I turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 10 where we have read the first 12 verses. We'll reread those again this morning as we continue looking at what the Bible has to say about marriage and divorce. What is marriage? And this will be part two of this message. As I stated last week, this is a very difficult subject, but it, I think, is a necessary subject to preach on. Certainly, our Lord thought it was important enough that he spoke on it, and he dealt with this question that's brought to him. All I know to do is look to God's word and see what God's word says. And we must look to his word to guide us and to help us understand these things. I believe there is a little bit of, what am I looking for? A little bit, a few things in related to this, to marriage and divorce that are left a little unclear. And so we, I think, must rely upon God's direction and studying his word and the leadership of his Holy Spirit to help us to determine exactly what may be what. But there are some things, too, that are very clear. And we must build all that we believe on this topic of marriage and divorce upon those things that are made very clear to us. So it's been my hope to share some of those things with you as we look at this passage. Just a note, yesterday's topics for the fifth Sunday meeting were glorifying God, in our life and glorifying God in our death. And Brother Steve Raines was supposed to have that second one, and because he couldn't be there, I feel them for him, and he was gracious to share with me his thoughts on that and some of the scriptures he was looking at, and then I preached the message yesterday, and I was talking to Sister Sheila a while ago, and I thought maybe to re-preach that message as well as my version of the first one. maybe on a Sunday night, but then I was thinking after we talked, Sister Sheila, that maybe it would go well with this. And so we may go from marriage and divorce into those two things. And the reason I think that is because of how we should have a high view of marriage. meaning we need to understand that it is above us, that it's more than just the two people who are married. This is something that God has ordained, something that God has obviously put a lot of emphasis on himself, and it is thus very important to God. Therefore, our marriages ought to glorify God, and I think that's part of our lives that we live. If we're married, we should, everything we do, should bring honor and glory to God, and that includes the way we conduct our marriages. So we may just do that. I'll pray on this, but that may very well be where we head. So let's look at our text again in Mark, Mark chapter 10. I want to read this. We're going to end up looking at quite a bit at Matthew's account, and as well, he has a little bit extra that he adds to it, I want us to look at, but Mark 10, verse one, and he rose from thence and cometh into the coast of Judea by the farther side of Jordan, and the people resort unto him again, and as he was wont, he taught them again. And the Pharisees came to him and asked him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife, tempting him? And he answered and said unto them, what did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, for the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept, but from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. and they twain shall be one flesh, so then they are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter, and he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband and be married to another, she committeth adultery. Let's pray. Our kind and most gracious heavenly Father, oh Lord, we seek your Holy Spirit now to help us to sort through this particular topic, Lord, that we might understand it from your scriptures, the way you see it, Lord, that we might put out the ways of this world and the ways of our flesh, and that we might see this in your way, oh Lord, and then therefore conduct ourselves in such a way to be obedient to you. Lord, I just pray for understanding and mercy as we look at these scriptures, and that we might grow in what we learn from this here. And may we always see marriage as that that you hold up to demonstrate to us the relationship of Christ with his church. and let us see that it is more holy because of that. Let us see that it is so very important that it be done right because of that. I just pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Now I wanna very quickly review some of the things we established last week as we laid a foundation for marriage and also for divorce. First of all, last week, we said that God instituted marriage, and he is the only one who gets to define it. And that means that no government, no body of people, popular opinion doesn't get to define what marriage is. God does, and he has already defined it, and we must go with his definition. Two, God's design is for one man and one woman to be united for a lifetime. unless one of the party dies. God is very clear about this. This is his view of marriage. There are concessions that are made for certain things, as we shall see, but his view of marriage is that it lasts for a lifetime, and should one of the parties die, then that other party is permitted to remarry, but then it should last for a lifetime. Three, marriage is more completely defined as the joining of two bodies, two wills, two minds, two sets of God-given emotions. It is the merging of two people essentially into one. Obviously, we still walk around separately physically, but a marriage is indeed the bringing together of two people. the uniting of two people. And this is something that God does with us and in us. And we must not deny his work to accomplish that. Now, is it something that happens overnight? No. It takes a lifetime to learn how to be married. I'm still learning how to be married. but it is something that should be ongoing, it is something that God does in us. Four, marriage is sacred, and thus must not be altered by man. It is sacred because it reflects the spiritual union of Christ and his church. And then five, the Bible does not condone divorce, but it does recognize the reality of divorce. And so we have to factor that into our thinking as well. So I left off last week by asking a few questions. Who determines what marriage is? God and God alone. What makes the institution of marriage sacred and holy? The fact that it represents the union of Christ and his church. Why is marriage important? Because it is God ordained and is meant for our good and his glory. So building on that foundation, I want you to turn now to Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19, we will begin reading there at verse three, and read and comment as we go along. This is the Harmonized account. There are the various gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. there will be certain things that are harmonized between two or more of those four Gospels, meaning we'll find a passage in one and a very similar passage in the other. And it's often very helpful, of course, for us to study the two, to compare the two, and see what each is saying. We need to understand that they differ only because they are being written to different audiences, And therefore, God, as he inspired the writing of it, brought about maybe sometimes subtle differences in order to emphasize a certain point. So it's very good to study things together. So let us look at Matthew's account here. Matthew chapter 19, verse three is where we'll start. Now, right away, as we see here in three, the Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? In Mark's account, it just says, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Matthew's account is written more to Jews. Mark's is written more to Gentiles, to Romans. And therefore, I believe Matthew brings out something very important here that we need to see, and that is that phrase for every cause. As I said last week, there were two different schools of thought among the Jews by this time. Two different rabbis who taught things, and one was more conservative, that was the school of Shammai, and then you have the school of Hillel, which tended to be more liberal. and the Jews would choose which of those they would follow, their interpretation of things they would follow, and so forth, but they had a great deal of influence on Jewish thought. The school of Shammai said basically that you couldn't divorce for any reason. The school of Hillel permitted divorce for just about any reason at all. As I commented last week, if a wife were cooking her husband's meal and put too much salt in the meal, the Jews believed, in the school of Hillel, that that was grounds for divorce. So it could be about anything. Sounds a little bit like our times today. And the Pharisees divided themselves up between these two schools on this, but most of them followed the school of Hillel, particularly on this matter. And so they're trying to put Jesus in a tight spot. They're hoping for him to make a statement that would alienate, favor one school over the other, alienate the others and make those people mad at him, okay? That's just the way they operated. They also probably hope that he might end up saying something that would go against what Moses had said. And Jesus himself, knowing this, brings Moses into it with what he says when he answers. So basically, verse three is telling us that they're trying to trap him. Verse four, we see that our Lord answers by affirming the original purpose for marriage. You see, this is what they got, they got caught up in their modern-day interpretations, if you will, of their day, and they had lost sight of the original purpose for marriage. To them, marriage had become a matter of convenience. And practically, for the most part, it meant basically if a man got tired of his wife, he could cast her aside and go get another one. And that's what they were using it to justify. Their teaching, the teaching they were doing was justifying that. And so our Lord points them back to the original purpose of marriage. We looked at this last week when we studied from Genesis. Now let's see what Jesus himself says. Verse four, and he answered and said unto them, have you not read, have you not read the word? Have you not read what God has said? You're talking about what these different schools think and what you believe. Have you not read the word of God? And folks, that's a great question for us all. When we have a difficulty about something, we have an issue about something, have you not read? Have you not read for yourself in the Bible what the Bible says? We ought to do that, shouldn't we? That's a good idea. Let's just go back and look at what God says. Why don't we do that? Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. So he says, have you not read that he, that's God, which made them at the beginning, made them male and female and said, for this cause shall a man, what cause? This cause of marriage, this uniting together. For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, you'll break your ties, you'll start your own family, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. This, again, is referring to the Genesis account of creation and of marriage. God's purpose is for one man and one woman to become one in marriage. God's way is beautiful and it's wondrous. when we do it His way. When we follow His instructions, when we seek His blessing, when we try to conduct our marriages in a way that brings honor and glory to Him, He blesses that, and the product is a very beautiful and wondrous thing. Now man, over the course of time, has sought to change this order that God has established. And man's changes to this are ugly and sinful and the product of a deranged mind. We see that in our culture today. When people are saying that a marriage can exist between one man and one man, or one woman and one woman, or the big push right now is this transgenderism thing. And who knows what you're getting into there. All of this is ugly. These man-made attempts to alter what marriage really is. The best thing our nation could do is go back to God's standard on marriage. That's what happens when man gets his hands on things, he makes it ugly and sinful, as did these Pharisees in their day. They're taking marriage and using it to please their own flesh. And so they're justifying divorce for any reason. And they're making it ugly as well. Jesus points them back to the original. He points them back to the way God established it. And if you're gonna talk about standards, he's basically telling them, let's start with what God said and what God did, what the Father has done about marriage. Verse six, wherefore they are no more twain or two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. True marriage is a union made by God, not to be separated by man. People run to a preacher and get married, So they can have God's blessing, and then they run to the courthouse to tear it all up with a divorce. What God joins together, let not man put asunder. You can get a piece of paper that contractually binds you to another person. That's where all these different kinds of marriages are starting to come in. And you can go get married by a judge or a justice of the peace or a mayor or whatever. I believe that a believer should be married in a ceremony that honors God and seeks his blessing on the union. That doesn't necessarily have to be in a church. It could be in a different setting. But I believe the couple should enter into that marriage with their eyes on God and seeking God's blessing for that union. This should be entered into with much thought and consideration, and then every effort should be made to maintain this union. Why are divorce rates among professed Christians just as high as those who are not Christians? I have two answers for that. First, I think that this is evidence that there are more and more people who profess to be Christians who really aren't. Therefore, when they're getting married, Their marriage union is not one that will be blessed by God, because they're not believers. That don't mean that people can't, you know, there are unbelievers that get married and live 50 years together. Happily, that can happen. I'm just telling you, God's best blessings are reserved for his people. And for his people when they marry each other, one another, you know. Two believers, I mean. Man and woman, I mean. So that's one reason I think it's because many of these Christians getting divorces aren't really Christians to begin with. Secondly, I think there are more and more true Christians who are falling into the ways of this world, and that's gonna affect your married life as quick or quicker than anything else. And that leads to divorce. And that's not good. because that leads us to verse seven now, seven, eight, nine, where we learn that divorce is sin and that God hates it. We've seen that God hates it from the passage we read last week from Malachi. Verse seven, they say unto him, so this is their response. He says, look back to what God said, and then what God joins together, let no man put asunder, They say unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away? Now to them, they're appealing to a higher authority than this carpenter from Galilee. They don't believe Jesus is the Son of God. They don't believe that he is the Messiah. I think they grudgingly accepted that he was a teacher. But they think now they're gonna appeal to someone higher than Jesus. But as we know, Moses is not higher than Jesus. So they appealed to him. They said, Moses said we could give a writing of divorcement and we could put her away. Are you telling us that we can't? Are you going against Moses? And the God of Moses then replies. He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so. What's he telling them? Hardness of your heart, because of your sin, because we are sinful creatures, because we live in a fallen world, because things just will not be perfect here, because of that, He said Moses made a concession and allowed you to write up a divorce. But he emphasizes that's not what God's intentions were. We were talking this morning in Sean's Sunday school class about whether or not everything is predestinated. Here's an example of that. God does not predestinate divorce. but it happens, and sometimes it happens and can happen according with scriptural instruction. It can happen. But that doesn't mean God predestinated that to happen. That means that somewhere, the male or the female or both, probably both, have failed. They're the ones who make it necessary, maybe, for a divorce to occur. And we're gonna get into reasons why in a moment. In fact, Jesus says right away, verse nine. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commiteth adultery, and whoso marrieth her which is put away, doth commit adultery. Luke in chapter 16 verse 18, kind of a standalone verse, he further affirms this. He says, whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery, and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery. What is he saying? Unless there be fornication involved, if someone gets a divorce, and remarries, then adultery becomes a sin and becomes an issue for the persons. He makes the allowance of fornication. In other words, he's saying, and God, this is God, his word, that if there is fornication involved, what is fornication? It is a general term for any kind of sexual immorality. So therefore it could refer to a sexual relationship outside of marriage, between two people who are not married. It could also mean adultery. One of the partners in a marriage has a relationship with someone outside of the marriage, another person. That's adultery, so that falls under fornication as well. So any kind of sexual immorality, if it enters into the occasion, it seems that from this scripture that it would be permitted for divorce to occur and for the person to remarry. Paul, turn now, go ahead and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. We're gonna look at several verses here, so go ahead and turn there. Paul reaffirms this in his letter to the Corinthians and adds the case of marriage to an unbeliever and the departure of the unbeliever from the marriage. He also in this, as we shall see, affirms being single. and not remarried. He says it's a good thing. And that one who has been married and is now unmarried shouldn't rush to be married again. Let's see what he says. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 8. We're not going to read all of the verses he has here in this chapter in their entirety, but we're going to read several. Verse 8. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. Meaning Paul was, at this point in time, single. We don't know what happened to his wife. He must have been married at one time because that was expected in Jewish life. He was a rising star among the Pharisees. It is, I think, an assumption that we can safely make that he was married. But if he was, then something has happened to his wife. and he is single, and he's saying if you are unmarried, if you're a widow, that's fine, that's good, I am. That's a good thing, there's nothing wrong with it. Verse nine, but if they cannot contain, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn. In other words, if they can't control themselves and their sexual appetites, if you will, then it is better than to marry. Verse 10, and unto the married, I command you, I command, yet not I, but the Lord, let not the wife depart from her husband. But, and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband, and let not the husband put away his wife. What he's saying here is if you are married, and there are difficulties in the marriage, then it is okay to separate if that needs to be done. If that seems to be the wisest course, it's okay to separate, but don't divorce, don't go get remarried. If anything, work on reconcilement. Be reconciled. Verse 12. But to the rest speak I, not the Lord. If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. So now what we have is the case of one being a believer and the other being an unbeliever. And I think the thought is that these are two people that both were unbelievers when they married, but somewhere one of them has become a believer since marriage. So he's addressing that issue. He says if that happens, and you can make it work, stay with it, continue the marriage. Verse 13, and the woman which hath a husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Else were your children unclean, but now are they holy. But if the unbelieving depart, let them depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God hath called us to peace. So what's he saying? Stay with it if you can. There is something about this that God will use to sanctify the unbeliever. It just may be that this may be a means by which he will quicken and then bring to conversion that unbeliever. We don't know. I'm not saying that this will change things and cause this person to get quick in God. That is in God's hands. So I'm not saying that. God will quicken the person if he is one of his elect. But the means by which he brings that person to understand that they have been quickened and born again could be that believing wife or husband. And this could be an influence on the children as well as he points out. But if the unbeliever departs, then let them go. A brother or sisters, he says, is not under bondage in such cases. Verse 16, for what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? And again, we can't save another, but we could be the means by which God brings that about. Go on down now to verses 39 and 40. Same chapter, 1 Corinthians 7, verses 39 and 40. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth. But if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord. but she is happier if she so abide after my judgment. And I think also that I have the spirit of God. Paul teaches that God's desire is for reconciliation if there is a separation. If there be a separation, that there not be remarriage. Now let's move on to one more issue. Divorce and remarriage. When are they permitted? I want you to turn to a passage now, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. And this verse does not say directly the point I'm about to make, but it states a general principle that I think can justify the point I'm about to make, and that point is this. Divorce and remarriage may be permitted if the divorce occurs before one's conversion. In 2 Corinthians 5, 17, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And I'm understanding that verse to tell us that the things that we did before we were quickened and converted are gone, they're done away with, they're over, it's as if really they haven't happened. That is especially true, we know about sin because the blood of Christ covers our sins. Once we're converted though, now we have been given knowledge and understanding of what God teaches, or we have access to that knowledge and understanding from his word, and we understand what he teaches about marriage and about divorce, so then we're held to a higher standard. Not everybody agrees with this. You may disagree with this, because again, it is not explicitly stated here that that's what this verse is dealing with, because this verse, I think, is dealing with everything in general. and this would just fall in under that. That's my look at it. But that's something you have to reconcile with yourself between you and the Lord and your understanding of the scriptures. So let me repeat, the principle here is that all that we did prior to being quickened and then converted is done away with. It's like we begin completely new with a fresh slate. I think Paul is a good example of this. in that he persecuted, imprisoned, and even killed Christians, or at least had them killed before his conversion. But that was done away with, and we have a totally new person now after that conversion, and I believe that to be true about everyone. So let me summarize a few things concerning divorce that I believe. It is permissible, divorce is permissible, when there has been sexual immorality. Two, it is permissible when there is desertion by an unbeliever. Three, it is permissible when the divorce was pre-conversion. I think I know the first two are taught in scripture. I believe the third is taught in scripture. But what about cases that don't fall under those three categories? That's where it gets difficult. That's where it's hard. And all I know to tell you is this, I believe that in this, on those occasions, it's gonna come down to a matter of grace, a matter of utmost deliberation of the scriptures and the leading of the Holy Spirit. And all I would say is this, I would urge those who are in that position to look carefully at the scriptures and to take their cause to Christ. And I believe they will find in Christ understanding and mercy and grace and direction as to what they should do. Let me close with this thought. Remember what the purpose of marriage is. It is to bring honor and glory to God. Because in marriage we see. Christ love for his church. His sacrifice for his church. His purpose in presenting his church to himself without spot and without blemish on that appointed day. It is a wondrous thing. And let us reach for that ideal and not settle for the world's fake marriage. In false teaching about things like divorce. Let's trust in God. And I believe God will lead us. I know he will lead us. In the way that's right. Don't trust your heart. Don't trust what man says, including this preacher. Believe what God says. and act accordingly. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Dear Heavenly Father and Lord, we come to you thankful for these verses of scripture. We're thankful that you are a God of honor and glory, and that in your wisdom you saw fit to create the beautiful thing called marriage, and that you have ordained it and that you bless it when it is done according to your stated will and purpose. Help us, Lord, to reach for that ideal, to live to that ideal, so that we might indeed, through our actions, bring honor and glory to your name, and so that we might be blessed by you, that it would be for our good. Lord, help us with these difficult passages, with these difficult places that exist and trouble our thinking because we are so plagued by sin in our own sinful nature. Help us, Lord, to find light, to see how we might walk. Help us, Lord, to find your way and to walk therein. May we ever please you in what we do. And may you forgive us where we fail. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's all stand. What number shall we sing?