Sunday Sermon--That Holds No Water

That Holds No Water
Notes by Charley Buntin
Reading: Jer 2:1-13
Text: Jer 2:9-13

A Ugandan Christian told me that once, Ugandans assumed that Westerners were Godly, they were called “Godly people.” Not now. Now, Ugandans refer to white people from the US as “Abaseaga,” which means “homosexual!”

1. Context of the text—the lawsuit: Jehovah v. Israel—2:9-11, the effect will continue for generations!

a. First, the charges are laid—God will specify their offense against Him

b. Then, a thought from God, how stupid could these folks be—even the pagans from Cyprus in the far west of their known world to Kedar in the eastern desert, had never heard of even the pagan nations changing their Gods!


c. Israel’s glory had been Jehovah—Ps 106:20

(1) Israel was exalted by having been given God’s Word.
(2) Israel was exalted because she had the way of salvation revealed to her.
(3) God Himself was Her Glory, and He had revealed His Glory to Israel.

d. Israel had mixed the worship of Jehovah with paganism, and they had practiced the perversions of the pagan religions

(1) Molech and Baal demanded infant sacrifice
(2) Baal worshippers practiced every kind of perverted sex
(3) Some of the kings had even rearranged the house of God and imitated the worship of the pagans—2 Ki 16:9-18
(4) The preachers of the day went along with and cooperated in these abominations

e. Why Was Glory Rejected in Favor of Lies?

(1) The unread book – Judah declined and fell into ruin because of rejecting God and His Word—Josiah’s discovery (2 Kings 22:1-13) shows how the Word had been forgotten
(2) The Unpreached Truth—There were few men of God in the land
(3) The Path Without Profit— Judah had followed the counsel and the way, and sat in the seat of the pagans around them—see Ps 1:1


2. The shock and Awe of the Crimes—2:12

a. God calls the Heavens themselves to witness

b. He uses three very powerful verbs here—“Be astonished, Be Appalled, Be Devastated”

c. The crimes of Judah were so wicked that the Heavens themselves are called to be completely torn apart because of the crimes


3. God’s Illustration—A Fountain vs. a cistern

a. God is a Fountain

Psa 36:9 "For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light."

Prov 14:27 "The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death."

John 4:14 ""but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.""

John 7:38 ""He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.""

Rev 21:6 "And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts."


b. Our ways are cisterns

(1) Manmade cisterns at that
(2) Broken cisterns at that
(3) Their way held NO water!
(4) “At best, cisterns often yielded stagnant water, at worst, they cracked and allowed the water to seep out. Dead Gods cannot impart life.” Charles L. Feinberg, Expositor’s Commentary


c. Doctrine: If a man or woman, a church, a state, or a nation reject God’s ways for their own, they are foolish and set to be destroyed, as Judah was.

3. Application to America—we in this land have been blessed with God’s Word from the beginning.

b. The Glory of America was found in her faith— Our nation was founded by God-fearing people who loved the Bible

c. Our nation and our laws were established upon Godly principles from the Word. “…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. ----John Adams


d. Providence demonstrated the reason for God’s bounty to us by the modern missionary movement—Godly men and women gave until it hurt to establish schools of the prophets to produce Godly preachers and missionaries

e. The Schools of America were founded for Godly Purposes

(1) Harvard University—The declared purpose of the college was: to train a literate clergy.
(2) The Rules and Precepts observed at Harvard, September 26, 1642, stated: Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3 …as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning.
(3) The founders of Harvard believed that: All knowledge without Christ was vain.
(4) Princeton University’s official motto was: Under God’s Power She Flourishes.
(5) The first president of Princeton University, the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, stated: Cursed be all that learning that is contrary to the cross of Christ.
f. Our nation became an example to the world in our schools, our churches, our mission organizations—But, except for a Godly remnant, our nation has rejected its very foundations

(1) Our nation and our laws have been perverted from the Godly principles of our establishment

(2) We have perverted our riches and diverted the money to become the most pleasure-seeking society in the history of the human race.

(3) The schools established for the purpose of producing holy prophets of God have been turned into centers of pagan learning and anti-Christian philosophy

(4) Like Israel, we have imitated the beliefs and lifestyles of the pagan world. Israel committed infant sacrifice, and so do we. They sacrificed their babies in the fires of an altar to a pagan God, we murder ours at the altar of “The Right To Choose.”

(5) Our nation is the home of the pornography industry, and behavior that used to be a shame to mention even in private is now carried out publicly—

(6) Too many Bible-believing Christians are satisfied to sit in their padded pews and hope the rapture comes before it gets too bad.

4. We need to seek the fountain of living Waters, and we need to shout aloud that some things are broken cisterns that hold no water—

a. When they say that Religion is to be banned from the public square, THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

b. If they say the cross around my wife’s neck may offend someone; my lapel pin or tie tack with the symbol of the fish may shock some poor soul; your little girl’s student Bible may psychologically injure some unsuspecting student; THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

c. When they tell us that our pledge containing the words “One nation under God” may make someone feel excluded; THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

d. If the champions of all that is indecent say that “In God we trust” may injure the pride of someone with no trust in anything; THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

e. If we are told that The ten commandments, which are posted on the walls of the Supreme Court, might hurt the feelings of someone who recognizes no law nor any restraint, so the 10 must go—THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

f. The sovereignty of this nation is to be surrendered to the shaky foundation of a world body— THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

g. If they say that the “rights of women” mean that the murder of the innocents is to continue without hindrance— THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

h. If the law tells us that Men are to marry men, women are to marry women, and for that matter, any possible combination will be accepted— THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

i. Does anyone think it will stop here? What unnamed perversion will be the next “taboo” to fall? Do you think that they will stop at this? THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

j. They want to reduce the armed citizens of a free republic to the status of unarmed subjects of a nation ruled by liberal, unelected judges— THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!

k. And if these things continue, I say to you that the free expression of opposition to perversion, sin, degradation, atheism, and every other evil—that free expression which is the blood-bought right of every free American—that expression is to be termed “hate speech” and banned from the public forum—if they tell you that they don’t want that—they are lying! THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!
l. Even now the pulpits are being warned to be silent on the great moral issues of the day, or the thought police of the Anti Christian Lawyers Union will report them to the IRS! THAT HOLDS NO WATER!!!!


5. The Cure—This is no natural crisis, it is a supernatural, spiritual conflict between the forces of darkness and the forces of Truth.

a. We need an Awakening, a Reformation, a shaking to the core of our churches and our nation

b. We need an army of sold-out, young, fearless, fiery, obstinate, well-grounded and taught prophets of God! We need preachers, not socializers—proclaimers, not apologizers—teachers, not questioners—straight-talking men, not entertainers.

c. We need men of the Word and prayer, not errand boys, And we need churches that will find ‘em, call ‘em, love ‘em, protect ‘em, get behind ‘em, and take care of them.

d. And, as a nation, we need to repent and return to the fountain! America, turn from the broken cisterns of perversion, sin, and secularist lies, and return to the fountain of Living waters! Jeremiah 3:22 “…Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings….”

Colossians Lesson 3

The Colossian Letter—1:13-14
God Saves Sinners

The Theological battlefield
Who Saves Sinners?
How much of a sinner’s salvation is due to his or her own contribution to the process.
Easy believism

1. How God Saves Sinners part 1—Col 1:13 "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love…”

a. He—our salvation and deliverance are 100% a work of God
b. What He did—Delivered and Transferred.
(1) The two verbs are aorist, indicating a point in time.
(2) They are two parts of one whole: He delivered, He conveyed
c. Delivered by God From Darkness, Transferred to the Kingdom of Christ

Delivered (erusato). First aorist middle indicative of ruomai, old verb, to rescue. …God rescued us out from (ek) the power (exousias) of the kingdom of darkness (skotous) in which we were held as slaves. A.T. Robertson

d. Domain of Darkness—The word, exousias, in the Greek, means a domain, an authority. The word for darkness indicates the darkest of dark parts of the night.

e. Domain of Darkness This is the same phrase that Jesus used for the forces arrayed against Him (Mac)—

(1) Luke 22:52-53 "Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 "When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.""

(2) Darkness has an organization and a command structure!

Eph 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

(3) The Lost Love the Darkness

John 3:19 ""And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

(4) Darkness is incompatible with light

2 Cor 6:14 "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?"

(5) Darkness cannot defeat light

John 1:5 "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Comprehend can mean “understand,” but also means “does not overcome…”

(6) We were part of darkness, and we should therefore avoid it completely and oppose it as well—Eph 5:8 "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" Eph 5:11 "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."

1 Th 5:4-5 "But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness."

1 Pet 2:9 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;"

b. The Kingdom of the Son of His Love—There are well over 100 direct references in the New Testament to the Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven. It is not only the kingdom that we will live in forever, but once we are saved, we are in it already.

c. This is not just the Kingdom of the Son, but of the Son of His Love—God, in His concern to demonstrate His love for us, uses special terms so we can understand the depth of the sacrifice He made to save us.

(1) One term is Beloved Son, or Son of His Love; the other term is monogenes—only begotten.

Mat 3:17 "And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.""

Mat 17:5 "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!""

Mark 1:11 "Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.""

Mark 9:7 "And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!""

Luke 3:22 "And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.""

Luke 9:35 "And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!""

John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:18 "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him."

John 3:16 ""For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 3:18 ""He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

1 John 4:9 "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

b. Transferred—removed, taken out. The word also means “rescued.”

2. Blood Atonement—Col 1:14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."

a. Redemption refers to the buying back of something that was lost.
b. Redemption is through the blood

“…Through the redemption …” ... A releasing by ransom … God did not set men right out of hand with nothing done about men’s sins. We have the words of Jesus that he came to give his life a ransom … for many (Mark 10:45; Matthew 20:28). Lutron is common in the papyri as the purchase-money in freeing slaves ….). (AT Robertson)

Gal 3:13 "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),"

1 Pet 1:18-19 "knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

Rev 5:9 "And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,"

Psa 130:7 "O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption."

1 Cor 1:30 "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God; and righteousness and sanctification and redemption;"

Eph 1:7 "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"

Eph 1:14 "who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."

Eph 4:30 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

Rom 3:24 "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,"

Heb 9:12 "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."

Psa 49:8 “…the redemption of their souls is costly…”

Colossians Lesson 2

The Colossian Letter—1:9-11
The Apostle’s Prayer, 1

Ø Background: an age like ours
Ø Questions and issues addressed in this letter
a. Creation—Pagan philosophy and religion—Believers’ mental focus—Who is Jesus?
b. Family and work problems
c. The Colossian heresy—combining Jewish legalism and philosophy. Early Gnosticism?

1. The Apostle’s Constant Prayer—1:9a

a. For this reason—3-8, that is, since you are already spiritually strong and a church of renown, because of all that, Paul is praying for even more spiritual strength.

b. Ceaseless Prayer—1 Th 5:17—not a monk-like droning, but an attitude of constant readiness to pray.
(1) MacArthur—two aspects: God consciousness and people consciousness
(2) God consciousness—Neh 2:1-4
(3) People consciousness—Eph 6:18, Col 4:2

c. Purposeful Prayer—
(1) Spiritual ends, not a list of earthly needs
(2) Notice the “disciple’s prayer in Mat 6—what are most of the petitions about?


(3) Other Examples of Apostolic Prayer—Rom 1:9-11, Rom 15:30-32, 2Cor 13:7, 9, Eph 1:16-22, Phil 1:9-11, 1 Th 1:2-3, 2 Th 1:11-12, 2 Tim 1:3-5, Phile 1:4-6, Heb 13:18-21, 1 Pet 1:3-5, Jude 1:24-25

d. So, what is the problem we have? Why don’t our prayers fall more in these lines? Col 3:1ff

2. Petition: A Working Spiritual Knowledge: 1-9b

a. Filled—
(1) Aorist—a point in time
(2) to be totally controlled by the thing filling you
(3) Examples
(a) John 16:6—sorrow, Luke 5:26—fear
(b) Luke 6:11—rage, Acts 6:5—faith

b. Knowledge of God’s Will

(1) The word for knowledge is an intense word
(2) The word speaks of experiential knowledge—1 Cor 5, Eph 1:17, Phil 1:9
(3) All knowledge is found in Christ—Col 2:3
(4) MacArthur—“true Biblical knowledge results in obedience…”
(5) Depth of knowledge—progressive—1 Cor 2:1-16!

c. The results of a lack of knowledge
(1) Spiritual immaturity—1 Cor 14:20, Eph 4:13-14
(2) Destruction—Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

d. Spiritual Wisdom and understanding, the results of good doctrinal instruction

(1) Wisdom—the ability to put doctrinal knowledge to use
(2) Understanding—the actual application of that knowledge.

3. A Worthy Walk, Fully Pleasing

a. The Christian life—a way of life, not an empty profession

(1) Basic Salvation—Lordship: Rom 10:9
(2) Basic Christianity—discipleship: Mt 28:19-20
(3) Acts 11:19-26
(4) Walk—Jesus’ definition of the Christian life

John 8:12 "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.""

John 10:27 ""My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."

(5) “Walk” verses
Rom 6:4 "… just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Gal 5:16 "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

Gal 5:25 "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."

Eph 2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
Eph 5:8, 15; Col 2:6, Col 4:5, 1 John 1:6-7, 2 John 1:6, 3 John 1:3-4

b. A worthy walk

Eph 4:1 "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called,"

Eph 4:17 "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,"

1 Th 2:12 "that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory."

c. How can we, fallen creatures that we are, walk worthy of God? The answer is that only by God’s grace and power can we do this.

4. A Fruitful Walk in every good work

a. Again, it is basic Christianity that we should bear fruit in our lives—but what is fruit?
(1) Does “fruit” refer to conversions, people won to the Lord?
(2) The answer is that sometimes the word can mean that, but usually it refers to righteous living, to glorifying God by our conduct!

Mat 7:17-19 ""Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Rom 6:22 "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life."

Gal 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,"

Eph 5:9 "(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),"

Heb 12:11 "… the peaceable fruit of righteousness…”
Heb 13:15 "…the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."
(3) See also Romans 15:25-28
b. Fruitfulness is a way of life for the believer

(1) The word is a present active participle—“you are the ones being fruitful continually…”
(2) Again, the Christian life is a walk, not an event.
(3) So, as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, we yield God’s kind of fruit—righteousness

5. Increasing in knowledge of God

a. Filled, yet increasing? The Spirit Filling Illustration
b. Again, this word is a present participle—the Christian life is a learning curve

(1) First of all, the subject is without limit—Rom 11:33 "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"

(2) Second of all, it is the essence of our eternal life—
(a) John 17:3 ""And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
(b) “know” is ãéíþóêùóéí , present tense, to know by experience, and to know continually

(3) Knowing God is a major part of winning the war of the mind—2 Cor 10:5 "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,"
(4) Paul wanted to know Him better—Phil 3:8-10

6. Spiritual Strength—Col 1:11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

a. Strengthened with ALL might

(1) The word for “strengthened” is a present participle, passive voice. Its emphasis is that “you are the ones being strengthened continually…”
(2) Passive—it is God doing the strengthening
(3) Present—it is continuous. It is not that God boosts us in a massive blast at the beginning of the Christian life, then leaves us to ourselves; it is that God provides power continually.
(4) All might, all “äõíÜìåé”—there is no limit to the power available.

(a) This word for power is often mistakenly expressed as “God’s dynamite,” because the inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel, took this Greek word to name his invention. However, that is backwards reasoning.
(b) God’s power in us is not there to blow things up or to destroy, it is there to empower. If we were going to make such a comparison, we might better use “dynamo,” a generator of continuously supplied power.

b. According to His glorious power: kra(1) A.T. Robertson—“According to the might of his glory (kata to kratos teôs doxeôs autou). Kratos is old word for perfect strength…In N.T. it is applied only to God. Here his might is accompanied by glory (Shekinah).”
(a) Shekinah is a rabbinic term that describes the dwelling Presence of the LORD. It comes from a Bible word, shakan, which means “to dwell.”
(b) Exo 25:8 ""And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them."
(c) Exo 29:45-46 ""I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. 46 "And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God."
(d) Exo 40:35 "And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle."
(2) Rogers and Rogers—“…kra(3) What is the sum of all this?

(a) Paul is praying that God’s mighty presence will dwell with the Colossians.
(b) He is praying a prayer that God is going to answer!
c. As we are strengthened in the Word and in knowledge of Him, how does this power come to us? Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

(1) Power to witness—Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The frightened, small group of believers became a mighty force when the Mighty Wind blew through them on Pentecost.

(2) Power to be confident of the future—Rom 15:13 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."

(3) Power to be strong in Christ—Eph 3:16 "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;"

7. Spiritual Perseverance—Col 1:11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

a. Patience—persevering
b. Longsuffering—not retaliating against your enemies
c. With Joy—God does not just want us to endure, but to endure with joy.

(1) A reminder—in the Bible, Joy is not a giddy state of physical and mental bliss; joy is a choice, an act of the will, to obey the command to rejoice.
(2) The OT is full of references where God’s people commit to rejoice in Him—Isa 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

Psa 16:11 "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

Psa 97:12 "Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name."

Psa 98:4 "Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises."

Phil 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"

1 Th 3:9 "For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God,"

1 Th 5:16 "Rejoice always,"

1 Pet 1:6 "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,"

1 Pet 1:8 "whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,"

1 Pet 4:13 "but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

Sunday Sermon II--The Broken Covenant

The Broken Covenant
Mal 2:10-16

Introductory Thoughts
· Families, perhaps especially Christian families, are going through an onslaught from inside and out.
· Lives are being destroyed and altered by this collapse of families
· Drugs, the sex culture, internet pornography, and dozens of talk shows spreading lies about men, women, and families—all are attacking the family.
· The very meanings of “Manhood” and “Womanhood” are in doubt.
· Some very good people are trying to start a movement for Covenant Marriage. Now, this is a great idea, but the fact that it is needed shows how far down things have gone. A marriage IS a covenant, as we will see.
· Malachi’s day was such a time as this
· I know that divorced has touched at least half of the people here. I do not seek to put anyone down, only to warn you
· You need to carefully consider what God says about this broken covenant and to listen, not to your own desires, fears, prejudices, or beliefs, but to what God has to say about this topic.

· What is A Covenant?

a. Hebrew—“covenant” is beriyth, (“a cut”) and to make a covenant is karath beriyth, (“to cut a cut”)—Gen 15:18
b. Greek—1242. diatheke—“…man can never negotiate with God or change the terms of the covenant: he can only accept them or reject them…[the Bible]…did not use the ordinary Greek word for contracts or agreements in which both parties were equal…but rather chose a less common word, diatheke, which emphasized that the provisions of the covenant were laid down by one of the parties only. ATR
(1) God ordains Covenants—Gen 6:18, 9:9
(2) God Defines Covenants: their application, their scope
(3) God sets the rules for every covenant—

c. Marriage IS a covenant.
(1) It is called a covenant—Mal 2 and Prov 2:16-17
(2) Marriage is God ordained (Genesis 2:18-25)
(3) Marriage is God defined—Gen 1:26-28, 2:24-25
(4) Marriage is God Governed—Genesis 2:24, Mat 19:4-6, Eph 5:21-33, 1 Pet 3:1-7, Heb 13:4, etc.
(5) Marriage is a picture of the New Covenant, and therefore is to be permanent—Eph 5:25-32, Mat 19:6
(6) The New Covenant began in time the moment that Christ died, and will never end. It is called “the everlasting Covenant,” Heb 13:20. Since the marriage covenant is intended to be a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church, marriage is supposed to be everlasting.

2. What God Had Given Israel

a. God’s Creation Ordinances—Mal 2:10 “…Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?”
(1) Made in God’s image—Gen 1:26-27
(2) Made to fill the earth—Gen 1:28
(3) Made to live as one man and one woman, the two becoming one—Gen 1:27, 2:18-25
(4) Before prayer, before worship, before the written Word, before any organized body of faith, God instituted marriage.

b. The Covenant of the Fathers—probably the covenant with Abraham. In the Old Testament, God set up an institution of marriage so that the covenants of Promise could be carried on from generation to generation by children set apart unto the LORD. Mal 2:14 “…she is your companion And your wife by covenant. 15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.”
(1) A Covenant Wife
(2) A Completer and companion
(3) The oneness of this marriage was intentional—God could have made Adam two, three, or four wives—God made one
(4) Goal—Godly seed to inherit the Promise

3. What Israel had Done—Mal 2:11 "Judah has dealt treacherously, And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned The Lord's holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god."

a. The men were discarding their holy Hebrew first wives in favor of young, hot pagan women!
b. They had committed treason against God!

(1) The same phrase is used five times
Mal 2:10 "… Why do we deal treacherously…”
Mal 2:11 “…11 Judah has dealt treacherously…”
Mal 2:14 "… the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously..”
Mal 2:15 “…let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth…”
Mal 2:16 “…take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously."

(2) What does the word mean? Unfaithfulness, even treason, against God.
(a) Treason against His creation ordinance
(b) Against His Holy institution of marriage
(c) Treason against His Covenant
(d) Treason against the very children their wives had borne them.

c. Profaning the Holy
(1) By an Abomination—This is a very powerful word, used of:
(a) Idol Worship—Dt 7:25
(b) Human sacrifice (Dt 12:31)
(c) Engaging in the occult (Dt 18:9-14)
(d) Practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kings 14:23f)
(e) Homosexuality and other sexual perversions (Lev 18:22-30, 20:13)
(f) And the seven things that God hates (Prov 6:16-19)
(2) This abomination consisted of marrying pagan women, which will lead to all of the above and more.
(3) By Profaning —dishonoring—the Lord’s “Holy”—it could be His name, or better yet, the very institution of marriage that He had ordained.

d. Doing violence to their wives—not necessarily physical
(1) Caused the wives to cry so much that the altar was said to be covered with tears (Barnes, Gill)
(2) Broken the covenant of marriage with their wives
(3) “Covered themselves with violence…” Mal 2:16 (N L T) “…I hate divorce!” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “It is as cruel as putting on a victim’s bloodstained coat,” says the LORD Almighty.”
(4) It is like they had brutally cut their wives to pieces and then put on the coat of the victim like some sick trophy of a serial killer.

e. Doing permanent damage to their children—how can offspring grow up Godly in the face of these abominations? By God’s grace, it can happen, but these crimes and abominations make it a rough row to hoe.
f. The ultimate hypocrisy unveiled—they were attending worship the whole time.

4. The Consequences of their sins

a. Broken Fellowship with God
(1) The prophet cries that they should be cut off—kicked out—of the camp of Israel—there is an important play on words here. To make a covenant was to “cut a cut” or karath berith, This phrase here says the offender should be cut (karath) off from the Covenant people.
(2) “Awake and aware,” is a Hebrew saying referring to the old times in the desert, when the one on guard at night (Awake) would warn the ones sleeping (Aware, i.e., make them aware) of impending danger. In the time of Malachi, it referred to scholar and student or priest and parishioner. (Barnes, Gill).
(a) The priests and the people they misled
(b) All classes were guilty of this crime

b. God as a witness against them—2:14 èJames 4:6 "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
c. A heritage in jeopardy—what of the Godly offspring now?

5. Applications for Today
a. Far too many people take divorce too lightly.
(1) I am not saying that divorce is never an option in a practical sense—in cases of extreme violence and substance abuse, etc., when legal protection for a family is needed. But while this happens, this is not usually the case.
(2) Sometimes, the unbeliever leaves: 1 Cor 7:15 But the Bible has no provision for two believers divorcing.

b. What are the effects of the broken covenant today?
(1) The children learn that nothing is permanent.
(2) The children follow the example—they give their heart too soon, and they break up and go on, break up and go on, and by the time they are married, their hearts have become hard and ready to break up for real.
(3) The witness of the church is damaged
(4) Those who break it blandly without any repentance, nor any thought of the greatness of the sin, find themselves cut off from God’s presence, and they wonder why?
(5) They need to read Malachi.

b. The Ray of Hope—the prophecy of the Messiah—Mal 3:1-4
When Jesus comes into the situation, He can turn it all around—today might be the very day to do so