Whosoever Shall Put Away His Wife

Introduction to Jesus' Interpretation of the Law

0:05 With me again to the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 5, as we continue our studies in this wonderful section of God's revelation that we have commonly dubbed the Sermon on the Mount, we are well into this very unusual and searching section of the Sermon on the Mount, beginning with verse 21 of chapter 5 and continuing through verse 48, in which our Lord Jesus Christ gives us six parallel passages in which, in each

0:49 case, he gives a statement of the prevailing understanding of a particular precept of the law of God, and then, having given that prevailing understanding, he gives his own authoritative interpretation or explanation of God's true meaning in that precept. And so, consequently, our Lord is breaking off from each of these six passages the shackles placed upon the precepts by the scribes and the Pharisees. Ye have heard that it was said, but I say unto you.

1:30 And in each of these passages, our Lord is seeking to convey to those who heard him and to each one of us who reads his words, that the real truth of God's law is not to be found merely in our conformity to external conduct, but in conforming to basic principles which lay behind the specific precept which God has given to us. We could say, in one measure or in one respect, that everything which follows in verses 21 to 48 is an expansion and an application of verse 20, where our Lord said, Verse 20, Verse 20,

2:11 The greater righteousness of the scribes and of the Pharisees ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. And so we have laid before us that greater righteousness which our Lord expects and which he will give to his own followers. We come this morning to verse 31 and 32 in this particular section. Verse 31, It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery.

The Decadence of Society and the Seriousness of Marriage

2:45 Let him give her a writing of divorcement. But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery. And whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, committeth adultery. Our Lord has been dealing in the two previous parts of this section with the fact that adultery is primarily an attitude of the heart and not an act of the body.

3:15 Verse 31, Verse 31, Verse 32, Verse 33, Verse 33, Verse 34, Verse 34, Verse 35, Verse 35, Verse 38, Verse 39, Verse 39, Verse 40, Verse 40, Verse 50, Verse 51, Verse 51, and so on. The Lord has given us the right to lust, hath committed adultery. And then he goes on to say that if this is the nature of sin, that it lies not so much in an act committed overtly, but in the attitude of the heart, then sin must be dealt with at any cost. If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off.

3:33 If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. And now closely akin to this subject of lust and adultery is the whole problem of marriage and divorce. And so our Lord is going to lay out. Some very clear principles touching this matter.

3:50 You can never come to consider the problems of lust and adultery without somehow immediately confronting the whole problem of marriage and divorce. And so our Lord gives that to us in this passage, and it happens to follow in the regular course of our exposition. Now, by way of introduction, I'd remind you that it's a fact of history, not only Bible history, but what we call secular or profane history. The record of men and of nations in times past, it's a fact of history that laxity in standards of marriage is always a clear evidence of a decadent society which is about to undergo

4:32 the judgment of Almighty God. In reading one source, I came across a very interesting fact, that before the fall of Greece and of Rome, marriage was such that women would actually wear rings to keep their marriage. And it's a fact of history that it's a fact of the Bible that marriage was taken into account and was also a fact of the world. I'd remind you that we have an indication of this even in the Bible, when Jesus stood at the well there in Samaria, he talked with this woman and he said concerning her, Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband.

5:13 Now, apparently she was no exception. Apparently there were many like her who had a number of husbands. The laws and attitudes concerning marriage and divorce were very lax and very loose. I need not remind you that this is true in our day.

5:30 One out of every three marriages ending up in the divorce courts. I never cease to be sick when I open the page in the Newark Evening News and see all the sweet, smiling young brides and realize if there are 15 there, five of them are going to end up in a divorce court. And chances are that some children will have come along in the meantime in the twisted, warped, bent lives marred because of the low standards of marriage and divorce that are prevalent in our own day. And so we come, not because this is a hobby with us, but simply because it's the next passage in our exposition that you and I might confront what Jesus Christ's incarnate truth says

Outline and Authority of Christ's Teaching

6:13 concerning the subject of marriage and divorce. To think our way through this whole subject as our Lord lays it out, I want to follow the basic outline that Martin Lloyd-Jones uses in his book on the Sermon on the Mount, in which he first of all gives what Moses actually taught concerning divorce. What did the Old Testament teach? Then secondly, what were the scribes and the Pharisees teaching?

6:40 And then last of all, what did our Lord Jesus state as the final revelation concerning the divorce? And then lastly, what did our Lord Jesus state as the final revelation concerning the divorce? Now I remind you again this morning, I feel it absolutely necessary to do this, that what we are considering is not the opinion of this church or this preacher. This is the standard of Almighty God.

7:01 I get rather disturbed when I discuss a problem with people and they say, well, preacher so-and-so said this. That's what they say down south. Up here we'd say pastor so-and-so or reverend so-and-so. But down south, well, preacher so-and-so said this.

7:13 And preacher, I don't care what preacher so-and-so said. And you shouldn't care what preacher so-and-so said. But we ought to be concerned with what our Lord has authoritatively declared concerning these basic issues. All right then, first of all, what was Moses teaching concerning divorce?

Moses' Teaching on Marriage and Divorce

7:33 We don't have time to read the two clear passages, but let me state where they are. We have in Deuteronomy 22, verses 13 to 29, a very clear statement of what God's people, Israel, were to do in cases of what we would call moral problems, moral laxity. Then in Deuteronomy 24, verses 1 through 4, we have the clear statement concerning marriage and divorce. Under the former section, Deuteronomy 22, 13 to 29, if you studied it carefully, you would find three or four basic principles laid out.

8:13 Principle number one, that any marital... Any marital infidelity was to be punished with death.

8:18 Any married man or married woman who would join himself or herself to another when it was established by witnesses that this was true was to be taken out and stoned to death. There was to be no mercy shown. Stoning was the punishment for marital infidelity. In that same passage in Deuteronomy 22, you would find that fornication committed by engaged couples was to be punished with death.

8:45 Punishment was to be punished with death. If an unmarried couple who had some kind of a pledge...

8:50 Pardon me, I'm getting... I'm jumping ahead of myself.

8:54 If there was a pledged girl, an engaged girl, and she was to join herself to the man who was not her fiancé, if there was a relationship outside of this pledge, then both of them, if both were willing for this relationship, were to be stoned with... were to be killed by stoning.

9:16 They were to be taken out and put to death. Then if there was any forced relationship, if there was any committing of the crime of rape, the one involved was to be stoned to death. If the girl in innocence tried out and tried to be delivered and no one was there to deliver her, she was not to be punished.

9:37 Now these are very clear precepts that God set out for his people Israel. That's why you nowhere find any indication in the next passage that the people of God were to take a certain course of action in the case of adultery. Adultery was to be punished with murder and illicit relationships outside of the marriage bond as well. And then I would remind you too that wherever a man would humble a young girl who was not engaged to someone else, he was obliged to take her as his wife forever.

10:08 It's a curse in our day that the only thing that makes some people feel they're obligated to take a girl as wife is if there's the problem of conception and an illegitimate child. But the scripture, God's standard for the Old Testament was any relationship engaged outside of marriage, if the party involved was not an engaged girl, then that man was to take her as his wife forever. Now what did Moses teach concerning divorce itself? Well, Deuteronomy 24, 1-4, let's look at it for a moment.

10:46 For the scriptures are very clear on this.

10:50 Deuteronomy 24, 1-4. When a man taketh a woman, a wife, and married her, and it came to pass that she found no favor in his eyes, or she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her and write her a bill of divorcement and giveth it in her hand and sendeth her out of his house, or if the latter husband hate her and the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife, her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled.

11:34 For that is abomination before the Lord. Thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. Now notice, verse 1 of chapter 24. Here a man takes a wife to himself.

11:49 Then he finds what is called here some measure of uncleanness. Now this, not the adultery, for adultery was to be punished with death. But apparently he finds some physical, moral or mental defect in his wife. And because of this, he is determined to put her away.

12:09 Now God says, if this be the case, then you are not to do it hastily with a word. You are not to simply say, out of my house, woman, I want no more of you. But you were to sit down and write out a legal document called the bill of divorcement. It was to be signed by, in the presence of, proper witnesses and placed in her hand, that when she went out, she would then not be at the mercy of society to be kicked about, but she could produce her bill of divorcement showing that her marriage tie with her original husband was severed.

12:42 Therefore, as the scripture says, she would be free to marry again. But,

12:48 if the first husband says, well, you know, I think I made a mistake. I'd like her back again. Scripture says, uh-uh. He can't have her back again.

12:55 Once she's joined herself to another man, he has no right to have her back again. So you have these three or four basic principles. A man was first of all to write out the bill of divorcement. He was then to settle it in his heart that he could not have that woman again.

13:11 Now, what was the purpose of all of this? Well, the purpose basically was to control a loose attitude toward divorce and to legislate a wrong that it might not become a greater wrong. Now, God nowhere commands Now, God nowhere commands Now, God nowhere commands divorce. But there was this problem of a lax attitude to women and to the sacred ties of marriage.

13:37 And so God, through Moses, in the process and progress of revelation, seeking to bring men back to the standard of the Garden of Eden where the two shall become one and what God hath joined together let not man put asunder, our Lord, or I should say Jehovah God, not our Lord Jesus as such, but Jehovah God in His revelation, through Moses, was making a concession in order to legislate a problem. Now, let me show you how this was done with one or two other problems. Notice in chapter 21 of Deuteronomy, chapter 21 and verse 14.

14:23 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will. But thou shalt not sell her for money and not make merchandise of her because thou hast humbled her. Apparently, the custom of sending away a wife was prevalent in Israel. And so now our Lord wants to legislate that practice so that it will become less and less of an evil.

14:46 Here, apparently, as we read in Deuteronomy 21, all a man had to do is say, all right, go on out, I'm done with you. Now the Lord said, no, we want to put some regulations upon this. You find the same problem in 21 and verse 15 concerning polygamy. If a man had two wives, one beloved and another hated, and they had borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the first son be hers, etc.,

15:10 nowhere does God command or even condone polygamy. But here was a problem. Some men had a plurality of wives. So God was going to deal with the situation as it was.

15:23 God is always the God of the ideal and the God of the pragmatic or the practical. Now, ideally, no one in Israel should have had two wives, but some did. So now God is telling them how to regulate this particular problem. And so we find, when we turn to the New Testament, that Jesus says in Matthew 19.8,

15:43 Moses suffered you to write a bill of divorcement because of the hardness of your hearts. The only reason God gave divorce legislation through Moses was that he might legislate an evil which they were determined to live with. Moses, for the hardness of your heart, Jesus said, suffered you to write a bill of divorcement. It was never the intention of God that the marriage tie should be severed at all.

16:16 And then when sin entered, severed by nothing other, as we'll see later, than marital unfaithfulness. So this is basically the teaching of Moses with the purpose of keeping this thing from becoming a widespread evil. If a man had to sit down and write a bill of divorcement before he could let his wife go, he wouldn't be apt to let her go simply in a rage of temper. There's some societies today where all a man has to do is stand in his house, say, I divorce you, turn around, I divorce you.

16:47 Three times he sends the wife out of the house and that's the end. Right now today, in 1964, this is the practice in some lands. Now, it was to check this kind of business that our Lord gave this legislation. That's why he also said you can't take her back again.

17:03 Here a man in a fit of temper says, beat it, I'm done with you. Then he sobers up and begins to miss her and says, oh boy, I made a mistake. So he goes out beating the streets saying, I've got to find her. I've got to get her back again.

17:13 God says, no. Once you've written the bill of divorcement and sent her out and she's joined to another man and she's free to, God says, that's it. You've had it as far as she's concerned. All right, now, what were the Pharisees teaching?

The Pharisees' Perversion of Moses' Law

17:26 What were the scribes and the Pharisees teaching? When they looked at the law of Moses, how did they interpret it and apply it to their own situation?

17:37 Again, as they always do, they didn't repudiate the outward command, but they so perverted it that though they were keeping the letter, they were utterly denying and negating the Spirit. First of all, they were wrong in that they came to think that Moses commanded divorce. Will you notice carefully in Matthew 19, which is the best commentary on Matthew 5, will you notice carefully Matthew 19, the whole section is verses 3 to 8, but particularly now verse 7.

18:19 And I know this is tedious. This demands we've got to think and I trust you'll stick with me now that we can get this groundwork before we move to what Christ actually taught. Matthew 19 and verse 7. And they say unto him, unto Christ, why did Moses then, notice the next word, command to give a writing of divorcement?

18:42 Verse 8, he said unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered or allowed. Now here's the contrast. There's all the difference in the world between an allowance or a permission and a command. I might permit my son to go out into a mud puddle.

19:04 I'd be a wicked father if I commanded him to do so.

19:09 God may condescend to the perverseness of the hearts of his people for the hardness of their hearts they were determined to put away their wives. Regulations or no regulations. And so God permitted. He suffered divorcement but he set up certain regulations to restrain the evil.

19:30 He never commanded it. The Pharisees had so twisted what Moses taught that they interpreted the commands or the precepts of Moses in Deuteronomy 24 as a command. That if a man didn't like his wife for one reason or another he was to write her a bill of divorcement, send her away, or get her out of the house. First of all, they erred in that they took an allowance and they made it a command.

19:55 Second thing,

19:57 they had the mistaken idea that the whole commandment hinged on this little business of writing the bill of divorcement. They thought that the thing Moses was concerned about was this legal document. And so one writer whom I was consulting in preparation for today, he said that they actually had it all laid out how many lines the bill of divorcement was to be, how it was to be constructed. They had all the legal details written out in fine letters and in fine detail.

20:27 And all they were concerned about was this bill of divorcement. If you've got the bill of divorcement, put the wife out for any cause. That's hinted at in verse 3. Notice carefully Matthew 19.3.

20:37 Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? They felt as long as you had that bill, get your wife out of the house. Didn't matter why, but get her out. Josephus, a contemporary historian around the time of Christ, said this.

20:55 He that would be divorced from his wife for any cause whatsoever, and there are many such causes, let him give her a bill of divorcement. It's said that a man could even divorce his wife because she had bad breath. Couldn't stand it. So he'd write her a bill of divorcement and send her out.

21:15 So instead of the mosaic legislation checking the wicked tendency to divorce, which basically has its roots in lust, the Pharisees had so interpreted that it gave license to divorce. So long as you had that piece of paper, all was well and you were pleasing God and living in obedience to Moses. So we've considered now what Moses actually taught, a restraining precept, what the scribes and Pharisees were teaching, a licensing precept, telling people, sure, put your wife away, just have that bill. Now what did our Lord Jesus, Jesus teach?

Christ's Teaching: The Genesis Ideal of Marriage

21:55 And again, this is not flexible. I don't care what American jurisprudence does. I don't care what American law courts do or English law courts or Hottentot law courts. These are the inflexible, immutable, eternal words and standards of Jesus Christ the Lord.

22:16 Now what did our Lord Jesus say? In the text that is before us in Matthew 5 and in Matthew chapter 19, we have these words, Whosoever putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, and marrieth another, committeth adultery.

22:38 Now as our Lord Jesus is dealing with this problem and Matthew 19 will be our exposition of it,

22:47 the Pharisees came to him in verse 3, tempting him with this very question. Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Now notice carefully what our Lord does in verse 4 of Matthew 19. And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh?

23:17 Wherefore they are no more two but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let not man put asunder. As our Lord is explaining the nature of marriage, marriage and divorce, he goes right back to the Garden of Eden where the first marriage was performed. He says, Have you not read that from the beginning it hath not been so?

23:41 Now will you try with me to discover the three or four basic principles relative to marriage and subsequently to divorce that are found in Genesis chapter 2 and 3. We don't need to turn to Genesis for we have the quote here. May I pause for a moment and remind you that almost every basic truth concerning God and man and the relationship between man and God has its roots in Genesis 1, 2 and 3. If you would know everything that follows from Genesis 4 to Revelation 22, know well Genesis 1, 2 and 3.

24:20 It's the very seedbed of all biblical revelation and truth. Every theological precept has its root in Genesis 1, 2 and 3. Every great Bible doctrine has its seed in Genesis 1, 2 and 3. How am I to know living in a society that looks askance at the standards of God concerning marriage, divorce, sex?

24:48 How am I to get any kind of clear understanding? The Lord Jesus said, Just go back and sit down in the Garden of Eden and listen and look and learn. Let's do it. Let's do that, shall we?

25:02 Have ye not read from the beginning and then principle number one found in verse 4 that he who made them made them male and female. Marriage is an institution ordained and devised by God himself.

25:21 It was God who prepared a male and a female. It was God who said that they shall both leave their respective spheres of society, mother, father, home, and be joined to one another. Marriage is an institution ordained and planned by God. Therefore, God alone has a right to set its boundaries.

25:52 He has created the institution. He has the right to state how that institution is to function. If I start a corporation under my name, in order to build a certain product, then I have the right to determine what the rules of that corporation shall be. Our Lord has instituted marriage and he and he alone has the right to state what's involved concerning the rules of marriage.

26:20 That's the first principle. The second principle found is in verse 5. And he said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, now notice, and they too, shall be one flesh, wherefore, they are no more two but one flesh.

26:39 It's the union of the man and the woman in the one flesh relationship which constitutes marriage as far as God is concerned. Marriage is not basically a civil ordinance, but it's this mysterious union of the two becoming one flesh. And if you'll read 1 Corinthians 6, this is not used figuratively for Paul in dealing with the problem of immorality says, don't you know that when you join yourself to a harlot you become one body with the harlot for the two said he shall become one flesh. And he quotes this same verse in Genesis showing that it's that relationship of the two becoming one

27:24 which constitutes marriage in the eye of God. Now that's a very important principle. Unless you get hold of that you won't understand anything else that Christ is teaching here. Marriage is instituted by God.

27:39 The union of the two becoming one is the contracting element of marriage. And then in the light of this Christ says in verse 6 of Matthew 19 this is not in Genesis this is our Lord's conclusion wherefore what God hath joined together let not man put asunder. This two being one flesh union which constitutes marriage has a permanence which has the very seal of God upon it. What God hath joined let not man put asunder.

28:13 Clearly indicating when the two become one the seal of God goes upon that union and God says don't anyone dare break it.

28:22 Do you get this now? If you don't understand this and I've tried to God I somehow may make it simple and yet I know it doesn't seem so simple. But here are the principles.

Christ's Teaching: The Sole Ground for Divorce

28:36 Now in the light of this you see why Christ said there's only one ground for divorce and he says that there is one ground but only one. Here in Matthew 19 in verse 9 and I say unto you whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication and shall marry another committeth adultery and whosoever marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery. In the light of our Lord's words there's only one ground for divorce or putting away. Now let's define the word divorce.

29:06 Divorce is a legal and actual release from the marriage contract so that the parties involved are no longer considered as one.

29:16 In the Old Testament when the man gave the bill of divorce remember it says the woman was free to go out and what? Marry another for civilly and really in the eye of God that relationship was severed.

29:30 Now in this passage our Lord states that to contract a divorce upon any other grounds except on the unfaithfulness and then because the court declares you free from husband or wife you go out and marry another person he says you commit adultery. Why? What is adultery? You can get these two definitions.

29:55 Divorce is the legal and actual severance of the union so that it's just as though the two were never one.

30:04 Adultery is any abnormal or illicit breaking of that bond. Now notice what Christ said. He that puts away his wife except it be for fornication and marries another commit adultery. Will you watch my hands here?

30:24 I almost was tempted to get the blackboard out but I think I can draw the pictures with my hands. Here's a young man here's a young woman. He's living with his father and mother. He's in the context of his home.

30:34 She's in her home. Now they fall in love in the will of God they feel they ought to be married so what do they do? He leaves father and

30:44 flesh. They're married. Now after a while they begin to find out that they're not compatible in certain areas. There's going to be problems in their marriage and there's only one marriage in a hundred that doesn't have problems of adjustment learning to die to yourself and your own little peculiarities and learning to live with your mates.

31:03 These are common problems but they say oh well it's like a car you know if you get it and it doesn't satisfy you after you drive it a few months you'll lose a few hundred bucks depreciation but you can always trade it in so they say well let's sort of come to a mutual agreement we're just incompatible and you sue me for divorce on grounds of mental cruelty alright? They say sure alright so they go to court and the court says you're divorced you're free to remarry but wait a minute that two being one flesh relationship is still intact as far as God is concerned. Neither one has gone out and severed that relationship by joining to another so even though the court declares the bond severed God doesn't for God puts his seal upon the two being one flesh

31:47 relationship that constitutes marriage so what happens the court says you're free from the marriage bond God didn't say it they're still one as far as God's concerned so when they're divorced when they're put away for any other cause except fornication now what happens the girl says well I'm divorced I'm free legally I'll marry another man the moment she joins herself to that man she breaks this bond and that's the essence of adultery. When a person breaks the two being one flesh bond you follow it so when couples are severed for any other grounds other than adultery breaking that marriage bond by joining to another then they feel they're free to marry

32:31 and when they do the person to whom they are joined becomes the one with which they break the marriage bond and are guilty of adultery and the rest of that relationship is adulterous relationship till the day they die. Now beloved I know that's strong teaching but that's Bible that's the clear teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ that's why all this separation and actual divorce for mental cruelty incompatibility lack of support etc none of these things dissolves the relationship not a one of them does. In fact Paul deals with this problem of incompatibility in 1st Corinthians 7 here's the problem the gospel comes to that heathen town of Corinth and a woman

33:16 gets saved in a husband doesn't now what's more incompatible than a saved person and an unsaved person living under the same roof what did Paul say he said don't leave the unbelieving partner if they're pleased to dwell with you don't leave stay with them stick it out ride it out in the hope that God may be pleased to save your mate no dear ones incompatibility mental cruelty and all the rest these are not grounds for divorce simply because in the eye of God they do not sever the two being one flesh relationship and as long as that bond is intact neither partner has a right to be married to another but

34:01 just as clearly as Christ teaches there is only one ground for divorce and no other he does teach that there is a ground for divorce for when the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 5 who so put it away his wife except for fornication and he says the same thing in Matthew 5th 99 except it be for fornication he's clearly teaching that fornication or marital unfaithfulness is a ground for divorce now why is it I wrestled with this thing for almost two years I couldn't seem to get through my head why did Christ say unfaithfulness is the only ground but it is a ground now let me draw your mind out for a bit this morning

34:43 is a man being unfaithful to his wife say he goes on a business trip then he falls into temptation is untrue to her and he's not is this worse than the man who comes home every Saturday night and beats his wife year in and year out which is worse as far as the overall guilt and crime we'd say it's far worse that man who comes home and beats his wife drunk every Saturday night and beats the kids until they shiver in the shadows as far as the extent of the crime surely the perpetual wife beater is a worse criminal than the man who on one business trip falls and commits a crime

35:27 adultery why then if God is just does he say the only ground for divorce possibly not for separation 1st Corinthians 7 does believe teach I believe there is a place for legal separation for a time but why is fornication the only ground for divorce why the reason is this no matter what the man does to his wife no matter what he fails to do as far as caring and providing the two being one flesh relationship is still intact until he joins himself to another woman then and only then has that relationship been severed that is why Christ said that is the only ground for

36:12 declaring the relationship null and void because adultery made it null and void you see it when one of the partners becomes one flesh with another he breaks this relationship and because it has actually been broken in experience now Christ said there is a legal ground for that relationship now Christ said there is a legal ground for that relationship to be severed that is why this relationship to be severed now beloved if this is not the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ then I don't understand words and I know there are some who have taught that there is no grounds for divorce and remarriage but I can understand our Lord's words that way if he says whosoever puts away his wife and marries another for any other cause except

36:56 fornication he is saying that to put away a partner and marry another in the case of fornication is met with the approval of God and that is why Jesus said that there is no grounds for divorce met with the approval of God now he doesn't command us to do it the far safer course if you are a Christian is to pray and hope that God will save that erring partner and for the sake of the children involved that God will bring him back or her back but it is a scriptural grounds for divorce and what constitutes a scriptural grounds for divorce also constitutes a scriptural ground for remarriage by the innocent party what constitutes a scriptural ground for divorce is a spiritual ground for divorce and what constitutes a scriptural ground for remarriage by the

37:41 innocent party for in divorce remember God is actually declaring the relationship is severed therefore the two are no longer one flesh and that party who has been innocent in this is not made to suffer for the guilt and crime of another but is free then to remarry if this were not true then it would contradict what we know of the justice of God as revealed in the scriptures it would contradict the principle of first Corinthians seven and then it would contradict what we know of the justice of God as revealed in the scriptures it would contradict the justice of God as revealed in the

38:13 first Corinthians chapter 12 God had 야 deed ad to the other principles that are set forth in the Word of God. And if we can get hold of the reason behind this, it will all seem so reasonable.

38:59 It severs that two being one flesh relationship.

The Unscriptural Nature of Modern Divorce

39:05 I don't have time to go into it this morning, but there are many commentators and theologians who believe that in 1 Corinthians 7.15 there is also an allowance for divorce on the grounds of willful and final desertion. But because our Lord is not dealing with that here, I won't deal with it this morning. If any of you have personal problems along this line, I would certainly be glad to counsel with you.

39:28 But our Lord is clearly teaching that the Pharisees' concept of divorce and remarriage was unscriptural. And I believe our Lord, if He stood in our midst today, would say to all the law courts of America, why do you dare set up standards of your own making? I believe our Lord would say in churches where it stands, condone. People say the Catholic Church is the only church left that doesn't believe in divorce.

39:54 I've got news for them.

39:57 There are some of us who believe the Bible that there is no ground for divorce, but marital unfaithfulness. And this is a ground for divorce. Now, I've tried to give you the precepts. May I close this morning with some exhortations?

Exhortation 1: Marriage as a Picture of Union with Christ

40:12 First of all, I want you to see this morning in the permanence of marriage a beautiful picture of what it means to be a Christian. And I've got scriptural grounds to do this. For in Ephesians 5, after Paul speaks of the relationship of a husband and wife, he says, nevertheless, I speak concerning Christ and the church. Now, will you see this morning in this human relationship when the two become one, the seal of God is upon that union and it implies permanence which cannot be severed for anything but death or unfaithfulness.

40:48 Will you project upward to a more beautiful and eternal relationship? God says this relationship of union with permanence is a picture of the relationship between Christ and those who know Him.

41:06 Oh, what a blessed thing to think as we read in 1 Corinthians 6, He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. That if we are Christians, we have been married to the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been inseparably united to Him. And the seal of the Holy Ghost is upon us.

41:24 And what can sever us from the love of Christ? Shall death, blight, persecution, height, death? What does Paul say? None of these things shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

41:39 It's a wonderful picture of the permanence. The permanence of marriage is a wonderful picture of what salvation is. It's also a picture in that marriage is contracted only when the two become one. Now, we say when the preacher stands up here, I pronounce you man and wife.

41:57 In the eye of God, in the eye of the state, they're married, but not in the eye of God yet. Until there is the two-one relationship, there is no seal of God upon that marriage yet. And what a beautiful picture this is of salvation. Beloved, becoming a Christian is not coming up the front of a church and saying, I do to Jesus.

42:18 It's not going to an altar and mouthing some words. It's not until you have actually been joined to Him by the mighty operations of God the Holy Spirit so that Jesus Christ Himself actually dwells in your heart by the Holy Spirit and you're His and He's yours. What a beautiful picture. What a Christian.

42:41 Someone who's been joined to Christ. Joined with a permanence. So my word of exhortation this morning is this. Are you joined to Christ?

42:51 Oh, what a wonderful and blessed heavenly bridegroom He is. Tenderly cares for us. Never impatient with us. Lovingly bearing with all our weaknesses and all our failings.

43:04 We say, well, I married someone who couldn't boil water. Listen, the Lord got a far worse deal than that when He took us to Himself. We didn't know how to live and how to walk and how to think and how to please Him and yet He took us to Himself. And now He undertakes to teach us.

43:20 Isn't that a wonderful picture? So my first word of exhortation is be sure you're joined to Christ, the heavenly bridegroom. All else in life is meaningless unless you're joined to Him. Then my second word of exhortation is to the adults of the congregation.

Exhortation 2: Permanence for Married Adults

43:36 You young people, I've got a word for you, but you just hold off a minute, will you? For you adults, listen carefully to me. There's no way out of that union which has cemented you together.

43:48 If some of you are having marital problems and tensions in the home, and I'm sure in a group this size there are, settle this once and for all.

43:57 That you're either going to learn to live together with your mate, in harmony, or you're going to have to live with her or him in disharmony, but live with him you must unless there's to be a legal separation in which case there's no release from the marriage contract until you can come back together and live in harmony. But barring legal separation which is taught in 1 Corinthians 7, barring that, dear one, there's no way out of that marriage and I'm convinced if people will enter into marriage convinced this is it, they wouldn't be so quick to run out of it when they face some problems. Isn't this true? Beloved, when you're in this thing and you know this is it, you just ride out your problems, grit your teeth and pray and sweat and talk and seek help, but you ride them out and someday you'll look back

44:42 and say, thank God, thank God. We've got some folk here who've been married many years and I'm sure this would be a testimony. You just ride it out. So you adults, don't you ever look for some little loophole in the marriage contract that two shall be one and what God has joined let no man put aside.

Exhortation 3: Sacredness of Marriage for Young People

45:01 So that's my word of exhortation to you parents. My word to you, dear young people, is this, don't you let the world squeeze you into its mold. Listen to me, fellas and girls, marriage is permanent and indissoluble. Marriage is sacred and a curse be upon Hollywood that would give you to think that marriage is something you pick up in shed like you do an Easter coat.

45:28 A curse be upon Hollywood and all identified with it. That would bring a generation of young people who feel if you hadn't had a cheap weekend motel honeymoon by the time you're 16, you haven't lived. You love it, it's a sacred institution and these international harlots and prostitutes who pose as career girls and actresses, as Tozer said, with the faces of angels and the morals of alley cats.

46:04 The woe of God and the curse of God is upon that whole institution and the state. The standards that it propagates to our young people and I want to plead with you dear precious young people because I love you too much to let you go unwarned and untaught.

46:23 Marriage is permanent. Do you hear me young people? It's permanent.

46:31 If you get married and get out of your contract by the courts on any other grounds than God's grounds and marry another you'll live the rest of your life in adultery because Christ said it. Whoso marrieth and then putteth away for any other cause than adultery and remarries is guilty.

Hope and Forgiveness for Those with Marital Sin

46:54 Now, do I have any word for those who may because of the past been guilty of this very thing? Yes, I thank God I have a word for you. You remember one time they brought to the Lord Jesus a woman taken in the very act of adultery. You remember what the Lord Jesus said to her?

47:12 Go.

47:14 Neither do I. Condemn me. Sin no more. I am so glad I can offer to you here today whose lives have been marred by the sin of adultery.

47:26 You enter into a two-one relationship and the seal of permanence was upon it and you severed it. Perhaps for scriptural grounds perhaps for unscriptural grounds. Is there any hope for you? Yes.

47:41 There's a Savior who said to a woman taken in the act of adultery neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more. Beloved, if you'll come to the Lord Jesus just as you are not saying well I've got to fix it up. It's my life. If you come just as you are He's promised to part to cleanse to relieve to forgive on the one condition that you're willing to quit your sin.

48:06 That's all. Now what more can be said than that? Such a free offer of mercy. But if you refuse to come the Bible says all adulterers shall have their part in the lake of fire.

48:20 Oh, but you say Pastor, you don't understand my problem and I know what some of you are thinking. All the terrible messes and this Billy Graham said you can't unscramble an egg.

48:31 You can't unscramble an egg. You may have problems and you may have loved ones with terrible mixed up things and I can't begin to answer or try to answer all of the ramifications of these principles. But will you listen to me carefully? God deals with you as and where you are.

48:51 And if I'm talking to some here today who've been married and then divorced on unscriptural grounds and remarried you say well if I come to Christ and I'm saved what's that mean? Am I to leave my present mate? Am I to go back to the other one they're remarried? How am I ever to straighten this out?

49:05 Dear ones, I don't believe God wants you to straighten it out. I believe God deals with us as and where we are and what He forgives and puts under the blood He forgives and puts under the blood.

49:19 And I trust this church will never set up artificial standards of membership. I've seen some churches they never would have had any members in Corinth. Most of those people came out of this kind of past and some of them ended up being the elders.

49:32 Whoever God receives we receive. And I don't care what your past has been if God's received you we receive you. Our arms are open. We ask no more than God does sincere repentance honest forsaking of your sin and a hearty desire to follow the Lord Jesus from henceforth.

49:50 That's what He asked. He didn't tell that woman now go on back and untangle all these messes. No indication that He told the woman at the well you go on back and find your first husband and start living with him and chuck this guy over now. No indication that He told her to try to go back and try to straighten out all this mess of the past.

50:09 These are the standards set up by men who sit in their plush studies with a sweet wife and a bunch of their own children running around and can look up at an ideal cloud and say this is the way it ought to be. Beloved God deals with us as and where we are and I'm so glad we've got that kind of a God.

50:25 No one wants to hold to high Bible standards any more than I do but I don't want to set them higher than the Bible has.

50:32 Isn't that the desire of your heart?

50:35 Jesus said ye have heard that it was said whosoever would put away his life might have built a divorcement but I say unto you whosoever putteth away his wife and marrieth another saving for the cause of fornication committeth adultery. May God teach us teach us indelibly inscribe upon our hearts the permanence the sobriety the great importance of having clear scriptural views on the nature of marriage and divorce. Beloved this isn't easy to proclaim these things but one is shut up to it to the truth of God and for those of you whose lives have been scarred and marred don't go away discouraged but flee to Christ just as you are

51:19 and he'll receive you. Shall we pray?

51:30 Lord we pray that somehow thou will burn the truth into our hearts that in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation you might have some of your people in every community who are not swayed by the lax standards of the society about them who are not even swayed by the lax standards and allowances of the civil courts but give us men and women whose standards are inseparably and irrevocably tied in to the word of God. Lord deliver us from this wishy-washy relativism that's cursed our society

52:14 and cursed the church where nothing is black anymore and nothing's white everything a fuzzy grey and all that thou will give to us for thy glory a group of young people who as they face the prospect of marriage and home will face it with Bible standards give us parents who will be able to imbibe these standards in the hearts of their young people because these are the standards that they themselves have received from thee and then Lord we tenderly and earnestly pray for those who may be in the midst of some of these problems we do not stand in condemnation but simply pray Lord that they will find Christ as the answer to any and every marital problem

52:58 O Father