate the great wisdom and beauty and power that he alone, God, has. Nobody else can save the way that God can save. Nobody else has loved the way God can love. No one else has grace the way God has grace. No one else has mercy the way God has mercy. But God needed some wretched, offensive, depraved, wrath-deserving subjects that he might point his love toward to demonstrate how wonderful, wise and powerful he is and all of us qualify. So God predetermined before the world was that he would save for himself a people, that he would so work in their hearts by the power of the Spirit under the preaching of his Gospel, that their hearts would be transformed and they would begin a pilgrimage where they would begin to treasure and love God more than anything and everything else. Then one day, he would bring that great stupendous plan of God to culmination and he would have his bride, his people there with him and there his people would be perfected in glory with him and they would love him and enjoy him and worship him and bring him glory for ever and ever and ever.

Matthew 26, look at verse 26,

26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My b