God would he fill me and use me or to feed the people of God with mana from on high?
Christ is the true bread
Or let us see him
Father would you help us to understand your intention behind the sacred word this morning?
Father where there needs to be conviction or do we know that your spirit will do that?
Where there needs to be correction may your spirit do that
And where there's needed comfort may your spirit do that
Lord we need you this morning
Help us father to grow in our most holy faith. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen
About a hundred years ago theologian Andrew Murray some of you probably have some of his books
He wrote the following words
He said one of the words of scripture which is almost going out of fashion is the word covenant
There was a time when it was the keynote of the theology in the Christian life of strong and holy men
It made mighty men to whom God and his promise and power were wonderfully real
It will be found still to bring strength and purpose to those who will take the trouble to bring all their life under control
Of the inspiring assurance that they are living in covenant with a God who has sworn faithfully to fulfill in them every promise
He has given
When we talk about a covenant we need to understand what is a covenant biblically speaking
It is a solemn and binding relationship between two or more parties and it's meant to last a lifetime
We find many covenants in the scriptures we can go back we see the Abrahamic covenant the Noahic covenant the Davidic covenant
We see in the New Testament the new covenant but we also find in the pages of holy scripture that marriage is a covenant
It is a covenant between a husband a wife and the eternal living God
Now today the idea of marriage has actually changed at least in the western world particularly in our country
We no longer where I say society no longer looks at marriage as a covenant but rather as a social contract
They believe since it's a contract it can be broken by either party when they breach the terms of the contract
In other words here's what most people think we'll stay married as long as it's working for both of us
But if not if either one of us violate the terms we set up well we can end it and they do
And then they go into another marriage with the same mindset
But that is not at all the way scriptures view Christian marriage
Marriage according to scripture is a holy solemn covenant
It is a binding promise between a couple and God
In the Old Testament when you find two people entering into covenant with one another oftentimes you had a goat or a lamb that would be slain
And what they would do they would cut that animal in half and they would lay half the carcass here and half the carcass on the other side
So with the two halves of the animal lying there the people who formed the covenant they would walk through the slain animals
And here's what they would say may God do so to me cut me in half kill me if I break this covenant with you or with God
It's very serious there's a pictorial representation of what a covenant is meant to do last until death parts us
Now obviously today we're not cutting animals in half and we're not walking between parts
But the Christian couple they stand before a gathered group of witnesses and they make solemn vows to keep until death parts them
Traditional vows vows that I normally would say if I'm officiating a ceremony you would say something you would say more than this
But you'd say something akin to this to have and to hold from this day forward better for better for worse for richer for poor
In sickness and in health to love and to cherish until death do us part this is my solemn pledge before God
Upon taking those vows and then later consummating the covenant and sexual union
God then says a true binding covenant has been formed before him and it's not to be broken except by death
God does not allow us the freedom to break the covenant simply because we become disappointed or disillusioned where our suffering seems more than we can bear in marriage
God does not allow us the freedom regardless of the disappointment the disillusionment or the suffering that you think is more than you can bear
Remember the vows you took before him for better or for worse
Those vows are meant to be lived out
So it's a solemn oath before God you're going to honor each other you're going to esteem each other you're going to care for each other until death takes one of you
Now for the past several weeks or past several months we've been going through Matthew but for the past several weeks we've been going through the Sermon on the Mount
In the sermon the Lord Jesus is giving principles that govern or regulate life in the kingdom of God
In this sermon our Lord is showing how kingdom citizens how born again people ought to conduct themselves
And today we're going to see how they ought to conduct themselves in marriage
I'm talking to the people who are citizens in the kingdom of God
Now this is not a set of rules to be legalistically applied if you're doing that you're going to miss the point
Yes there are rules but it's not just about a strict interpretation although we want to get there
Our Lord uses very very strong language throughout the sermon and today's no exception you can read it yourself
And we're going to see him protect and defend both the sanctity and blessing of marriage
So right now we can see today in our culture and I always speak of the western world
There is no doubt a concentrated attack on the family
In particular on marriage in our own country marriage has come under tremendous attack and tremendous suffering
We've suffered a lot of losses there's rampant divorce rampant divorce tremendous sexual promiscuity
Cohabitation before marriage has become the norm and then of course our government says that homosexual unions now marriages are legitimate
And all those go against God's design for the home and the family
What was once considered normative and traditional in the western world no longer is
What I'm spousing today would be very much out of sync with our culture I would be the one not normative today
Several years ago the Barna poll they did a poll and they did different Christian denominations with the highest divorce rates
And the group with the highest divorce rates are actually Baptist
Only surpassed by those who say they are non-denominational which are just Baptist without a name is what they are
So marriage it's instituted by God it's created by God therefore he determines what is and what is not acceptable
He alone has the sovereign right to do that he created it he regulates it
Now what was the original intention that God had when he created man and woman in marriage
One man one woman in a sexual union that would be pure before marriage faithful after marriage and it would last until death parted one of them
That's it now I want to give some preliminary thoughts as we start to exegete the text
First of all God instituted marriage secondly God hates divorce he did then he does now
Thirdly divorce is never commanded yet it is sometimes allowed
Fourthly it is never a good option and yet is sometimes the only one
Now even during the time that our Lord was on the earth marriage was a hot button issue it has always been a hot button issue
She had the rabbis they were divided on what were acceptable grounds for divorce or not
Now you have to keep in mind at that time there was a very low view of women
Now that low view of women did not come from the scriptures
Instead at that time they perceived women as lower on the human level than a man
They considered her an object they did not look at her as a person and at that time she held no legal rights
The husband held all the power and thus he could do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted with her
Now by the time we come to the New Testament divorce had already become easy and common
By the way only men could initiate a divorce women were forbidden from doing so
A man could initiate anytime he wanted and a woman never had the right to do so at all
William Barclay in his commentary he says the woman in the eyes of the law was a thing
She was at the absolute disposal of her father or husband
She had virtually no legal rights at all
To all intents and purposes a woman could not divorce her husband for any reason and a man could divorce his wife for any cause at all
Now you have to keep in mind Judaism had been influenced by two prominent rabbis
Two prominent Pharisees Rabbi Chalel and Rabbi Shemai
Now both of those there's a lot of writings and you can go back extra biblical sources they wrote a lot
But both of these men held opposing views
They were both very influential they started rabbinical schools that were very influential
The interesting thing is they were friends but they were at odds with each other
Rabbi Chalel his views represented the liberal faction
Rabbi Shemai his views represented a more conservative faction
So the Talmud when we go back it records hundreds upon hundreds of disagreements between these two rabbinical schools
Especially concerning marriage and divorce
So do you know when the Pharisees they want to trip Jesus up
They go to him and they pose a question about marriage to see which side is he going to agree with
Is it going to be on Rabbi Chalel or Rabbi Shemai
Well Chalel allowed for divorce for almost any reason whatsoever any situation
Listen a man could divorce his wife for such trivial things as burning his meal
He could divorce her if he did not any longer find her attractive
If she would embarrass him in public or he deemed her to be too quarrelsome
He could just divorce her
Now what was even worse was at the time the line of reasoning had been upheld and promoted by leading religious officials
Remember that Rabbi Chalel was a Pharisee
He had influence. Now do you know the Pharisees they were the gatekeepers of purity
They believed and prided themselves on how well they kept the law of Moses
They did not see themselves as idolaters
They did not see themselves as any murderers which we looked at a few weeks ago
They certainly did not see themselves as adulterers
And here comes the Lord Jesus an obscure itinerant preacher out of Nazareth
And he's going to show these religious bigwigs if you will
That yes indeed you are guilty of adultery
How? Through divorcing your wives and remarrying
He last week talked about the lust remember the lust that was already in the heart
If you look at a woman with lust in your heart you've already committed adultery in your heart
He's exposing their hypocrisy
John MacArthur said that Jesus indicts the Pharisees for adultery because they were committing it by putting away their wives
The ease of divorce made it possible to avoid open adultery
Only little paperwork was required to legalize their lust
Jesus said that every time a man without a proper cause turned his wife loose to remarry he forced her into adultery
Which by the way made him guilty also
By divorcing his wife on grounds other than adultery a husband makes his innocent former wife commit adultery if she remarries
And it was assumed that she would
Now how in the world did they get to this place?
They had the law
Well you know the Pharisees they loved the law so they looked to the law of Moses to support their view
They went back to Deuteronomy chapter 24 as a legal justification for their actions
Well what did Deuteronomy 24 say? Let's read it
When a man takes his wife and marries her and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness remember that word in her
And he writes her certificate of divorce he puts it in her hand and he sends her out of his house
When she is departed from his house and goes and becomes another man's wife
If the latter that is the first husband or if the second husband detests her and he writes her certificate of divorce and he puts it in her hand and sends her out of the house
Or if the second husband the latter husband dies who took her as his wife
Then the former husband that's the first one who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled
For that is an abomination before the Lord and you should not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance
So here's a picture you have a guy he gets upset with his wife he divorces her he gives her a bill of divorcement she leaves she goes out of the house she marries a second man
He either dies or he divorces her the first husband if he says man I made a huge mistake he doesn't get her back
It's an impossibility
Now the debate among the rabbis was what constituted uncleanness as the grounds for divorce because look at the verse 1
Now some rabbis understood this uncleanness they said it included every type of improper shameful or indecent behavior unbecoming a woman even up to embarrassing him
Okay so they were using this word uncleanness to refer to any cause of dislike any cause that seemed good to him
Hey she burnt my toast she's out and you think I'm serious you think I'm joking that was literally one of the grounds that was written in the halal view
Now we do know that uncleanness has to mean something and I'm going to be honest today we don't know exactly what it means but we do know what it does not mean
It does not mean adultery it can't mean why because the law had already prescribed if adultery took place what should happen to both the man and the woman
You get stoned to death right?
Lloyd Jones says that well Martin Lloyd Jones in his commentary the word adultery is not mentioned in the matter of divorce for good reason
Under the law of Moses the punishment for adultery was death so there's no need to mention it
So the whole object of the mosaic legislation in this matter was to control divorce
In those days remember men had a very low poor view of women
They had come to believe that they had a right to divorce their wives for almost any and every kind of frivolous and unworthy reason
The mosaic legislation that is the law therefore it was introduced to regularize and control a situation that was way out of hand and become chaotic
And it was grossly unfair to the women and which in addition led to untold and endless suffering on the part of both the women and the children
Men were the only ones who were benefiting from this
So before the time of Moses before regulation came all the husband had to do was simply verbally say I want a divorce and they were divorced
That was it
It just didn't matter but what would happen to that woman then she could not ever say that regardless of how tough her situation was
Now keep in mind she couldn't work
Marriage was the only way that she could survive economically
If she did not have a certificate of divorce or a way of showing she was divorced and her husband put her out verbally
No other man is going to marry her because he thinks she's still married
So what's going to happen she is going to be forced to a life of begging she and her children
There's no place for her to earn a living on her own
So do you see how grossly unfair this situation is
You see how un-toward it is toward women
God cared about that so the law of Moses was given now listen carefully as a concession not a command as a way to protect women and children
Deuteronomy 24 accomplished two things
One it protected women and that the husband had to give her a written bill of divorce which then gave her a right to remarry she could prove it
Secondly it made the man slow down and think before he divorced her because once he divorced her and she became someone else's wife
If he said oh man I made a mistake I'd like to have her back
It can't happen it was an impossibility
It didn't matter even if that second husband had died it did not matter
So we see it made him slow down so this was trying to protect women and children here
Now let me say very clearly Moses never sanctioned divorce
He only regulated how it was to be done
Life long faithfulness to your spouse is and was always the goal
But under the law Moses said if you did write up a bill of divorce two witnesses had to be present and they had to sign it
And later on those two witnesses could be called on to testify to the validity of a divorce that indeed had taken place
So there's a lot of things going on here
But let me say this this bill of divorcement the certificate of divorce never made the divorce right
It only said a divorce took place
It was kind of like a receipt so you go and buy something the receipt doesn't say you made a good purchase or a bad purchase it simply says you made a purchase
The bill of divorce doesn't say whether divorce is acceptable or whether it's not acceptable it simply said a divorce took place
It gave proof and thus the woman who her only way of survival was to be married could marry someone else
Now God's intention was never to divorce but the time you get to Deuteronomy 24 these divorces were very common
They're very common because in Egypt they're very common Egypt had a low view of marriage where had Israel been for 400 years
In Egypt a lot of the culture influenced them so all these divorces were taking place
Moses is upset about it and so he steps in and he gave rules to regulate the practice
Again I have to say it is not a command at all it is a concession on the part of Moses
But I hope you're following we fast forward to the time of Jesus now
And the Pharisees looking back at Deuteronomy 24 seeing the word uncleanness and they say that gave them the permission to divorce and remarry with impunity
They could do it for any frivolous reason
And the Lord Jesus is going to radically alter the way that marriage is viewed
Now Matthew 5 does not give all the answers there's other explicit passages that talk about marriage and divorce
Matthew 19, 1st Corinthians 7, Ephesians 5 but I want to look at Matthew 19 for just a moment
Now notice the text here there's a group coming to Jesus who are they? The Pharisees same people
They came to Jesus testing him they don't like him they want to get him in trouble
So what are they going to do? What's a hot button issue that we get you in trouble with?
It's kind of like politicians don't like to be cornered into something so that's what people try to do
Well these people were experts like let's get Jesus let's catch him in his words ah let's talk to him about marriage
Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?
On its surface let me just say that's a pretty dumb question I would think the answer ought to be no for just any reason
But notice Jesus what he does he answered and said to them have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female?
He said for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife the two shall become one flesh
So then they are no longer two but one flesh now this is the part that I think we're missing today
Look at the end of verse 6 therefore what God has joined together let not man separate
Who forms the covenant? God
They said to him well if that's the case why did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and put her away?
Wrong poor logic there he said to them Moses because your hearts were hard he did permit you to divorce your wives
But from the beginning it was not so and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality
Pornaya and marries another commits adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery
And his disciples the people who are with him they couldn't believe what they're hearing they're saying if such is the case of the man with his wife
Isn't should we even get married is it better not to marry?
Now let's look at this quickly in verse 3 the Pharisees were teaching that it was you could divorce your wife for just about any cause
Now why were they thinking about that? Rabbi Chalel remember the liberal view
So they're wanting to trap Jesus they're like hey Jesus do you agree with Chalel or Shema?
They wanted to see what his interpretation was but I love the Lord he's never caught he's never trapped
He did not answer their question instead he posed a question to them
He said oh you want to ask questions let me ask you this one have you not read Genesis?
Go back and see that God made them male and female he brought them together made them one flesh and that one flesh union is not to be broken
He takes them back to the beginning back to the original intention in the Garden of Eden where marriage was first instituted
Well what is God's intention? They become one flesh and it doesn't get broken
In other words God never intended divorce God joined that couple in a covenant
Verse 5 he said there be joined it's the word cleave it's the word to be glued together to adhere to one another
So marriage if we look at an illustration it's much like an epoxy or glue that cements two people into one new creation
But verse 6 what God has joined together
Friend this is the serious part God is the one who unites the couple and this is what makes divorce so terrible
Because it literally rips apart the two people who are never meant to be separated except by death
I have talked and counseled to many many people have gone through divorce and I've had so many people say I don't wish them to be dead
I don't wish them to be dead but it would have been easier for me had my spouse died than to have experienced this pain of divorce
I would have done better had that happened because divorce destroys a union that God made and never desired to be broken
Well look at verse 7 the Pharisees they go back they said if what you're saying is true Jesus and God didn't intend divorce
Then tell me why Moses the great lawgiver he commanded to give a certificate of divorce
First of all I would want to just jump out of my skin here Moses never commanded it
What he did command was not the divorce but he simply said if you are going to divorce you can't do it verbally
You've got to do it through the proper channels you've got to get a writing and it's got to be certified by two people
What was Moses doing? Regulating the practice to protect the woman who is vulnerable
Jesus comes back look at his rebuttal verse 8
He said you want to talk about Moses and his permission? Because your heart because of the hardness of your hearts
He allowed he permitted this but I love what he said in verse 8
But from the very beginning that was not the case
What was really the cause of divorce? Hard hearted individuals
The hearts of these men had grown hard toward their wives and they were unjustly divorcing them and Moses then said okay
I'm going to regulate it, but I'm not commanding it
But you have to follow the proper channels and again this problem had become so widespread
And in Jesus day once more we see these religious leaders these Pharisees missing the whole point of the law
People including themselves were divorcing their wives at that time for frivolous reasons
It would put the wife in a very dangerous and vulnerable place if there were no certificate
But the Pharisees the pure people right they had so corrupted God's law
They were teaching that it could take that divorce could take place for any trivial reason whatsoever
And Jesus was upset they were misusing and abusing the holy law of God
They were religious hypocrites and by the way they had missed the meaning of marriage entirely
Marriage is the building block of civilization
Friends it is absolutely crucial and important it's no wonder why God is so passionate about the sanctity of marriage
It's the stability of the home it's the stability for children
The marriage covenant is a single most important human bond
And you have these religious officials these so-called holiness experts blind and oblivious to God's true intention
Now some of you are jumping ahead you're like but verse 9 does say there's an exception pastor let's read it quickly
I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual morality and marries another commits adultery
And whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery
Sexual morality is not the word for adultery there's a specific word for adultery it's this is the word pornea
From which we get the word pornography and it means any type of morality could be adultery could be homosexuality
Bestiality promiscuity incest prostitution you name it it's a blanket term
Jesus is not saying though immorality must lead to divorce
He said it may if you have one party who's gone outside the marriage and they had sexual relations with another person
They broke their covenant because their vow before God says I will keep these vows
Now I personally pastorally try I believe that restoration and forgiveness always should be the goal
But what do you do if the other person will not repent they continue in that adulterous behavior
I do believe the innocent party is allowed at that point to be divorced
Martin Lloyd Jones in his commentary and I wish I want to speak for hours on this and I won't don't get scared I'm not
Nothing he says is a cause for divorce say fornication
It does not matter how difficult it may be it does not matter what the stress or the strain or whatever can be said about the incompatibility of temperament
By the way that's today right what is most people's divorce irreconcilable differences
No nothing is to dissolve the indissoluble bond save this one thing
The person who is guilty of adultery has broken the bond and became united to another
The link has gone the one flesh no longer obtains therefore divorce is legitimate
Let me emphasize again he says it's not a commandment but it is a ground for divorce
And a man who finds himself in that position is entitled to divorce his wife and the wife is entitled to divorce her husband
Verse 9 this is but we have to be careful here he said any other reason than sexual immorality and then you remarry
You're now in an adulterous relationship if a man marries a woman who is divorced for any other reason than sexual immorality he's committing adultery with that new bride
How do they commit adultery because the original couple remains married in the sight of God
If God does not accept the divorce as valid remarry as adulterous
I said this way the state of Ohio may grant a divorce that does not mean that the court of heaven and God does
People all the time get divorced in the eyes of the government but God is not forced by the government to recognize that
Why how do you how am I saying that the state did not join that couple together God did
Therefore only he has the right to decide when and if that union can be dissolved
Serious it's very serious we need to listen carefully to the words of our Lord concerning marriage
Friends we have such a low view of marriage serial divorce and remarriage
We must as a church as citizens in the kingdom of God return to a high view of marriage
We must as citizens in the kingdom of God return to a high view of God's design for marriage
We must his disciples got it they said if that's the case Jesus if it's that strict
Isn't it better not to marry Jesus to go on talk about the gift of celibacy but they got it they understood
I mean if you're saying it's permanent am I taking a big risk on doing this
Jesus is painting a very serious picture of marriage as a covenant in the marriage ceremony I say these words at the very beginning
Marriage is not to be entered into unadvised Lee or lightly but reverently deliberately and in accordance with the purposes for which God instituted
Don't get married rashly folks in the kingdom of God divorce is to be shunned entirely
But some people are divorced against their will and again I can't talk about all the exceptions
But I do I would be remiss if I didn't say this and we're getting very close I have counseled numerous people who are forced into a divorce
They did not want they did not seek and they did not cause okay I've counseled many many like this these folks in the church don't need our judgment
They need our compassion they didn't want it they hated as much as you and I in a fallen world that we live in divorce is sometimes unavoidable
It is always tragic God still hates it and is designed to still a monogamous lifelong marriage
But what makes divorce so tragic is that it destroys the family and that's a basic building block of society
But can I say one more thing what's even more tragic is what it says about Christ you and I have been created an image of God so our lives tell a story about God
Christians I'm talking about just think Kingdom citizens here we have been redeemed and our lives are to reflect our Redeemer
We are image bearers of the one true living God so when Christians divorce and remarry we are telling the story whether we want to or not
That Jesus has more than one wife and that is heresy you're like what you're imaging him your life is reflecting tell a story
The Lord Jesus has only one bride the church for whom he gave his life and he doesn't abandon his bride because he finds one more attractive or when she's behaving in a dishonorable way
The Lord Jesus the living God is always faithful to his covenant and you and I are called to be faithful to ours regardless of how difficult it may be
I've quoted him too much but I'll do it one more time Lloyd Jones because he's good
But on the basis of the gospel and in the interest of truth I am compelled to say this even adultery is not the unforgivable sin it is a terrible sin
But God forbid that there should be anyone who feels that he or she has sinned himself or herself outside the love of God or outside his kingdom because of adultery
God forbid you to think that way no if you truly repent and you realize the enormity of your sin and you cast yourself upon the boundless love and mercy and grace of God you can be forgiven
And I assure you a pardon he says but hear the words of our Lord go and sin no more
Go and sin no more now having seen how serious God takes marriage what should you and I do?
What do we do as a people as a church as citizens of God's kingdom we repent let us repent
We confess our sin that means we agree with God about it and we turn from it and where else do we turn?
To the all merciful living God we cast ourselves upon him and his mercy
We bring forth though the fruit of repentance what's that mean?
We're going to deal seriously with our lusts we're going to deal seriously with our dissatisfaction we're going to deal seriously with our rebellion against God that would lead us to divorce
You're saying pastor it's too late for me it's not you cannot go back and undo what has already been done I understand that
If you're in a second marriage don't divorce your second wife and go back to the first don't that's not a biblical and that's not the point
But from this point forward you must ask God to cleanse you purify you and help you to be faithful to the promise you have made
So what do we do? We feel guilty let us go to the table of the Lord and celebrate God's covenantal faithfulness
He's the only truly faithful one and we celebrate his covenant promise to forgive us through the death and resurrection of his son
Our grounds of assurance our grounds of salvation is in the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ it's not in how well you did in marriage
So we celebrate that today but I implore you as the cup we ministered and the bread will be given spend that time asking God if you're married protect your marriage
If you need to ask your wife or husband for forgiveness do it now if you need to repent before the Lord do so
He is a God who loves to pardon we have a faithful high priest who will represent you
Come today come to the table the Lord if you don't know Christ you must come to him there is no salvation there is no savior
You must repent of your sins and come to the only one who can save you and his name is Jesus and he is a savior for all people
If you will simply humble yourself and believe in him you trust in him he will receive you today let us pray
Father help us Lord
Lord I knew the message would be a little stern I know it's hard to hear because we live in a culture of easy divorce
And Lord it's just so commonplace we become numb to it God would you forgive us have mercy upon us
Lord help us to uphold the sanctity and the blessing of marriage and Lord all of us Lord marriage is going to be difficult at times
Because there's two sinners in close proximity but Lord you give us grace you give us mercy and we thank you for that
Father help people not to be deceived into looking for greener pastures or thinking life would be easier if
Oh God give us wisdom today that Lord we look to your son he was the true one who was obedient in all ways
The one who was perfectly righteous and the only one in whom we can have hope Lord our assurance our salvation is found in him
Lord as we prepare for the table Lord prepare our hearts made through repentance confession and then also seeing the promises of God and receiving them
And we thank you for that in Jesus name Amen
Deacons if you would come to the table and go ahead and pass out the elements
If you know the Lord and you've been baptized in the name of the triune God this is the table of the Lord
But we would ask that you examine yourself if you don't know the Lord or you have never been baptized as the elements are being distributed please do not take it
This is a table for Christians and what marks a Christian out is the covenant sign of baptism
So we would ask that you hold them to the end and we take together as a body