The Question of Divorce, Part 2

Introduction and Review of Mark 10:1-9

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, December 14th, 1986, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:15 Now let us turn together to the 10th chapter of Mark's Gospel, Gospel of Mark and Chapter 10.

0:30 And I shall read this morning verses 1 through 12, even as we did last Lord's Day morning. Mark 10 and verse 1. And he arose from thence, and comes into the borders of Judea, and beyond the Jordan. And multitudes come together unto him again.

0:52 And as he was accustomed, he taught them again. And there came unto him Pharisees, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife, trying or putting him to the test? And he answered in seventh. And to them, What did Moses command you?

1:15 And they said, Moses suffered or permitted to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. But Jesus said unto them, For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of the creation, male and female made he them. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, And shall cleave his heart, and his heart shall be cleansed, and his heart shall be cleansed.

1:41 And he said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered or permitted to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. But as he was accustomed, he taught them again. And he said unto them, What did Moses command you?

1:42 And to them, What did Moses command you? And to them, What did Moses command you? And the two shall become one flesh, so that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.

2:03 And in the house the disciples asked him again of this matter. And he said unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another commits adultery against her, and if she herself shall put away her husband and marry another, she commits adultery. Now let us again pray and ask God to enable us to come to his holy word amidst the sea of such unbiblical thinking that is all about us in the world, the confusion that exists in the church, and that we may hear and understand aright the word of our Lord Jesus, the sovereign king and lawgiver in his church. Let us pray for his help.

2:57 Our Father, we thank you that we meet today not only in our common confession of sinfulness, our common confession of thankfulness for the gift of your beloved Son, our common joy of the forgiveness of sins that is ours in him, but we thank you that as a congregation we meet in the common acknowledgement that Jesus Christ alone is the supreme lawgiver in his church, and that his word is recorded in the gospel records and given to us through the apostles and through the other authors, the human also. authors of the scriptures of the Old and the New Testament, that in that word we have the deposit of the mind and will of Jesus, the supreme head of the church. We pray that he would send us copious measures of his own spirit, that we may understand aright his word, and having understood it, may run in the way of his precepts. Hear our cry and bless us in our meditation this morning. We ask in his name. Amen.

4:22 Now in our first consideration of this passage in Mark, last Lord's Day morning, we noted that the passage begins with a general introduction to this section of the gospel record. And in that general introduction given to us in verse 1, the place of this part of our Lord's ministry is what is called the place of the Lord's ministry. And in that place of the Lord's ministry is what is called Perea, a section of Palestine on the eastern side of Jordan, parallel to Samaria, an area into which our Lord went after he left the upper area of Galilee as he was making his way gradually down to Jerusalem for the final epical events in his life. The recipients of the ministry at this time were once again the indiscriminate multitudes. Parallel passage in Matthew 19, great multitudes. So while our Lord continues the ministry of retirement, that is, seasons of concentrated teaching to his disciples in preparation for the time when he will leave them, an incident of which we have at the end of this very paragraph, he nonetheless responds again to the needs of the vast multitudes, as Mark tells us,

5:45 that multitudes come together unto him again. And then the substance of his ministry at this time, Mark tells us, that he was continually teaching them. Matthew places the emphasis upon his healing ministry. So as he almost invariably did, our Lord continually met the need of shattered and broken humanity by his healing ministry. He continued to teach them to do the same thing. He continued to validate his own identity as Messiah in that healing ministry, but supremely he instructed men with reference to the great issues of the kingdom of God. And then beginning in verse 2, we have given to us the first major recorded incident of a specific nature in this Perean section of our Lord's ministry. We find the Pharisees approaching the Lord in a particular way. They were in a particular way. They were

6:45 approaching our Lord in an aggressive manner, agitating the vexing and oft-debated question of divorce. As we noted last week, these Jews would represent two schools of rabbinic thought, one the more conservative or strict, the one the more liberal or lax, the school of Shammai, the strict, and the school of Hillel, the lax view. And they seek to embroil our Lord in a discussion on this matter. And as we shall see briefly in our review, they do so with no good motive. But as we stand on the threshold of the passage again this morning, let me remind you of those two basic principles by which we passed over the threshold of general introduction into the passage itself. And those two principles are we must not treat this passage as though it comprise the whole of our Lord's teaching on the subject he addresses. And secondly, we must not treat this passage as though it comprise the supreme or the overriding teaching of our Lord on this subject. Then we proceeded to look at verses

8:11 two through nine. There was the insincere question of the Lord's teaching on the subject he addresses. And there was the question regarding divorce, verse two. The Pharisees asked the question not because they are seekers after truth, but they are seekers after the blood of the Son of God. They are determined to have him killed.

8:30 Early in Mark's gospel, we are informed of this way back in the third chapter, that they are set upon his murder. And so they are constantly trying to trap him in his words, seeking to bring one segment of the religious or political world to bring the weight of its opposition against the Lord Jesus. But then in verses two to nine, we have the devastating response of our Lord. It begins with his counter question and the answer of the Pharisees, verses three and four. Then the explanation of the root cause for the Mosaic legislation in verse five, the purpose being to drain hasty and frivolous divorces, to maintain the honor of the woman unjustly divorced, and to maintain her right to remarry. And any reading of Deuteronomy 24, 1 to 5 makes that abundantly clear. And all of this was because of the moral perversity of the Jewish nation. For your hardness of heart, Moses wrote this.

9:44 Moses wrote this commandment. Had sin never entered, there never would have been the fracturing of marriage for any cause whatsoever, let alone the horrible practice rife in the day of our Lord, in which a man could literally put away his wife if she happened to burn a roast in cooking a meal on a given occasion. And then after the explanation of the root cause for the Mosaic legislation, Moses wrote this commandment. And all of this was because of the moral perversity of the Jewish nation. For your hardness of heart, Moses wrote this commandment. Had sin never entered, there never would have been the fracturing of marriage for any cause whatsoever, let alone the horrible practice rife in the day of our Lord, in which a man could literally put away his wife if she happened to burn a roast in cooking a meal on a given occasion.

10:44 And all of this was because of the moral perversity of the Jewish nation. For your hardness of heart, Moses wrote this commandment. And do no better than to quote these three sentences of Professor Murray. Divorce is contrary to the divine institution, contrary to the nature of marriage, and contrary to the divine action by which the union is effected. It is precisely here that its wickedness becomes singularly apparent. It is the sundering by man of a union which God...

The Private Question and Answer of Jesus (Mark 10:10-12)

11:44 God has constituted. Divorce is the breaking of a seal which has been engraven by the hand of God. Well, we move on this morning to take up verses 10 through 12. Having briefly reviewed the substance of the previous exposition, and seeking, I trust, together to hold down the practical but inevitable questions, what do we do if we have fractured a marriage by divorce?

12:23 Is there forgiveness? If we have contracted a marriage after an unwarranted divorce, how does God look upon that marriage? God willing, tonight I plan to bring a topical message in which I will address those very questions. But hold them aside as best you can for the rest of our time this morning.

12:47 And consider with me the teaching found in verses 10 through 12. In verse 10 we have what I am calling the private question of the disciples, and then verses 11 and 12, the private answer of our Lord. First of all, then, the private question of the disciples. And in the house, the disciples asked Him again of this matter.

13:17 You see, the question raised by the Pharisees with an evil and devious motive is now raised by the disciples with a good motive. The word again can refer to being in the house again or to asking the question again, and exegetes differ as to which it ought to be attached. But in either case, it's plain. That when the disciples...

13:48 When the disciples are alone in the house with the Lord, they raise again the question that had been discussed at the instigation of the Pharisees. So though they raise a similar question, they do not raise the question with the motive which prompted the Pharisees to raise that question. Well, you may ask, why in the world did they raise the question? In the Pharisees.

14:19 Why in the first place? Well, if you will turn to the parallel passage in Matthew 19, I think you'll see the clue to the answer.

14:29 In Matthew 19, after our Lord has made His pronouncement to the Pharisees, including a very similar statement to the one that He repeats later on privately in the house, as we shall see it in verses 11 and 12, when our Lord goes back to the original institution of marriage, and says that that institution must regulate all of our thinking about marriage, its nature, and its permanence. And to fracture that marriage by divorce is contrary to the will of God, and in many cases, leaves people vulnerable to the sin of contracting adulterous relationships. When the Lord is done speaking in that way, notice verse 10 of Matthew 19. The disciples say unto Him, If the case of the man is so with his wife, it's expedient not to marry. In other words, it's quite evident that as in so many other areas, they had absorbed some of the current teaching of the religious leaders of that day, and apparently had low views of the causes for the dissolving of a marriage. So when our Lord takes them back to the...

15:53 The creation institution underscores the great principles that we examined last week. They say, in essence, Well, look, if to get married is to make so binding a commitment, then maybe it's better not to take the plunge at all. If taking the plunge is so irreversible, better stand on the bank and not jump in. Now you can see then why when they are alone with their Lord, they would raise the question.

16:21 Because they did not find it, altogether easy to swallow down what our Lord had said to them in the presence of the Pharisees. So they asked a private question of our Lord in the house.

16:42 And then in the second place, we have recorded in verses 11 and 12, the private answer of our Lord. Now the text clearly indicates that these words, these words were spoken in private to the disciples in the house. Now why is this so vital? And why have I put it right in my sermon heads?

17:07 The private question of the disciples. The private answer of our Lord. Well, because as we shall see in the fuller account of His public statements in the presence of the Pharisees and the disciples, the Lord had mentioned certain things which qualify the absolute language of His private treatment of the same subject. Now follow closely.

17:38 When the disciples come into the house with their Lord, they bring with them the full deposit of what He had previously said in a public discourse. And therefore, they never would have understood, they never would have understood, they never would have understood His private reiteration of the central issue as cancelling anything He had already declared by way of exceptions to that general principle. You follow the reasoning? If I say something in public, in preaching the Word of God, and then someone comes to me at the door at the end of the service, or two or three people, and say, look, I'd like some further... I'd like some further clarification of point number one, and then I amplify and reiterate, surely it would be the height of an irresponsible connotation of my words to say that what I told you at the door was intended to cancel what I said before 500 people publicly.

18:47 And it is vital to note that the Holy Spirit has recorded this distinction between the fuller statement of the Holy Spirit, between the fuller statement of the Holy Spirit, between the fuller statement of the Holy Spirit, between the fuller statement of our Lord spoken publicly in Matthew 19, and the private reiteration of the heart of that pronouncement in the presence of His disciples alone. Now then, basically, what is the private answer of our Lord to the question of the disciples concerning this matter of marriage, divorce, and possibly death? The question of remarriage, though there is no biblical evidence that that ever entered their minds. In their thinking, whatever constituted divine warrant for divorce did indeed leave the parties free to remarry. And He said unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another commits adultery against her. And then a statement that had rapidly, radical implications in that day. For in the Hebrew culture, no provisions were made in the Scriptures, or even in their rabbinic legislation for a woman to have equal right of divorce, no matter what her husband did.

20:12 She might appeal, but he held the cards in his hands. But knowing that the Word of God would go out to the ends of the earth, knowing it would go out into the Greek and Roman countries, culture where such right was granted, our Lord by anticipation says, And if she herself shall put away her husband and marry another, she commits adultery. Now what is our Lord doing in this answer to their question? Well, what He is doing is simply this.

20:50 He is affirming the general normative regulation He is affirming the general normative regulation for the institution of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. He is affirming the general normative regulation. That is precisely what our Lord is doing. That is all that our Lord is doing in these verses.

21:19 Now what is the general normative regulation with respect to marriage? Marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Well, our Lord here affirms that the marriage bond is so deep and permanent by God's design and reckoning that any unwarranted severance of that bond by man or woman leading to the contracting of another marriage constitutes adultery. Now that's the essence of the passage.

21:56 Whosoever shall put away his wife the assumption being that it is a putting away without divine warrant and shall marry another commits adultery and if she herself shall put away her husband without divine warrant and marry another she commits adultery. Now why is this so? For the simple reason that God will not accommodate His institution and His reckoning to man's willful folly and sin. That's it.

22:39 You see, a man may declare himself released from the bond of marriage even with a legitimate certificate of divorce. There were no courts involved in that day. In our day, the court may make a pronouncement, a decree of divorce and duly file it, what our Lord is saying is this. It is not man's tampering with God's institution that determines the nature of that institution.

23:10 God conceived the institution of marriage. God Himself has interpreted that institution and in the Lord Jesus, God has with magisterial authority said of that institution what therefore God has chosen to do. God has done. God has done.

23:28 God has done. God has done. God has done. God has joined together by creative design and by specific interpretation the two shall become one flesh.

23:37 What God has done, let no man the creature think to put asunder. And therefore, when men for slight causes would put away their wives with impunity and often the very purpose was to marry another as it is in our day, they may obtain whatever decree of divorce they desire, but in the eye of God, the newly consummated relationship is an act of adultery because God does not reckon the severance of the two shall become one union. A decree from a court of man does not overturn God's rights any more than six kids in a family getting together in one of the bedrooms of the children deciding they're going to change the rules of the house and then they present a sheet of changed rules to their father. If the man is worth his name, father, all the decrees of his children don't change the rules of the house.

24:50 And God, our Father, the living and the true God, has instituted marriage, has set forth the implications of that union, and our Lord is indicating that men's actions do not cancel God's commitments and declarations. Now, obviously, by this statement, our Lord is abolishing the Mosaic permission granted by hardness of heart and establishing that in the new humanity, with the new dynamics of grace, and the enlarged measures of the Holy Spirit, the ethical norms of the new creation as they relate to marriage are going to bring the new covenant community back more and more to the glory of the original institution of marriage in the first creation. Monogamy, intimacy, and permanence. Now, that's basically what our Lord does. When the disciples raise the question, He does not go into peripheral or secondary issues when they ask the question privately.

26:10 Our Lord reiterates in private what I have called this general normative regulation. One man for one woman. The two becoming one in total multifaceted intimacy. The two becoming one in total multi-faceted intimacy.

26:30 two becoming one until death part them. The word marriage ought to gather around it that free-fall cord of biblical perspective. That is its normative regulation. But now at this point, if we are to be true to the teaching of our Lord, we must add to verses 11 and 12 of Mark chapter 10 the painful, public, acceptive permission.

The Painful, Public, Acceptive Permission (Matthew 19:9)

27:02 And I've chosen my words carefully. I wish I could give you simpler words, but I don't know how to state it accurately on a matter of such delicacy. But our Lord not only made a private statement to the disciples in which He put the spotlight on the general normative regulation, He had previously said, spoken a painful, public, word of acceptive permission. Now go back to Matthew 19, please.

27:42 Notice that this is indeed a parallel passage. 19.1, Matthew describes our Lord coming into the Perean area, great multitudes following Him. Verse 3, the Pharisees come tempting or trying Him on the question of divorce.

28:01 Jesus takes them back. He takes them back to the original creation. Now, therefore, notice carefully verse 9. And I say unto you.

28:13 Who is the you? Well, you go back, verse 7. They say unto Him. Who are the they?

28:21 Then you go right back to verse 3. In other words, the pronouns keep carrying you right back to verse 3. Jesus is still addressing the Pharisees. Anyone listening in, along with His disciples, He is making a public, albeit painful, but a public, acceptive permission to be heard by all, including the disciples to whom He made a private reiteration of the general norm for marriage.

28:57 And what was that painful, public, acceptive permission? Look at the, the text. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife except for pornea,

29:15 fornication, translated in the old 1901 and in many of the earlier versions, whosoever shall put away his wife except for fornication and shall marry another commits adultery. And he that marries her when she is put away, that is put away in cases other than pornea,

29:42 this person commits adultery. Well, what is the painful, public, acceptive permission? Our Lord gives this acceptive permission with reference to the sexual infidelity of either one of the marriage partners. And the word pornea, can best be rendered unlawful sexual intercourse of any kind whatsoever.

30:14 Unlawful sexual intercourse of any kind whatsoever. Now there have been and are in our days some who try to force the meaning of pornea in this context to mean nothing more than the infidelity of a betrothed woman. woman in Israel. That is an utterly irresponsible forcing of the word in its context, in its overall usage, and I will not weary you to give you the evidence. If you're concerned to get it for yourself, take such standard lexicons as are available on the meaning of Greek words, the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament by Kittel, the relevant sections in such books as John Murray's book called Divorce, J. Adams, his book Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage. Better yet, just take a Strong's or Young's Concordance and look up all the uses of pornea, and you will see that pornea is the great canopy word in the New Testament and in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that is used for every form of unlawful sexual intercourse.

31:35 Now, sometimes it has more limited, restricted meanings, but it is used to cover the whole gamut. Incest, homosexuality, bestiality, lesbianism, marrying within forbidden boundaries of relationships, all of those areas of sexual aberration come under the canopy word pornea. So what does our Lord do? Our Lord gives a painful but public, acceptive permission to sunder, to sever, to fracture, to declare null and void the marriage covenant. Now, if anyone takes the position that divorce under any circumstances whatsoever is sin, he lives in sin.

32:36 Now, if you want to live with that kind of exegetical and theological nonsense, then hold the position propagated by certain prominent, prominent people even in our area, that divorce under any circumstances or divorce and remarriage is automatically against the will of God. You say, Pastor, that's strong language. You make God a sinner. Yes, because God divorced Israel. He did?

33:24 Yes. Listen to him. Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 18. Jeremiah 3 and verse 18.

33:34 I'm sorry, verse 8. And I saw when for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement.

33:54 If divorce under any circumstances is sin, God is a sinner.

34:02 He says, I properly divorced myself from Israel, the northern kingdom. I put her away. I gave her a bill. I gave her a bill of divorcement and that for spiritual adultery.

34:18 Furthermore, in the days of the restoration, God commanded His servants in sorting out the messes that they were in with their marriages with the heathen, God commanded unto the leaders of Israel to put away, divorce your foreign wives. God commanded divorce. And then in a passage very familiar at Christmastime, Matthew chapter 1. God is describing the character of Joseph.

34:49 And in the Hebrew culture, betrothal was as it were the preface and binding commitment, sort of the prelude to the whole orchestration of marriage, considered in many ways as binding as marriage, so that a man's betrothed friend could be called his wife, though they did not cohabit. Notice what is said in, Matthew 1.19, And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to divorce her privately. A righteous man was minded to divorce her. Now isn't it strange? If divorce is in all cases sin, that God uses it as one of the indications of the righteousness of Joseph. Now, dear people, when anyone comes to you saying, divorce in all circumstances, in all cases, is always against the will of God, and your ground on the word.

36:02 I came out of a background that took that position. Divorce, devil, and hell were almost synonyms.

36:12 And God had to pummel that horrible unscriptural perspective out of my head and out of my heart by the sheer weight of His own holy word. Do you see that in the passage? Divorce under all circumstances, in all situations, is not necessarily against the will of God. Sin is always present as the cause of divorce, but not every divorce is sinful.

36:42 Sin is present as the cause of every sickness. And if there'd been no sin, there'd be no sickness. But are you prepared to say that every sick person is sinning? And that his sickness is sin?

36:55 Yes, any fracturing of any bond in which the two are one, and over which God has said what God has joined together, let no man put asunder. To see that fractured, it's only sin that can fracture a marriage. But it is not, it is not biblical to say, therefore, any dissolving of the marriage covenant in a formal way is necessarily sin because our Lord in Matthew 19, has clearly stated publicly before those trying to trap Him in His words and in the ears of His own disciples, that whosoever puts away his wife and marries another, except it be for unlawful sexual intercourse of any kind,

The Additional Apostolic Injunction (1 Corinthians 7)

37:51 causes her to commit adultery. Whoever marries her commits adultery. And so we have in the fuller rounding out of the teaching of Scripture, not only the general normative regulation, but the painful public acceptive permission, and then we have thirdly, the additional apostolic injunction. The additional apostolic injunction.

38:22 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7.

38:29 In this chapter, Paul begins by taking up the whole subject of the relationship of men and women in marriage. He speaks of the mutual duties of husbands and wives to one another sexually, and may I pause simply to say, for any man or woman to withhold rendering sexual privileges to his or her mate is ungodliness.

38:55 It is blatant defiance of the Word of God. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Let the husband, let the wife render to the wife her due. Let the wife render to the husband his due.

39:12 Do not withhold yourselves from one another. That's as clear a command as thou shalt do no murder.

39:19 Then after dealing with this subject, Paul giving a brief word about his own perspective in the light of peculiar pressures that are there at that time, and we're not going to go into all of the possibilities of what he's referring to. He then gives a charge to the unmarried, in verse 8. And then he says in verse 10, But unto the married I give charge, yet not I, but the Lord. What I have to say is simply a reiteration of something that is already your possession in the apostolic tradition of the words of the Lord Jesus.

39:55 The wife should not depart, that is, divorce her husband, but should she depart, should she divorce, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled, to her husband, and that the husband leave not, divorce, put away his wife. So he deals here with the problem of believing spouses who've come to the place where tensions are so great that one or the other is tempted to dissolve the marriage. And again, I can't go into all the linguistic and parallel arguments as to why the notion of separation without, cohabitation is not envisioned here. It's a concept that is not envisioned in the Scriptures at all. He says this is an irregularity. But if one does depart, if she leaves her husband, if she severs the marriage bond, then she is not to be married, but to seek reconciliation to him if such is still a possibility. But to the rest, now notice he's changing the focus, to the rest say I, not the Lord.

41:05 That is, there is no previous revelation from the Lord on this aspect of the naughty question of how and in what circumstances do we dwell together in the marriage covenant. If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she's content to dwell with him, let him not leave her. And the woman that has an unbelieving husband and he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, the unbelieving wife is sanctified, sanctified in the brother, else were your children unclean, but now are they holy yet.

41:41 Now here is the additional apostolic injunction. Yet, if the unbelieving departs,

41:51 let him depart. A present imperative of the very verb used for putting asunder in Mark 10 and verse 9. It's speaking of divorce. It's speaking of a severing of the marriage bond.

42:08 And this is not mere permission. This is apostolic injunction. If the gospel has come and so divided the husband and the wife that the unbelieving wife or husband says, look, I am not going to hack this business of living you with your religious bit. You no longer want to go out to the pagan feast with me.

42:31 My social life is shopped. You no longer want to indulge in the pagan lifestyle of morals and ethics by the way you live. By which we ordered our home and our personal life, chose our friends. I'm sick and tired of this.

42:44 We can't go out on a wife or husband swapping weekend anymore. We can't go up to the temple and indulge in the orgies anymore. I've had it with you, woman. I'm leaving.

42:55 What does God say to such a woman? Do anything to keep him? No. A present imperative, if the unbeliever is determined to depart, let him go.

43:07 That's what the text says. I didn't write it. Let him go. The brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.

43:26 He has not called us to perpetuate unnecessarily a household of constant and unmitigated tension. No, no. If the unbeliever is determined to dissolve the marriage bond, brother or sister, you are not in bondage. You are not in bondage in such cases.

43:45 Now my question is this. Bondage to what?

43:51 Loving bondage to Christ? Well, of course not. Every Christian is the bond slave of Christ. Romans 6.

43:59 In bondage to obey civil law? No. What's he talking about in the context? There's only one thing he's talking about.

44:07 The brother or sister is no longer in bondage to the marriage covenant. What else can be envisioned in the passage?

44:19 Linguistically, contextually, and commonsensically.

Summary of Biblical Teaching on Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

44:25 Nothing else fits. And so we have this additional apostolic injunction that in those instances where the gospel brings a divided household, the believer is to seek to live peaceably with the unbelieving partner, but if the unbelieving partner agitates a dissolving of the marriage, the believer is not to, fight it, let him go, let her go, and view yourself free from that marriage covenant, free in Jesus Christ to marry only in the Lord. Well, this then, dear people, in brief, is the answer of Scripture to the vexed question of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. We must always think of the subject in terms of that, upon which our Lord puts the greatest emphasis. The general normative regulation. Man shall leave, cleave the two one.

45:33 What God has joined, let not man put asunder. That's the general normative regulation. But our Lord, in the realism of grace, knows that even in this age of the outpoured spirit, with the greater dimensions of the Spirit, with the greater power and the greater dynamics of grace under the new covenant, that the ugly reality of shattered relationships through various forms of sexual infidelity will occur. And so He gives us, and He gave it publicly, and I want to keep underscoring that, He gave it publicly, that word not only concerning the general normative regulation, but the painful acceptive permission, and then finally, the additional apostolic injunction. Now, God willing, tonight we'll take up the question, what do I do if in my days of unregeneracy, or in a period of spiritual backsliding as a believer, what do I do? I dissolve the marriage. I can see from Scripture I was party to the dissolving of a marriage against the revelation of the Lord.

46:51 I can see from Scripture I was party to the dissolving of a marriage against the revelation of the Lord. I can see from Scripture I was party to the dissolving of a marriage against the revelation of the Lord. What do I do? I want to address that tonight.

46:56 I'll give you a little hint. It's not the unpardonable sin. There's only one unpardonable sin.

47:03 Only one. There is one, but only one.

47:08 What do I do? Questions with respect to the whole naughty, difficult, sensitive problem which I have no question. Some of you sit here this morning and experience deep wrestlings of heart. Dear people, please, just hold back until I can address them tonight because in the light of this basic declaration of our Lord's teaching in this threefold manner, I want to bring a final word of application and the application has two very simple prongs to it.

Application 1: Marriage Dominated by Edenic Perspectives

47:44 The first is this.

47:48 All thought and conduct concerning marriage must be dominated by the perspectives of its original institution. To put it pictorially, let the glow of Eden permeate every glance at the institution of marriage. That's what our Lord does.

48:14 All thought and conduct concerning marriage must be dominated by the perspectives of its original institution. When the Pharisees came concerned with legislation, legislation for divorce, Jesus goes back to Eden and to the divine institution. And what does He emphasize? God is the author of this relationship.

48:42 He made them male and female from the very beginning, declaring in His creative act His own intention with respect to taking the two and bringing them together. God is its author. Oneness. Oneness is its essence.

49:01 The two shall become one flesh. Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh. As Wayne Mack is so beautifully captured in the title of his book, One plus one equals one. A manual, unmarital oneness.

49:19 One plus one equals one. Now don't you kids do that in your math class. The teacher will put a red pencil and say you're wrong. One plus one equals two.

49:29 But in marriage, one plus one equals one. The two shall no longer be two, but one flesh. God is the author. Oneness is its essence.

49:42 Permanence its consequence. What God has joined, let no man put asunder. Permanence is its consequence.

49:56 And any thought and conduct regarding marriage should be done by God. Marriage should be done by God. Marriage should be done by God. Marriage should be done by God.

49:59 Marriage should be done by God. Marriage should be done by God. And it should be dominated, I say dominated, by those perspectives. Now do you see why we're in the mess we're in?

50:09 For a hundred years we've had a society that has been told there ain't no such thing as the Garden of Eden. Man was not created by divine design. Man was not created from the hand of God, male and female, with a distinct role and function in the mind of the Creator, or happened.

50:41 Plus,

50:47 and wonder of wonders, one of... free to experiment.

51:05 So evolutionary teaching as to the origins of man very naturally led to the social experimentation with regard to the roles of male and female in the institution of marriage.

51:19 So everything's up for grabs. Now they haven't found a way yet for a man to carry a baby and give birth to it and nurse it! But that's just a little problem. We'll get over it in time.

51:31 Meanwhile, we'll use a test tube.

51:35 Yes. We'll use the laboratory as a substitute room. But what they're saying is the only difference between male and female right now, and we don't quite know how to get over that barrier, is primary sexual organs. But there's no such thing as maleness and femaleness.

51:53 No such thing as distinctly assigned roles. Therefore, the fact that males and females can find fulfillment in marriage, fine, if that's your thing. But when the glow goes, why be hung together by a piece of paper? Ever hear that before?

52:12 When the glow goes, why be hung together by a piece of paper? It's hypocritical. And if you really love one another, why do you need a piece of paper? Just live together.

52:23 It's a beautiful relationship. Sound familiar? Where'd all that come from? It's the natural outgrowth of the horrible doctrine of evolution.

52:33 The evolutionary view of the origins of man has led to the social experts and manipulators with regard to all the sacred institutions of man.

52:47 And then what happens? Well, man wants to make his experiments respectable, so then you have the legislation of the land framing iniquity by statute. And now it's like the school of Hillel. You can get a divorce for almost anything up to a wart on the left ear.

53:08 Dear people, that's where we are.

53:12 And it's tragic. Because in the wake of this disruption of the dominance of the perspectives of even on the institution of marriage, what do we have? The single parent child who has no male and female role models, who has no model of the so-called nuclear family, who grows up disintegrated and confused about his or her role, and then goes on to perpetuate it until we're in the midst of this gathering snowball of total social disintegration.

53:54 And it all in great measure goes back, not all, but much of it goes back to the fact that our thinking and conduct concerning marriage, have for the past 100 years not been dominated by the perspectives of its original institution, but by the perspectives of evolutionism, social manipulation, and then degenerate legislation as the ultimate expression of man's apostasy from God. And in the midst of that, the church is called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. In the midst of it, we are called upon to show and to demonstrate by our views of marriage that we utterly reject all of that. And we embrace the blessed reality that in the beginning He made them male and female, and He constitutes them one in indissoluble, permanent oneness. Then my second strand of application is this.

Application 2: Divorce and Remarriage Dominated by Full Scriptural Teaching

55:09 All thought and conduct concerning divorce and remarriage must be dominated by the perspectives of the full teaching of our Lord and of His Apostle.

55:28 You see what I've done? I've said all thought, all perspectives on marriage must be dominated by its original institution.

55:40 But now in a world where sin is present, and sin will do its horrible work, divorce and remarriage are realities. Therefore, all of our thought and conduct concerning divorce and remarriage must be dominated by the perspectives of the full teaching of our Lord and of His Apostle.

56:08 And I emphasize the full teaching. I regard it as nothing less. Than a horrible form of impudence that men will dare to question the wisdom of God in giving us a part of His teaching in Mark and a part of it in Matthew, but are prepared to say what Jesus said in Matthew only applies in that limited cultural context of first century Judaism. It has no relevance for the present day.

56:43 Who are they? To do that with our Lord's words when He said at the end of that very Gospel, go into the world and make disciples of all the nations and teach them to observe whatsoever I commanded you. Whatsoever I commanded you. And if you've had to deal with some of the consciences bound by Pharisaic legislation in the name of Christian morality, you know why I speak so forcefully on the issue.

57:15 If you've tried to bind up the conscience, bound up the conscience of some dear child of God, who either through the fault of a perversely wicked mate or through the deceitfulness of his or her own heart has gone through the tragic breakup of a marriage and wonders where do I stand before God and see the torture that comes from Pharisaic handling of Scripture. It would not be unto edification to tell you how this is touched. Some in my own family circle, I'm not referring to myself nor to my siblings, but in a very close family circle, I have watched literally the agony of 40 or 45 years in the life of one very dearly loved because some horrible Pharisee said what Jesus said in Matthew. Doesn't apply. And I refuse to let that happen to any of you precious sheep in this place. Any thinking about marriage, divorce, and remarriage must reflect perspectives dominated by the total teaching of our Lord and of His Apostle.

58:31 Therefore, it must grant that when there is sexual intercourse of any kind that is illicit, our Lord permits, does not command, but permits the dissolving of the marriage bond. Reconciliation. Forgiveness. Where expedient must always be sought.

58:57 But are you prepared to tell a woman whose husband without shame says, I fully intend to visit my lover once a week. I'll be content to live with me and you if you want me. Am I to say yes? Be used as his Monday to Friday whore while he uses his other whore on Saturday and Sunday?

59:21 You want to be in the place to tell someone that? Not I. Not when my Lord has said, accept it be for porneia. And I have the obligation to say, God has left you in gracious, merciful kindness, an honorable way out.

59:44 Yes, sin has caused the disruption. Yes, but it is not sinful to seek out of that relationship according to the rule of Christ. what do you do with the woman who says my husband consorts with men and he's not ashamed to tell me he's in love with another man do you tell her that she must go and give him the rights of bed and the influence over her children that turns our Lord into a tyrant and then what do you say to the person who says look I don't know why grace came into our household terminated upon me bypassed my husband or wife and when grace came the sword that Jesus promised came and though I've sought as a husband or wife to obey all of the injunctions I've not put any pressure upon them I don't preach at the morning, noon and light and leave tracts under their post and under their pillow I just try to be a good Christian husband or wife but they want me back in the old path and they've said the only way I can remain married is if I'll renounce Christ and the Christian faith and the church and the people of God I can't do that Pastor what do I do I'll tell you what you do you'll let him depart you'll let her depart

61:13 you have apostolic warrant if they're pleased to dwell and fulfill those basic responsibilities of the marriage vow and tie in common grace then as difficult as it is for the believer though there is pain in the heart of the man or woman who shares a bed but cannot share the deepest joys and sorrows of his or her Christian heart it's difficult yes but there's something worse than that pain and difficulty and that's the disruption of a bond without just cause so some of you have been monumental examples of commitment to a marriage that has been divided for years but because the unbelieving spouse has been pleased to dwell with you you have not parted and I want publicly to commend you for your example of obedience to the word of God but for some of you and if the time should come for others when the unbelieving spouse makes it evident that they do not wish to dwell that it's either come their way or they're going their way let them go let them go and do it yes with a broken heart but with a good conscience and those two things are the same thing

Counsel for Singles and Those in Difficult Marriages

62:37 things are not incompatible you can have a broken heart with a good conscience in fact sometimes the only way to have a good conscience is to have a broken heart now then for you young people single men and women not so young sitting here you see what this should do for you there's something worse than being single and it's being bound to a wretched marriage that has no foundation for true oneness I plead with you young men and women I plead with you young men and women not so young anyone who feels a pang of singleness let the glory of Eden fill your perspective and don't you ever believe God's brought Mr. Right or Miss Right into your life until it is someone who upon due knowledge of what the person is all about you have reason to believe you can enter the marriage bond under the smile of God and under the lordship of Christ and with the blessing of the Holy Ghost upon that relationship now what about some of you say well I wish I'd thought about that more I wouldn't be where I am now well you're in it my friend

64:05 and where sin abounds grace does much more about you have the Holy Ghost dwelling in you you know what he can do subdue your pride subdue your irritability he can sanctify your selfishness he can mend the broken circuits where you're afraid to be open with anyone where you feel threatened by the vulnerability of true love the Holy Spirit can heal and mend and restore don't look back over your shoulders some of us can testify that in our most difficult periods of marital adjustment in the early days what helped us to get on with it was we had a fixation in our neck bones and muscles we never looked back and we said ain't no way out it's either roll up our sleeves learn under God to make this a blissful happy satisfying relationship or live with misery till one or the other of us dies ain't no way I tell you when you get committed that way it's amazing the way God made me well it's amazing how quick you can change yes and you see it's that kind of biblical perspective that caused many who weren't even Christians

65:33 in another generation to have long term marriages they fell short of anything that would ever be written up in a romantic novel but they were a stable block in society and didn't contribute to the horrible breakdown that we see on every side and then God willing tonight I want to speak to the heart of Jerusalem as the prophet says and seek to lay bare the dimensions of biblical teaching that address themselves to sin committed in the area of the sanctity of marriage sin committed in the contracting of marriage after an unwarranted divorce I want to be bold enough to address the word of God to those questions and point us to the grace of God that wherever sin abounds super abounds into violence comedy we ask God for His divine mercy well may the Lord help us to lay to heart this portion of the word some of you ask why we're committed to consecutive expository preaching here's one reason I never would have taken up this passage to preach on it I don't think in fifty years if the course of preaching through Mark had not given me to it do you think this has been pleasant no dear people

Conclusion and Prayer

67:01 but it's necessary Father, we do earnestly pray that the Holy Spirit will apply the Word with power, that He may bring healing where such is needed, conviction where such is needed, immunization where that is needed, direction in the midst of confusion. Lord, we pray, apply Your Word to every heart. As You know, we have needed it. May Your blessing continue to rest upon us as we meditate upon these things.

67:40 Gather with us again tonight, O Lord, and may our thinking be filled with the wonder of forgiving and restorative grace. We ask through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.