For Christ, the King, forsake the world and every former friend. People of God, let us turn then to Mark chapter 10. We come to a beginning of a chapter and the geographical turning of a page as well. They are inching closer to Jerusalem. They enter now the region of Judea. So we read from Mark chapter 10, that's page 1076 in most of the pew Bibles. And we will read Mark chapter 10 verses one through 12. Let us hear the word of God. And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them And Pharisees came up, and in order to test him, asked, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? He answered them, What did Moses command you? They said, Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away. And Jesus said to them, Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so that they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. In the house, the disciples asked him again about this matter. And he said to them, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. So far the reading of God's holy word. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, God's creatures, the crown of his creation, have always been hard-hearted on this particular matter. We read of polygamy and promiscuity between the time of the fall and the time of the flood. We see in our passage that Jesus refers to the hard hearts of the Israelites in the days of Moses regarding marriage. And then we see throughout the Old Testament pages, again, polygamy and promiscuity throughout the history of the Old Testament peoples. And now here in the days of Jesus, we see a distortion and a hard-heartedness, a looseness concerning the strength of the bond of marriage. And of course, to our own day, do we not see distortion and twisting of the marriage bond in so many ways? But of course, it's not just our day. This was true decades ago as well. I will read for you a portion of the Acts of Synod 1947. So this is decades ago. And note there's at the end here some words that are especially to be directed to the younger generation. Now, for some of our older members here, they would have been that younger generation in these churches when the synod said this. One, quote, consistories and ministers are urged to do all in their power to instruct those entrusted to their spiritual care in the scriptural principles pertaining to marriage. see Matthew 19, Romans 7, Ephesians 5, Hebrews 13, 4, and to warn unceasingly against every violation of the marriage bond through unbiblical divorce or through adultery. Ground, the evils of adultery and unbiblical divorce are increasing on every side. Remember, this was written in 1947. The danger for our own denomination is growing by the day. Therefore, synodical resolution to urge consistories and ministers to exercise renewed vigilance in the work of instructing, exhorting, and warning our people, especially the younger generation. Far from being superfluous, this is highly necessary. People of God, this is indeed an area where the culture creeps in upon us and where hearts are quick to be hard throughout the millennia, throughout the decades. And so may we follow the pattern of Jesus before us in our text this morning. May we not take our example from the many failures of many generations of men, but may we turn back to the very institution of this sacred union to learn what God established, why God established, and then what God intended marriage to be. for the bond of marriage instituted at creation is to be held in high honor. And so we'll look first at this bond questioned, then we'll look at this bond established, and then we'll look at the bond unbroken. Let us first note this bond questioned, and questioned in this particular place at this particular time. We might remember from the context of Mark that the Pharisees are quick to question Jesus, both to team up with the political leaders of the day against him. Remember Mark 3, verse 6, that they were in league with the political team of the day And the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. Who is the Herodians? Those are those who are under Herod and his wife Herodias. And this is now the jurisdiction within which Jesus has stepped. As Jesus steps into Judea, he is now within the jurisdiction of Herod. And where else have we seen Herod and Herodias in the book of Mark. Already, some time ago, we were in Mark chapter 6. And what happens in Mark 6 verse 17? For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother's wife, because he had married her. And then, of course, the passage goes on to the very death of John the Baptist surrounding these matters and the hatred of Herodias who did not like John the Baptist teaching against her unbiblical divorce. And so these things are all in the context as we come now to Mark chapter 10 and as Jesus steps into the jurisdiction of Herod and Herodias And so here the Pharisees will again seek to test him, both trying to trap him in the law again and to speak on a matter in which might him get Jesus into political trouble, just as it had the head of John the Baptist removed. And what does Jesus do after their question in verse two? He cuts straight through the rabbi tape. He cuts straight to the law of Moses in verse three. Now Jesus knew, it has been well documented, that there were two camps within Judaism on marriage at this point in history. There was the camp of Rabbi Shemai, and that was the minority camp, and they took, this passage which is going to be referred to the passage from Moses about a certificate of divorce in Deuteronomy 24 and they took the words there to mean that that divorce was was to be rare that the only thing which qualified for the writing of a certificate of divorce was a severe moral sins that was one of the Jewish camps there was another Jewish camp called the camp of Rabbi Hillel and they thought Deuteronomy 24 that You know, a man could write a certificate of divorce when his wife did something that displeased him, and that could be all kinds of things. That could be a burnt dinner. It could be all kinds of things. And so there's very, very loose interpretation, a very open interpretation about how particularly a husband could divorce his wife. But Jesus cuts straight through this. He does not go into the direct Jewish debates, but he cuts straight to the word of God and says, what did Moses command you? and now anticipating that this passage, which had been so contested between the school of Shammai and the school of Hillel and the rabbis, Jesus knows they will go to this passage. And so they say in verse four, Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away. And they are referencing then Deuteronomy chapter 24. wherein we read these first four verses, Deuteronomy 24 verse 1-4, when a man takes a wife and marries her, if she finds no favor in his eyes, because he has found some indecency in her, and there was the disputed phrase, what does some indecency mean, and he wishes and he writes her a certificate of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of the house, and she departs out of his house. And then if she goes and becomes another man's wife, and the latter man hates her, and writes her a certificate of divorce, and puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife. This is the passage. the Pharisees refer to, and they say, Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce. Now, they do use the word allowed. They understand that this was not a command, but they say, well, Jesus, Moses allowed it. Husband could write a certificate of divorce. See, it's written right there, Deuteronomy 24, for us. And what does Jesus do? Jesus says, do you know why this command existed? Because of the hardness of hearts. That's why this command existed. This command did not exist so that you could have some debate about what some indecency means, and that the minority of you could say, well, it means just a few things, but in these few things there can be divorce. And Jesus certainly didn't mean that, you know, it could be, wow, some indecency, that could mean burnt dinner, and wow, we can write our certificate of divorce, and look, there it is, Moses says we can do it. Jesus says this passage was not written so that you might make divorce some common thing to be done in whatever situation you please. The very reason why this law existed was because of the hardness of hearts. Deuteronomy 24 is important enough, directly referenced here, that I think it's helpful for us to even step back and consider that passage on its own for a moment. Many commentators have noted Deuteronomy 24 is really a protection of women. That sounds a little bit strange at first, especially in our culture. But this helps us understand it. What was a wife given when she was married? She was given a bride price. She became wealthier. What happened to a wife when her husband died? She received a widow's inheritance. These things are also laid out in Jewish law. And so basically the picture we get in Deuteronomy 24 is that husbands were putting away their wives and then when it was financially beneficial to claim them back and say, oh, well, no, I didn't really divorce you. I want you back along with your widow's inheritance and everything. then they would claim them back after they had been remarried. That's the kind of picture we get. And so many commentators have pointed out what's really going on is further evil is being restrained and the rights of the oppressed woman are being protected insofar as they can be protected. Basically, the wife who has been divorced and oppressed cannot be further oppressed by being retaken. That's the kind of picture going on in Deuteronomy 24. Or as Jesus quickly summarizes it, this existed because of the hardness of your hearts. This is not how it was meant to be. Because of the hardness of your hearts, He wrote you this commandment. And so then what does Jesus do? There are principles when we come to scripture to understand its meaning, right? We think of the context. And we think also of how do we interpret passages which are less clear, which passages which are more clear. That's essentially what Jesus does here. He says, look at the context. He wrote this because of your hardness of hearts. And what does God really teach about marriage? I'm going to move you out of the context of this provision in the midst of a sinful generation in which divorce was common and so protections for the divorced women had to be written. I'm going to take you out of that context. I'm going to take you into the clear context. That's what Jesus is doing here. And then so we move out of our first point and into our second point because Jesus moves out of the realm of the time of Moses into the realm of the time of creation and says in verse six, as we come to our second point, but from the beginning of creation, in other words, but the text, which you should have understood as being foundational and clear regarding what marriage should be, God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. They are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. Do you see what God is doing? He is saying, this is how it was supposed to be. This is how it was instituted to be. This is how it was in the garden before there was sin. And this is how it still should be ideally. This is what marriage should be. Essentially he's saying this, Deuteronomy 24 was written for the heart of heart and that you would go there first. instead of to Genesis 1 first is displaying your own hardness of hearts. That's the movement which Jesus makes before us. You're talking about the days of Moses when a wicked and hard-hearted generation had to have restrictions against further abuse. I am going to take you to what God clearly said and how God clearly defined it, not in the time of a wicked generation, but from creation when everything was good and very good. Genesis 1 and 2. Why does Scripture not go back to Genesis 1 and 2 more often than Genesis 3 in the fall? Well, a couple of things. First of all, Scripture does go back very often. The Psalms, the prophets, the apostles, they all go back. Christ himself goes back more than once, many times. But in the many pages of Scripture, you could say, OK, maybe we're not referring back to these foundational things so often. One illustration I heard for this in the midst of a debate on what does Scripture say about homosexuality because this text very much addresses that. One of the illustrations I heard for that is, well, what if you had a book, and it was a cookbook, and it was a sugar-free cookbook, and the first three pages talked about why there was no sugar, and then you could turn to any other page in the cookbook, and you're like, oh, there's no sugar here. What's going on? It's just not talking about it. Well, why is it not talking about it? Because in the first three pages, it told you what was going on. And so the first three pages made it clear, and so now it doesn't even need to be referenced throughout the rest of the cookbook. It was an illustration of this reality, that Genesis 1, and Genesis 2, and Genesis 3, God's good creation, how God intended things to be, and then there was the fall of man. And yeah, there are many pages where that's not explicitly referenced, but that's okay. We have the first three pages. We should never forget them. And so Jesus says, from creation, God made them male and female. This has all kinds of applications. For one thing, note, God is talking about creation, and he's referring to the creation of male and female as being in the beginning. Well, there goes day-age theory. There goes the gap theory. Just like in the Gospel of John, when Jesus talks about the devil being a tempter from the beginning, well, that makes sense if the very beginning and the beginning is a short time frame. It doesn't make sense if man was created long after everything else. It doesn't make sense if the fall was long after everything else. These statements only make clear, even as the plain reading of Genesis makes clear, all these things happened in a short amount of time. From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. So it helps us to understand what the plain reading of Genesis already was, but now affirmed in the New Testament. It also teaches us most clearly what marriage is. Marriage is divinely instituted. God made them. Marriage is between one man and one woman, male and female. Marriage is the formation of a new family. Therefore, man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. Marriage is a union in the marriage relationship. verse 8, the two become one flesh, and this union is to be lifelong, never broken, what God has joined together, let not man separate. You know, there are a few things which arguments for homosexuality commonly include. One of the things is, those who seek to make this argument and still have scripture open before them, will say, well, when the New Testament teaches against homosexuality in passages such as 1 Corinthians 6, 9, 1 Timothy 1, 10, Romans chapter 1, see, it's not really speaking about homosexual marriage. It's just speaking about homosexual fornication. But the apostles weren't thinking about lifelong monogamous homosexual unions. First of all, you have to pervert what the words in those passages actually mean. Second of all, this passage is talking about marriage. And Jesus says marriage is one man and one woman. Some say, well, And then they start to break up scripture, right? And so misunderstanding what the authority of God's word is, they elevate the words of Jesus, the red words above the other words. And they say, well, Jesus never said anything directly against homosexuality. Jesus defined marriage and sexuality by making reference to the beginning. God made them male and female. Some say, well, again, misunderstanding what the eternal truth of God's word means. They say something along these lines. Well, to speak in favor of homosexuality would have just been so counter-cultural. The culture just wasn't even ready for that. So Jesus couldn't say it and the apostles couldn't say that. Think Jesus isn't being counter-cultural here? You think Jesus was ever afraid to speak the truth and speak it plainly? And do you really think the truth of God's Word isn't eternal? If someone's gonna play with passages such as 1 Timothy 1.10, just take them to Mark 10. God's Word is clear. This is what marriage is supposed to be. That's, we might say, the negative, the polemical arguments. But there are many things which speak to each one of us here. Because Jesus isn't only defining marriage over and against all the false definitions of marriage that have existed. Jesus is speaking about what marriage is supposed to be. What marriage was instituted to be from the garden. And those are all good and beautiful things. One man. One woman. It's not polygamy. United in marriage to becoming one flesh. All of the joys of marriage. All of the commitments of marriage. This is what marriage was instituted to be. This is what marriage should be and should look like. And that has all kinds of implications, all kinds of applications for every single one of us. For those who have been blessed with a godly union, isn't that the greatest gift? What a blessing. Give thanks to God. He's the one who instituted this. For those who desire marriage, not having the gift of singleness, and yet have not had such an answer to such a prayer. That is sad. Continue in patience and prayer upon God that he might give you this blessing. To those who have enjoyed the beauty of a bond in God and then have that bond taken away from them in the death of a spouse. That is sad. It is a great gift taken away from you. It's okay to grieve, even as it is good to give thanks for the sometimes many years or even decades that the Lord did give you. And what about those who see this great gift abused, abused through immorality or other sinful behaviors. This is not what God meant marriage to be. The lifelong committed relationship which God instituted good from the garden is not meant to be broken or bruised. And so when it is so broken, that is a great pain. People of God, Jesus clearly tells us what marriage is and what marriage should be. And so understandable sorrows and difficulties and joyful thanksgiving all flow from that. When we see this bond as it should be, and when we see this bond not as it should be. Jesus then goes into more details with his disciples. We come now to our third point. And in the house, the disciples asked him also about this matter, verses 10 through 12. Now first Corinthians 9 verse 5 implies for us that most, if not all, the apostles were married. Certainly Cephas, that's Peter, he had a mother-in-law, he was married. And again, the implication in first Corinthians 9 is that many of them were married. And so they're wondering about this. They want to learn more about this. Speak more to us concerning what marriage should be And what does Jesus do? Jesus essentially returns to the commandment, the seventh commandment, you shall not commit adultery, and defines just how strong that command is. To the point where if a marriage bond has not been broken, It is adultery to live with another. Now, scripture interprets scripture. So scripture tells us that this is a general rule, because we do have Matthew 19. We do have 1 Corinthians 7, and those would speak about dissolving of a marriage bond through abandonment or through adultery. But where someone has not suffered abandonment, where someone has not suffered their spouse breaking the bonds through adultery itself, This is the wide standing general and perfect rule of God that since the relationship has not properly been broken through death or through what those other passages would speak of, to then live with another is to be living in a constant state of adultery because that one is not really your spouse. This reminds us, perhaps, of the words to the woman at the well in John 4. Do you remember what Jesus says to the woman there in John 4, verse 16? Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here. And the woman answered him, I have no husband. And Jesus said to her, you are right in saying you have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you have is not your husband. What you have said is true. Do you see the principle? If the marriage bond was not broken through death or what Matthew 19, 1 Corinthians 7, in the context of an unbeliever, would tell us, when the marriage bond has not been properly broken, you're not really married. Now, in the past, this has meant when a divorced person with a still living spouse came to a Reformed church, there would be an investigation. This is how it would normally go. There would be an investigation. And if it was discovered that the spouse still living was not in fault of adultery and was willing for reconciliation in any way, then the one who was now living in this second marriage was to put away that wife, let's assume it's a man for a moment, and to return to his first wife before he could be admitted to membership in the church. There's a lot of steps there. What did we just say? Essentially what we're saying is they were taking the strength of this command and saying if you do not return to your first wife who is willing to reconcile with you and did not commit adultery against you, if you are not willing to do that, You are taking away the power and the reality of what God says about your current relationship being one of living in adultery. And if you will not heed the church and put away your second wife and return to the one who really is your wife, you cannot be allowed entrance into the church of God. Wow, that's really strong language. Did the church ever really say that? Yes, the church really did say that. We live in a sensuality-driven culture. And the reality is, the reality is, there's a church down the road that's not going to say that. And what has happened in this day and age is when someone says, you know, you shouldn't marry this young person, they're not a Christian. Or when someone says, You are really called to be in a state where you are not being sensually fulfilled right now. What happens? The person goes up and goes to the church down the street that says you can do it. That's the reality which so often happens today. But the truth of God's word says there are times when Jesus clearly says what adultery is, what a state of living in adultery is, And if you heed God's command, you will do things which are very counter-cultural. Because that's how strong the marriage bond is. The marriage bond was never really broken if you are living in a state of adultery as defined here. And so what is proper, what is right, to return to that bond that was never broken. Countercultural indeed. Strong words indeed, because the bond of marriage is a strong bond. Now again, I made reference to Matthew 19, 1 Corinthians 7. And because of these passages, we do know this is not an absolute every single circumstance of someone being remarried rule. That was a mouthful. But even in those passages, even in Matthew 19, which is really a parallel passage to Mark 10, and just some more details are given, and even in 1 Corinthians 7, this basic pattern is followed. If you would turn to 1 Corinthians 7 with me, I will read a few verses and I will point out this general pattern which exists both here and in Matthew 19, in the two chapters of the New Testament which speak about divorce. This basic pattern, I'm going to say the pattern and then I'm going to read the verses. discussion and re-emphasis on the general rule that there should not be divorce. Second, that when there is an improper or unlawful, to use the language from Matthew 19, divorce, there should not be remarriage because that would be increasing the sin and living in a state of adultery. And then, third, Third, now we can talk about the exceptions. That's the general movement. So read with me verses 10 and 11. To the married, I give this charge, not I but the Lord, the wife should not separate from her husband. It's a bond instituted, made sacred by God himself from the garden. This is always the first rule. Verse 11, but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband and the husband should not divorce his wife. That's very much in line with the teaching about adultery in Mark 10. Scripture agrees with scripture and here we just see it spelled out. If there is a divorce, remain unmarried. These are the first two rules. And only after saying this do we read something such as 1 Corinthians 7 verse 15. But if the unbelieving partner separates, which has again and again been defined as a separation which could be called an abandonment, But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such a case, the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. You see the pattern? Pattern which is so strong that Mark 10 doesn't even speak about the exceptions. Because as much as possible, they should not even enter our minds. marriage instituted by God, the first teaching upon it, the foundational teaching upon it being found in Genesis 1, Genesis 2, the verses from which Jesus Christ quotes directly. This is a strong and sacred bond indeed. There are times when it is dissolved in the eyes of man, but not in the eyes of God. This is the bond which is used to describe the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Bride. That's done throughout Scripture. We sang from Psalm 45. What is Psalm 45? We sang about the bride of Israel being presented to her God. That's what we were singing about when we sang from Psalm 45. The psalmist says it, the prophets say it on no uncertain terms. I am the faithful husband. And the apostles make it clear that that faithful husband is Jesus Christ himself who died on the cross for sinners. that union, that union, which is never broken, not even by death, that husband who is perfectly faithful. Let us look to him, let us believe in him, and let us follow his teaching on his institution, which he made from the beginning of creation. Amen. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, we pray that you would impress upon us the weight of this bond. That where this bond is is broken by marriage, broken by death, or bruised and abused, that you would make us to have sympathetic love for those who are grieving. But that the general rule, that the goodness of this bond would be seen That it would be the way that our husbands and wives live with one another. That this would be the way that children see parents living with one another. And that we would then indeed know an illustration of the perfect spouse who is Jesus Christ himself. And so we pray in his name. Amen. People of God, let us turn in song number 404. Let's stand if able to sing 404 verses 1, 2, 5, and 6. ♪ One is Jesus Christ her Lord ♪ ♪ She is his new creation by water and the Word ♪ ♪ From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride ♪ ♪ In his own blood he bought her and for her life gave his life ♪ for all the earth. Her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth. One holy name she classes, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses with every grace and good. and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest. And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is gone. O happy ones and holy Lord, give us grace that we Like them the weak and lowly, God, I may dwell with thee. to dwell at the eternal marriage feast in union. Amen. And people of God, it is now time for our gifts and offerings. This morning that is for the general fund and then our benediction and doxology 567. You're welcome. Yeah. If you would now stand and receive God's blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. ♪ Praise God from whom all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise him all creatures ♪ Praise Him above all He heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.