QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (106)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   There are some questions that are enjoyable to hear.

1.    May I help you?

2.    Are you ready to order?

3.    Will you marry me?

 

B.   There are other questions that are not as enjoyable.

1.    Are we there yet?

2.    How much further is it?

3.    When are we going to get there?

 

C.   The questions on our Q&A Sundays can be always be classified as enjoyable.  Some, even though enjoyable, can be difficult.

 

D.   Since this is our Q&A Sunday because last week was our Kick-Off Sunday, we will be looking at three questions in this lesson.

 

I.             QUESTION #1:  New Cloth on An Old Garment, Matt. 9:16

 

A.   Stated:  Please explain Jesus’ words found in Matthew 9:16.

 

B.   Answer:

1.    Matthew 9:16

 

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment; for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

 

2.    These words go back to a question about fasting posed by the disciples of John to Jesus in Matthew 9:14.

 

Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

 

3.    Fasting was not specifically authorized in the Law of Moses.

a.    It was a practice that was associated with repentance, grief, and national holidays among the Jews.

b.    The Pharisees used the practice in order to manifest their piety.

1.    They would fast twice in the week (Luke 18:12).

2.    They disfigured their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast (Matt. 6:16).

c.    Jesus was not opposed to fasting, but He taught that it should be done with only God knowing about the matter (Matt. 6:17-18).

4.    When Jesus answered the question about fasting, He set forth three illustrations of which the new cloth on an old garment was one.

a.    The first illustration notes that there is a proper time to do things (Matt. 9:15).

 

And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?  but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

 

b.    The next two illustrations seek to distinguish the doctrines of the Pharisees from the teachings of Jesus.

1)    The old garments and the old bottles represent the teachings of the Pharisees.

2)    The new cloth and the new bottles represent the teachings of Jesus.

3)    The two do not mix.

a)    A new cloth was one that had been freshly prepared and had not been sent to the fuller.  Thus, it was damp.  If attached to an old garment, as it dried, it would shrink and tear way from the previous rent and the tear would be made worse.

b)    In like manner, if new wine was put into old bottles, the bottles would burst as the wine began to ferment in them.  New bottles, on the other hand, were soft and flexible and could withstand the expansion of the juice.

4)    Jesus did not come to simply mix Christianity with Judaism.  Christianity is a religion that stands on its own.

a)    It did not need circumcision (Gal. 6:15).

b)    It did not need the bloodline of Abraham (John 3:3-5; Gal. 3:26-29).

c)    It did not need the Aaronic priesthood (Heb. 7:11-18).

d)    It did not need animal sacrifices (Heb. 10:11-12).

e)    It did not need the temple (Matt. 24:2).

f)     It did not need the clean and unclean dietary laws (Acts 10:10-14).

g)    It did not need the traditions of the elders, including fasting (Matt. 15:3-9).

h)    It did not need the commandments of the law to save men (Eph. 2:13-16; Heb., 8:6-13).

 

II.           QUESTION #2:  Concubines and Adultery

 

A.   Question:  Did Abraham commit adultery when he had relations with Sarah’s handmaid Hagar?

 

B.   Answer:

1.    God’s law regarding marriage was set forth in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:18-24, esp. v.24).  It involved one man with one woman for life.

 

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:  and they shall be one flesh.

 

2.    Jesus set forth God’s law regarding marriage when He was questioned about divorce by the Pharisees (Matt. 19:3-6).

 

The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife:  and they twain shall be one flesh?  Wherefore they are not more twain, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

 

a.    Jesus quoted Genesis 2:24.

b.    His application is plain:  “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.

3.    There were four practices that God tolerated in Patriarchal Age and Mosaic Age that are not tolerated today.

a.    Divorce and remarriage (Matt. 19:7)

b.    Polygamy (Gen. 4:19; 29:16-30)

c.    Concubines, or, secondary wives (2 Sam. 5:13)

d.    Kinsman-redeemer (Deut. 25:5)

4.    NOTE:  Since the practices were either tolerated or authorized, those who engaged in them did not sin.

5.    LESSONS:

a.    Those who lived in Patriarchy and under the Law of Moses did not have as much light of truth as those who live under the Law of Christ.

b.    When God’s law of one man with one woman for life was violated, there were consequences that were born

1)    The conflict between Sarah and Hagar (Gen. 16:4).

2)    Jacob’s wives, Rachel and Leah, had strife between them (Gen. 30:1-2).

3)    There was a conflict between Hannah and Peninah, the wives of Elkanah (1 Sam.1:4-8).

4)    Solomon’s wives, 1 Kings 11:3, turned away his heart from the Lord.

c.    We live under the New Covenant.  This covenant places a high priority upon the marriage relationship.

1)    Romans 7:2-3

 

For the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress:  but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulterous, though she be married to another man.

 

2)    Matthew 19:8-9

 

He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives:  but from the beginning if was not so.  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery:  and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

 

III.         QUESTION #3:  Forgiveness of Sin versus the Consequences of Sin

 

A.   Stated:  Explain the difference between the forgiveness of sins and the consequences of sin.

 

B.   Answer:

1.    Definition:

a.    Forgiveness:  the removal of the stain of sin or transgression from the soul of man

b.    Consequence:  the effect, outcome, or result of something occurring earlier, in this case, the sin.

2.    Sin can always be removed.  Consequences, on the other hand, may not be able to be removed.

3.    Two examples:

a.    The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24)

1)    He sinned by wasting his substance on riotous living (v. 13)

2)    He even admitted that he had sinned (v. 18, 21).

3)    His request (v. 19)

 

I am no more worthy to be called thy son:  make me as one of thy hired servants.

 

4)    He did not suffer that consequence (vs. 22-24)

 

But his father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:  and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:  for this my son was death, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.  And they began to be merry.

 

b.    David

1)    He sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and by murdering her husband, Uriah (2 Sam. 11)

2)    David confessed his sin, and God forgave him (2 Sam. 12:13).

 

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD.  And Nathan said unto David, The LORD hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

 

3)    David, however, had to live with the consequences for the rest of his reign.

a)    The child conceived by Bathsheba had to die.

b)    The sword would not depart from his house.

c)    Evil would be raised up against him out of his own house.

d)    His enemy would lie with his wives before the nation of Israel.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   We have examined three diverse questions.

1.    One about a new piece of cloth placed on an old garment

2.    One about marriage to a concubine

3.    One about the forgiveness of sins versus the consequences of sin

 

B.   Even though David could not escape the consequences of his sins, he could rejoice in the forgiveness of them.

1.    Some people have a hard time forgiving themselves because of the consequences of sin.

2.    Some people want to blame God for the consequences of their sins when they were the ones who transgressed.

3.    The proper response is to bear the consequences and rejoice in one’s forgiveness.