This morning, I want to talk about the gospel in marriage
when I had the realization a while back, when I that I needed
to start teaching, I made the resolution that I needed to
speak on topics that we're not only beneficial to the
congregation here, but also beneficial to my children and
their future. And Lizzie and eyes.
Children are, are getting older growing quick maturing into some
of the greatest people. I know they've taught me how I
need to be a father that I need to be.
And more importantly, how to be the spiritual leader?
I need to be at the at home. So this morning, I hope that I
can teach something that to the gunk congregation whether you're
married. Whether you're not married
preparing for marriage or still in the dating phase of your
life. I hope that this has been
official to you in some manner. When I decided to teach on this
topic or the subject, please know that I have nobody in mind
at all whatsoever. When I decided to teach this, I
think this is just beneficial. It's directed to us as a
congregation as a body of Christ.
Understanding what is taught in the Bible.
And I'm not going to claim to be an expert on the on the matter
as well. So today we're going to hear and
learn about what Jesus teaches us about marriage and divorce.
Jesus. In these passages that we will
consider speaks in a way that is very different from what the
world teaches us today. And as a church as a
congregation, we desperately need to hear and heed what Jesus
says and help each other live accordingly.
If we don't talk about Jesus's teaching on marriage and
divorce. We won't be much help to those
around us who may be going through the sad state of
divorce. We won't understand or be able
to help them and sometimes I sadly think that this, if this
happens in the church, we need to be able to be prepared to
help those who are in need. Because if we don't it's very
possible that people who could be going through, this could be
in a very very hard struggle feeling alone and maybe even
ashamed of the struggle of divorce.
So we as Christians have a responsibility we have multiple
responsibilities and we're going to go over those real quick.
The first one is this we must care for one another with
concern. This is what it means to be
Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We don't just sit here next to
each other in these pews and not acknowledge some of the
hardships that all of us may be going through, that's not what
the church is, we care for each other.
We will look out for each other, we serve and help each other and
that's what a family is that's what a family does.
This means that if there is a couple in the congregation, or a
family that is struggling in their Our marriage even
contemplating divorce. We don't isolate or ignore that
struggle. We need to be a church.
Congregation that cares for each other with concern.
Also, secondly, we must encourage each other with the
truth with the gospel. We don't just share our thoughts
and opinions with each other. We share God's word in the
context of our concern. We open the Bible together.
We help each other. See what God says about the
subjects of the topics that we are going through.
You know, our opinions and our thoughts are not what we are
supposed to counseling. We Counsel on the word of God.
Then third also, as we encourage each other with truth.
We must also Comfort one another with love what we're about to
talk about in the next few minutes.
Is going to bring all sorts of emotions to the surface.
In some people, maybe nobody here, but but please know that
even the mention of the word divorce could potentially open a
wound or there may be an open wounds right now as we sit here
and and learn. So I want to be sensitive to all
of that. There are so many emotions that
so many people experience or may be experiencing right now,
whether it be sorrow or loss. Disappointment anger, regret
guilt. Maybe all of the above and may
be so much more. So like I said, before my goal
is to be sensitive today to all of those emotions.
The last thing I want to do is to make wounds worse.
I want to carefully, apply the healing words of the Gospel to
those wounds so that we can see the beautiful transforming.
An internal application of the gospel for marriage and divorce.
I want us to be helped as a congregation, whatever the case
may be. It doesn't have to be the
subject of marriage and sell for divorce.
In itself could be any topic that may affect any of us here.
We want to be a congregation that comes alongside one.
Another with love hope, help strength, and healing that are
found in Jesus alone. We also want to care for
children who are affected by marital struggle.
And divorce, that, that maybe along with it, in such a way
that those children will be drawn to Jesus and not pushed
away from Jesus. So I want to say that to every
spouse, you may be struggling in their marriage right now or who
has experienced experienced divorce or to every child who
has been affected by divorce to own anyone who has been who has
done anything in marriage that you may be ashamed of or whose
spouse or parent does something that they, maybe you are ashamed
of there's no shame here. In this congregation, we are all
sinners, we've all gone through struggles, we have all sinned.
So we can't be ashamed if we have problems in her life and we
need to get some help from fellow brothers and sisters in
Christ. None of us are better than one
of the other. So this means that when we hurt
we heard what those who hurt? We weep with those who weep and
we love as Jesus loves. That's what it says in Romans
12:15. This is our responsibility
before God. And before each other, as a
congregation, in light of this responsibility, our lives are to
be a reflection of Jesus love in a world.
Where marital struggle? Struggle and divorce are
realities. Quite frankly, every single
marriage is under attack and if we don't think that ours is we
are fooling ourselves. There is an adversary who wants
to break up what God has designed And the devil is alive
and he's and he's strong, and he knows what to go after.
The Bible, doesn't say to ignore the devil and he will flee from
you. He tells you to resist the devil
and he will flee from you. So, let's here, let's read.
We're going to go to Matthew 19 and we're going to read verses 1
through 12 and it says there, Now it came to pass when Jesus
had finished these sayings that he departed from Galilee and
came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan and great
multitudes, followed him and he healed them there.
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 not man separate then said to him, why then did Moses
command to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away?
And 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, and I say to you, whoever divorces his wife?
A wife except for sexual immorality and marries another
commits adultery and whoever marries her, who is divorced,
commits adultery, his disciples said to him.
If this is the case of the man with his wife, is it better not
to marry. But he said to them, all cannot
accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given
for there are eunuchs who are born from this from their
mother's womb. And there are eunuchs who were
made eunuchs by men. And there are eunuchs who gave
who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of Heaven's
Sake. He who is able to accept it, let
him accept it. So we're going to consider three
truths that we can find in. These passages today.
Truth number one is that God created marriage.
Jesus starts with that truth. And that's a good place to
start. When asked about marriage and
divorce, he says in Verses 4 and 5, have you not read that?
He who made them at the beginning, made them male and
feeble 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 the man and woman are no longer two but they become one
in marriage. Take.
Jesus takes us all the way back to the beginning of the Bible.
In Genesis 1 were God created, man and woman and brings them.
Together in his Union that he called marriage.
You know God didn't have to create it this way, as men and
women he didn't have to create marriage in this way.
As one man and one woman coming together as one flesh Union but
he did and by doing so God defines marriage from the
beginning for our good. I trust that we all know and
understand that we real, we live in a country that denies that
truth for a long, long time. All civilizations have believed
that. Mirror.
That marriage is between a man and a woman.
Permanently. But about 25 years ago in this
country that was reiterated that definition was reiterated by our
government, and it went across party lines.
It was called the Defense of Marriage Act.
But as we all know about six years ago or so that the Supreme
Court struck down verbiage in that Defense of Marriage Act
that completely changed. The definition of what marriage
is even prominent profession Christian leaders through the
nation. One actually said and I quote,
this is a huge moment when lots of us realize that old the old
way of seeing things doesn't work.
That's pretty scary thought. When you have someone who
professes to be a Christian leader, says that In our
country, even those who are professing to be Christians.
Say that, you know, they say that the old way, the god, that
the way that God defined marriage that doesn't work
anymore, you know? That's pretty audacious.
That's appalling to come along, thousands and thousands of years
after God, created and defined marriage, two, thousand years
after Jesus, reate reiterated, the definition.
And then in the last six years, we say that we've discovered
ways that we don't think God's plan.
Especially when somebody says it, while they're a Christian.
So from the beginning of creation God has defined
marriage for our good. So let's trust and submit to his
word and see the beauty of God's definition of marriage one man,
one woman both masterfully molded in the image of their
maker with equal dignity, equal dignity and complementary roles
coming together to form one flesh.
We don't need any Court of government to define marriage
for us. God has already done that for
us. His definition cannot be
eradicated by a vote by men. The Supreme judge of creation
has defined marriage and we will gladly trust it and submit to
his word. So not only God has got to find
marriage for it, but he designed marriage for the display of the
Gospel. Now.
When we think about this is on a whole nother level that we can
think about marriage. So God's design for marriage as
a marriage between one, man, and one woman is not random at all.
God is not random everything that God has done and got his
gave us in this in his book is intentional every single thing.
There's even a song out a Christian song that that's
called The Reckless Love of God. God is Not Reckless.
God has everything in his design.
And everything is for a design. So we need to understand them.
When God made man and woman he brought them together.
Bringing them together a marriage, he's not rolling the
dice or flipping a coin or or making just a whim of a
decision. There is a plan why he created
marriage between man and woman so important.
Some people view marriage is merely means of self-fulfillment
or self-satisfaction. Or if we say, you know, we're
trying to find a mate who completes us that view of
marriage in and of itself. It is not correct.
The Bible teaches us. That God designs marriage, not
as an end but as a means to an end, God designed marriage to be
a picture that points to something far.
Greater we read Ephesians 5 verses 31 through 32, it says
there for this reason a man shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one
flesh. This is a great mystery but I
speak concerning Christ and the church.
Purpose of marriage, is to point us to Christ.
Let's follow the same logic here.
Marriage is a picture of Christ and the church on the canvas of
this Earthly World. Ephesians 5:25 says husband's,
love your wives. Just as Christ, also loved the
church and gave himself up for her.
So, a husband is designed by God to be a picture to the world of
Christ's love for the church, a selfless.
Sacrificial love also in Ephesians 5 verses 2024.
It says therefore just as the church is subject to Christ.
So let the wives be to their own husband's in everything.
A wife is designed by God to be a picture of the world of the
church. Love churches.
Love for Christ. A joyful, submissive love.
When this happens in marriage, we have a Biblical marriage
unity and we're both husband and wife spouses are working
together. The world will see a picture of
the gospel of Christ. Now, when I use the word gospel
today, this morning, I want us to understand.
Of course, what that means, I'm sure most of us here do.
But the gospel is what brings us together today?
You know, we made some people, may wonder why in the world.
Is that church on plans, Road meet every Sunday morning, every
Sunday evening and every Wednesday, And what about all
the other congregations across the whole world will?
The answer is the gospel that's the reason why?
The gospel is a good news that everyone of us has been created
by God for a relationship with God and the one true king over
all creation. But we have all sinned against
God. Not just in our understanding of
marriage sometimes, but in so many other ways we have sinned
against God. So God has become.
God has also come to us in the person of Jesus.
He is long-awaited King in the flesh who came to live a perfect
and Powerful life of no sin. Then he laid down his life to
pay the price for our sin. But the good news of the Gospel
keeps getting better. Three days later.
Jesus rose from the dead. He rose from the grave and
victory over sin and over death, so that anyone anywhere who
obeys the Gospel of Jesus can and will be forgiven from their
sin and brought back into a relationship with God.
As long as we remain faithful to him, So to be a follower of
Jesus means that we need to renounce all other gods and
Idols of her life and believe that Jesus is the son of God and
be baptized for the remission of our sins.
I don't want us to miss with this means, God loves you.
And I and desires our relationship with us.
God has made that possible through Jesus and at the end of
our sermon here, we're going to we're going to offer an
invitation for any of those who need to be baptized or
confessing the public sins. They need to To, to make to be
reconciled with the right relationship with God.
And when we do that, when we are baptized, we realize that the
ultimate meaning of the marriage that is the ultimate meaning of
marriage to show a picture to the world.
Marriage and Mission are connected because God has
designed marriage for the display of the Gospel.
So, we need to love. We need to show God's love to
the World. By just are simple marriages.
Husband should love his wife by laying down his own life, for
her to lift her up an honor, her, her dignity, and her beauty
and we gladly submit to follow Jesus.
Not because we have to but because we want to That's what
how this is. How a wife designed to love her
husband, you know, have any of you have any of us met, a wife
who was not willing to completely and utterly, follow
her husband, if her husband shows that he is selfless and
sacrificing to her, a wife is going to do that every single
time. We need to wreck realize that we
are representing to the world. What Jesus is so husbands, if we
are harsh with our wives, we will show the world that Jesus
is Harsh with his people. If we ignore our wives needs, we
are telling the world that Jesus ignores our needs.
If we are unfaithful to our wives, we are showing the world
that Jesus is unfaithful to us. Ends.
What a picture of Jesus. What picture of Jesus are you
showing the world? On the other side.
Wives, what picture are you showing?
The world. What it means to follow Jesus,
if you disrespect your husband You show the world that Jesus is
not worthy of respect, if you do not pursue your husband, you
show the world that Jesus is not worth pursuing, and if you're
unfaithful to your husband, you show the world that Jesus is not
satisfying enough for his people.
So God designed marriage for the display of the Gospel.
So we need to show that to the world marriage by God's
definition. And design is so important.
This is why Jesus says what he did in Matthew. 19 and 6 it says
there, therefore, what God has joined together?
Let not man separate. Truth number 2.
God hates divorce. So God created marriage and
whether we want to notice that, he also hates divorce at the
same time. This is Harsh language but this
is language that we can read in Malachi 2:16 says therefore the
Lord God of Israel says that he hates divorce or covers ones.
Garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts.
It makes sense, doesn't it? If God created marriage, the
marriage Union to display the gospel.
And his love for the church and the union between Jesus and the
church, it makes sense that God would hate divorce to break up
that Union. So, we need to understand them
So this leads to the question the Pharisees were asking about
Jesus and Moses and the law in the Old Testament.
This whole conversation starts. When these teachers asked, is it
lawful for a man to divorce ones wife for any reason?
We find that in verse 3 of Matthew 19 and Jesus answered by
pointing to God's definition and designed for marriage.
Then in the, in verse 7, the Pharisees point to allowances,
for divorce way, back in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy 24,
where Moses gave, Options for certificates of divorce.
But that's when Jesus says, in verse 8 of our reading Moses
because of the hardness of your hearts permitted, you to divorce
your wives. But from the beginning it was
not. So in other words, Divorce was
definitively, not God's original design.
Divorce is always a result of sin, always think about it.
If there's no sin in the world, nor what, no hardness in our
hearts, there would be no divorce, but there is sin in the
world. That is a fact.
Marriage is a uniting together of two, Sinners people.
Wonder why? So many marriages struggle?
It's because we're Sinners sins in the world.
Experts can say that, you know, there are communication problems
or compatibility problems or financial problems or sexual
problems were personality problems you know, those those
aren't necessarily The issue but they could be problems in our
marriage. But the issue is sin.
The major problem with every marriage is sin in our lives.
I don't want to seem too basic about that but I think we tend
to overlook sometimes the Simplicity of the Gospel what
God teaches us. We tend to go over all kinds of
books. We can read books, we can go to
conferences. When go to seminars, we can see
experts on marriage yet as long as they try to make things work
from an external standpoint. They're going to be basically
putting a Band-Aid on a broken bone.
The healing has to come in from Jesus from what the gospel.
We have to look to the gospel on how to heal broken marriages.
You know, Frank Frank taught on this and somewhat touched on it.
There's a war going on within our hearts, you know, the
Christian Warfare that we go through.
Well, this is part of it, you know, the internal battles that
we go through with sin and with the devil this is part of that
spiritual warfare. And that's what Jesus is saying
here. The last place we want to look
when it comes to problems in our marriage is within our own
selves. You know if we have a hard heart
we don't want it. It's hard to self-reflect if
we're having issues. You know.
So we want to make sure that we go to the Bible and read how to
help our marriages in any way. Well, there are so many
situations where more fall clearly lies on one side than
the other. The fact Still Remains both
husband and wife are sinners. Divorce is always reasonable
result of sin and divorce. Sometimes in itself is a sin as
well. And we're going to, we're going
to touch on that here soon. This is true in two ways.
First God, hates divorce and there were only a couple
exception was kept exceptions where it is allowed, and we'll
talk about that in a minute, but on both, but outside of these
reasons or exceptions divorce in and of itself is a sin against
God outside of those parameters. It's a critical for us to hear
in a country where in culture today, where it is so easy to
get a divorce. All that's needed is a statement
of irreconcilable differences. I even learned while putting
this letter this sermon together that that you can get a divorce
online or even on an app on your phone with a Pretty Simple Touch
of a couple buttons. It is so readily available and
accessible to the world. It is such a common practice.
It's just scary. So this is why we desperately
need to stop and ask why? When and why does God allow
divorce? And yes he does.
Then secondly even when God allows divorce, we also needs to
be. We need to be careful and be
aware that while there may be some who may or may not be going
through divorce or going through a struggle, that sin during
those times can be a lot higher. We can have a lot more
Temptation and when somebody is going through divorce, its
strong that The Temptations are strong.
So we need to be sensitive to that.
If there's anybody who may be going through, any type of
struggles, it's very hard to go through a divorce process, even
14 biblical reasons, without committing sin, in the process.
So, we just need to be extremely careful if we're in that
situation. I don't presume to know the
depth of hurt anger or the sense of betrayal and all the other
emotions that go with divorce. I don't presume to know Any of
that? But I don't do no as we
mentioned before that there is an adversary who wants to take
those emotions and turn them into malicious speech, and a
deep bitterness that will eat at one soul.
So we need to guard against those Temptations.
It's hard to do that, actually. It's impossible to do without
Jesus. but Jesus is with us, the one who has betrayed death Who
was betrayed to his death. Is with us every step of the
way. So, he knows how we feel and he
wants to help. Divorce, like we said, is often
simple in many ways that brings us to our third truth that we
find and that is that God regulates divorce.
So one is divorce non sinful, one does God allow it?
As a result of sin in this world in the hardness of our hearts
Jesus teaches that God regulates divorce.
This means that although divorce was not part of God's design.
For marriage has like, we find in Deuteronomy 24, which is
referenced again in Matthew 19 and in 1st Corinthians 7, it
makes it clear that the Bible acknowledges the reality of
divorce itself. These passages God gives us
certain in these passages. God gives us certain regulations
concerning divorce. These are regulations and not
suggestions. So we need to understand that
this is not giving us. This is not God, giving us
truths that are open to be added or to be taken away from by
congregation by a teacher by an evangelist by councillor, by a
lawyer, or anybody else living here.
In this 21st century, this is God's design.
God doesn't give suggestions to be considered.
He gives us Commandments to be obeyed for our good.
In his word God gives us two potential biblical reasons.
That one may go through the through the divorce process.
One is here in Matthew 19. The other is in 1st Corinthians
7. So here in Matthew 19.
We have a conversation that Jesus having with the Pharisees
who were trying to trap Jesus. Using a quote from the Old
Testament in Deuteronomy 24. There were, there was different
schools of thought in the first century Judaism about what might
be allowed for divorce, one school of thought, believe that
a man could divorce his wife, she had committed any type of
immodest Behavior or sexual immorality and the other school
of thought which was more dominant and more prevalent was
saying that divorce was Small. Whenever a wife did anything
displeasing to her husband? So they thought that they
thought that if I just didn't like something that Lizzie did
whether it was biblical, you know, a sin or not.
If I just didn't like that, she didn't do whatever it may be the
Jews, Judaism thought that they could divorce on those grounds
and that was not right. So that led to men basically
divorcing their rise for wise for any reason that they could
find. And I think this is what the
deficiencies were thinking. When they said to Jesus, I saved
and Jesus says to them, I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
except for sexual immorality and marries another commits
adultery. So in Matthew 19, Jesus puts one
puts one. Reason for divorce on the table
and that is adultery which we find in Matthew 19.
There's some debate on what that means, because the word for
sexual immorality. That Jesus uses here, it's the
Greek word porneia, which is a word that refers to all kinds of
sexual sin that we can find in the Bible.
But in the context of the passage, where Jesus has
referred to this one flesh, a union of marriage, the picture
seems to be of the spouse. Who violates that one flesh
Union. It's a very serious violation,
not only gets the spouse but against God, You know, adultery.
In defiance of God places. Another person within that Union
of one man and one woman adultery demeans shames and
abandons, a husband or wife for selfish gain such sexual
immorality. In Morality Jesus says, is
extremely serious and is grounds for divorce.
Now, Adultery was punishable by stoning in the Old Testament and
we see stern warnings throughout the New Testament and scriptures
against adultery. And I want to take a second here
in a couple minutes and and and talk to anybody who may have
somehow flirted with adultery thought about adultery or
stepped an inch towards adultery or may be on the verge of
adultery right now. And yes, that includes viewing
pornography, we need to understand the danger that we
are in. If a adultery is anywhere near
you right now even in the recesses of her mind.
And that ways that you've tried to cover up.
We're going to look at Proverbs chapter 7 and this describes a
man that was wandering and after a woman who was not his wife, it
says beginning in verse 21 of Proverbs.
It says, with her enticing speech, she caused him to yield
with her flattering lips. She seduced him immediately.
He went after her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to
the correction of the Socks till an arrow struck his liver as a
bird, hastens to the snare. He did not know it would cost
his life. Now, therefore, listen to me, my
children, pay attention to the words of my mouth, do not let
your heart. Turn aside to her ways, do not
stray into her paths. For she has cast down many
wounded and all who were slain by her were strong men.
Her house is the way to Hell, descending to the chambers of
death. Word of God is extremely clear
and if you're flirting with adultery in any way, whatever
that may look like run from it, get away from it.
It says here, we're like a like an ox going to the slaughter.
We're going to our own death. Also Proverbs verse our 6:32
States, whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks
understanding, he does. So he who does so destroys his
own soul, We don't sometimes realize how dumb we can be
sometimes when were flirting with sin.
It is a dumb move or walking to our death and were convincing
ourselves. Sometimes that's good.
We need to run from it, we don't rationalize it, we run, we don't
flirt with it, we flee back in Matthew 19.
We need to notice that Jesus does not say when adultery
occurs that divorce is certain or required.
Instead Jesus says, divorce is permit a bubble in this
situation, the Pharisees were searching for circumstances in
which it would be possible for them to divorce.
Jesus is saying in his response that we're not looking for
reasons to to divorce, we're longing for reconciliation to
occur. The goal here is not to look at
the letter of law for a loophole to allow divorce.
We can't do that. That's not how we should look at
the word of God. We don't look for loopholes
Jesus and God hates divorce. So we should do.
All we can to keep the union of marriage together, whatever we
can do now. Notice the teaching in Matthew
19 comes right on the heels of the, parable of the unforgiving
servant in Matthew 18, where Jesus taught his disciples to
pray, give extravagantly. So, I think the implication is
clear. We need to all work together.
Toward reconciliation. We need to pray towards
Redemption and restoration, not because it's easy in any manner.
But because that is what God and Jesus want us to do.
They want us to reconcile and do everything we can to save
marriages. It's not to shame anyone or to
make anyone feel guilty who divorces after adultery.
That's not the point of the lesson.
Jesus clear clearly here makes that regulation and he said the
same thing in Matthew 5. So divorce is possible after you
adultery, but it is not inevitable.
Not in any means we can say, you know, we can we can say how can
a marriage survived after adultery has been committed.
Well, he answers the gospel to Jesus.
He tells us to forgive, you know, that is, of course, if
the, the innocent party is willing to forgive and, or
actually they're more commands, forgive regardless.
But if the willing or the innocent party is willing to
continue the marriage, they are permitted to do so.
But they are also permitted to go through the divorce if they
want to as well. So, We can only reconcile, our
marriages through the power of Jesus, with his forgiveness and
his care. Even when we are hurt, this is
what Christ did for us on the cross.
He did that for us. You know, if you think about it,
we have committed adultery against Jesus by our sins.
That's what our sins are. So, we need to be understanding
that Jesus has forgiven us for so many things.
I want to be careful here. There's so many different
circumstances and so many different scenarios that I don't
claim to even touch, because there's so many different things
that we can look at their circumstances, when one spouse
May commit adultery once and realize their sin before God,
and their spouse confess their sin and hate it, and turn from
it. And there's also those who you
know, perpetually, commit adultery or perpetually, Against
their wives or sorry just because they got caught, you
know, that's not that's not turning from sin.
So we need to be careful not to speak definitively where Jesus
has not spoken definitively. When it comes to adultery
divorce as possible, but it is not inevitable.
Even though we're in Matthew 19, I want to consider another
potential reason for divorce and that is in 1st Corinthians
chapter 7. Before I go any further, I want
to clarify a couple things. First Corinthians 7 is not a
patches that we can use for grounds for divorce.
The only grounds for divorce is adultery in the passage in 1st
Corinthians. 7, says dealing with a believing spouse in an
unbelieving spouse just because you have an unbelieving spouse
is not mean that is grounds for divorce.
So we need to understand There's no adultery present, the only
biblical grounds that we have four divorces.
What was described in Matthew 19?
And this passage in 1st Corinthians 7 is staying that if
one of the spouses are is an unbeliever in chooses to leave
the believing spouse. The believing spouse is free
from the bondage of that marriage.
We cannot divorce based on the fact that a spouse is an
unbeliever that is why it is so important for all those who have
not been married or in the process of being married to make
sure that everybody is on the same page with their commitment
to Jesus. I was reading some, some facts
and some statistics on on the rate of divorce between those
who are unbelievers. Those who are one spouse, maybe
believer, the others not a Believer or they're both, not
believers. The the rate for those who both
believe in are committed to Jesus was about 30 to 40
percent. Lower than those who may have
been one a believer in the other not a believer.
So Jesus creates the, the marriage Union, and he
strengthens it. it says in verse First Corinthians, Chapter 7
verses 12 through 14. It says there have any brother
has a wife. Who does not believe in.
She is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.
And a woman who has a husband, who does not believe, if he is
willing to live with her, let her not divorce him for the
unbelieving, husband is Sanctified by the wife and the
unbelieving wife is Sanctified by the husband.
Otherwise, your children would be unclean but now they are
holy, we don't have time to dive into all these passages, but the
bottom line, Line is that the believing spouse should not
initiate divorce if they are with an unbelieving spouse but
they should stay married working and praying and loving toward
that unbelieving spouse has salvation.
But if we look at in verse 15 here but if the unbeliever
departs, let him depart a brother or sister is not under
bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.
In other words, if an unbelieving spouse chooses to
abandon a believing spouse, despite that believing spouses
love for them then divorce is possible in that situation.
In other words, don't initiate that kind of divorce.
But if the, if it is forced upon you by abandonment from the
unbelieving spouse, God says, let him depart again, that is
what the word of God says here in the Bible.
We have two biblical reasons, we're divorced, may occur, and
that is adultery and abandonment.
Any divorce outside of these reasons.
Taught by God's word leads to adultery and remarriage.
So we need to be careful on that too, and we're not going to get
into the remarriage topic this morning that is for another
time. So practically speaking, that
means that the non adulterous spouse in the first exception
for divorce can remarry according to these passages, but
outside of this, a man or room woman is not free to remarry,
such remarriage would be adultery itself.
Now, before I move on any further, I want to address one
other thing that's not mentioned here, specifically, but we need
to talk about and that is abuse in marriage.
No spouse or child should be in a home with somebody who
jeopardizes their safety. We as a congregation.
If there's somebody who may be going through that situation
right now, please seek somebody out whether it be a brother or
sister here or whether it needs to be the Civil Authorities.
Please do so. We must as all of us.
Take abuse extremely seriously. We must we must Go and help each
other that. I mean we touched on it at the
beginning of this sermon year, we need to help those who are in
need. Without going into further
depth, you know, when a spouse continues in abuse, it becomes
clear that that spouse is not actually a follower of Jesus and
that begins to kind of show a picture of Abandonment that we
see in First Corinthians 7. So God.
Creates marriage. God hates divorce, and God
regulates divorce. So, I realized that this subject
could bring old and new wounds to the surface.
And I realize the these are even hard work hard words to hear in
the Bible, but but we see why God addresses divorce in this
manner. The reason why God is so serious
in his word about marriage competent us with each other.
It is because God is so serious about his marriage covenant with
us and with his church. That's the seriousness of it.
Particularly if we, if anybody has gone through these
difficulties in marriage for or variety of reasons, know that as
a follower of Christ or a towards a part of the body of
Christ men and women, we are his bride, his body and that is the
church, whether you were the offended spouse or even the
offending spouse. If you have sinned, there's
still hope in Jesus. We need to be reminded to that.
Jesus is always forgiving and faithful to us.
Even if the marriage covenant are in your life has been broken
in the past because of sin or spouse's in no.
Also know this that the ultimate marriage covenant is still
firmly intact and that is the marriage that Jesus has with his
church. Jesus will never commit adultery
against any of us, he will never abandon any of us.
No matter what happens in this world.
He will never abandon us as a follower of Jesus.
The reality is, you me and us his church.
We can count on his love forever and that is another great
picture of the Gospel of Jesus. So what does that mean for our
lives? Knowing that there are all kinds
of different circumstances. I just want to start to wrap
things up with a few things that we that we see in God's word.
If you are single a brother or sister, if you were, single
maximize your singleness in the advancement of the Gospel.
It's interesting that in both Matthew 19 and First Corinthians
7, we see both Jesus. And Paul commending, singleness
for the spread of the gospel for the spread of the Kingdom.
Jesus says in verses 11 and 12 here that singleness for the
sake of the kingdom is a good thing.
It's not that marriage is bad, but marriage is not best for all
people, just not the case. Sometimes Jesus wants the most
out of you, no matter what, no matter what situation in Jesus
wants your maximum Jesus wasn't married either and he was the
greatest man that ever lived. He was never married from.
We can we can read the bios of never married.
So if you're single the takeaway from Matthew 19, is that, as
long as you are, single maximize your work for the kingdom of
God, if you are married, love your spouse in a way that
portrays the gospel, let the word of God drive.
You your husband or wife, love your spouse better today than
you ever have in the past this week, do it.
This is the word of God. Love our wives to us, husbands
with sacrificial love. Also, we need to take
responsibility for the glory of Christ in our marriages.
You know, wives respect your husband's and and and honor
Christ through gracious support of his leadership in ways that
shows the world a picture of the Gospel.
There's also marriages that, you know, there may not be adultery
or abandonment in, but there's also some pretty strong
disappointment in marriages. Whether it be from neglect or
disappointment, or the spouse is not taken care of properly.
Well, there's loneliness, we could probably fill in the blank
for whatever description we want to give. and some people get
discouraged, I think there's no way that this is God's design
for us and it's not that's, you know, There is a better design
and God gives it to us in his word.
So if we have are having issues in our marriage, the answer is
right here for us. It's, it's really clear.
So we want to as Christians. We want to be Christians that
help each other. Love our spouses and way that
portrays the gospel. If we ever find ourselves
considering divorce, remember the power of Jesus is Love.
Jesus can heal all things. If we ever start to consider it,
we need to ask ourselves first. Do we have biblical grounds?
if we don't, then we need to urge ourselves to consider how
in the context of your marriage and with the help of brothers
sisters and with the word of God, that that conflict can be
reserved or resolved. Then if there is biblical
grounds for divorce, we still need to consider the
preciousness and power of the Gospel with a view towards
reconciliation in marriage, and if that's possible, and it's
only possible with the power of the Gospel, but the gospel can
even change the hardest of hearts and restore the redeemed.
And even the most difficult circumstances and difficult
marriages. if you're divorced for a Biblical reason, and
single maximize your work for God in your single singleness.
If you were the non adulterous spouse in the first we talked
about in Matthew 19, or the believing spouse.
And the second upset, what we read about in First Corinthians
7, then let God's word encourage you to rest in the singleness.
God has given you at this time in your life if you were
divorced for an unbiblical reason and single You need to
get right with God. He's repent of your sins and
confess them to God. And then work to glorify God
while you are single. Again, there are so many
different circumstances that we cannot begin to touch on.
And I don't, like I said before, I don't claim to understand the
full depths of everything, but I wanted to present these this
morning to to you. And and also to parents, this is
why it's so important to teach our children about the good news
of the gospel and also the flip side of it to the Eternal nice
that we can have for the consequences of our sin.
We need to be teaching in our children about how to prepare
for the future of their life and how to serve God, you know, we
blink and before we know it, We have a 17 year old.
You know our kids are growing so quickly that as parents have to
be intentional on everything that we say.
And everything that we do, we only get one shot.
And it's in a world that is so saturated with unscriptural,
marriages and such a high rate of divorce.
We need to ground our kids in the truth of the Bible and the
plan that God has for them in marriage.
We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the
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