Sexuality Matthew 19:1-12

The first and worst cause of errors that abound in our day and age is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgement.

Pride is the main handle by which he has hold of Christian persons and the chief source of all the mischief that he introduces to clog and hinder a work of God. Spiritual pride is the main spring or at least the main support of all other errors. Until this disease is cured, medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases.

It is by spiritual pride that the mind defends and justifies itself in other errors and defends itself against light by which it might be corrected and reclaimed. The spiritually proud man thinks he is full of light already and feels that he does not need instruction, so he is ready to ignore the offer of it.

-Jonathan Edwards

Jesus gives us three principles that inform our understanding of human sexuality

I. The Divine Design Principle vv. 1-6

When we pick up, Jesus is teaching in the region of Judea, when He is confronted by a group of Pharisees on the issue of marriage:

Why do they care about the issue so deeply? Broadly speaking, there was a great debate amongst Pharisees regarding what grounds a man might have for divorcing his wife

Increasingly, teachers were prescribing divorce for lesser and lesser offense, including poor homemaking skills and the possibility of finding a more attractive mate

They want to know if Jesus will affirm them in this or not!

This is exactly the position that we find ourselves in 2000 years later; the culture is demanding answers and they are unlikely to listen to what Jesus has to say on the matter

The church is not obsessed with sex, but the culture widely is

Questions of sexual expression are questions of ultimate authority: how we answer these questions demonstrates who we believe is the authority in our own lives, God or ourselves

Jesus invites us to look back at God’s creative intent: the divine design

Complementary in nature- it is defined by the male-female procreative union. Please understand that Jesus is not silent on this; it is just so patently obvious that it is not discussed in this context.

Exclusive- the husband and wife leave even their most important family bonds behind for the sake of their coupling

Unifying- there is a fleshly union between husband and wife; God intends sex and marriage to go hand-in-hand

Sanctioned- the joining of man and woman in marriage is a spiritual act, sacred in every way. God joins the husband and wife together

When we try to separate our understanding of sexuality from God’s design as author, we have a recipe for disaster

Authorial intent is everything

Our lives cannot be what God intends for them to be apart from commitment to His ways

This is a discipleship issue; we cannot reject the Lord on this and believe that we are living in a pattern of faithfulness

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott No Design, No Purpose, No Evil and Good

Richard Dawkins (who in 1995 became professor of public understanding of science at Oxford) uses the metaphor of a river (in River out of Eden) to explain the flow through time of DNA, the genetic messenger. Since its discovery, “there’s no need of any explanation of the universe except [the] selfishness of [the] gene.” There’s “no design, no purpose, no evil and good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.… DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.”

II. The Sinful Heart Principle vv. 7-9

Jesus digs deeper into the issue in the next part of the passage, as the Pharisees cite Deut. 24 as excuse for their practice of divorce

Effectively, they believe that divorce must be good, because Moses describes how to pursue a divorce

Unfortunately for them, this reveals much more about their own hearts than they would have guessed

Jesus makes it clear that divorce may be permissible or even necessary, but it is never good

There has never been a break with God’s covenant image of marriage that does not involve sin

Either husband, wife, or both have been in sin when divorce is occurring.

The Pharisees have a lot in common with us:

They search the Scriptures looking for biblical ways to justify their own desires instead of measuring the desires of their heart against the teachings of Scripture

When we cast off the dominion of Christ for the desire of our hearts, it leads to disobedience and destruction

Interestingly enough, at the heart of sexual sin, we find sin, not sex is the greatest issue.

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses

III. The Kingdom Commitment Principle vv. 10-12

Finally, we see the disciples respond: They are appalled by Jesus’s teaching

It turns out that Jesus is calling them to a far higher standard of righteousness than expected, not lesser

In fact, this is so bad that it might not even be worth marrying; you might be trapped in a difficult marriage

Given that the culture taught that marriage was an expectation and the highest good, this was terrifying to them

I think we need to pay careful attention to Jesus’s response. He basically says, “OK”.

The call to Kingdom living is greater than the call to sexual fulfillment

He uses a particular image, that of the eunuch to illustrate His point here.

For some, the call of the Kingdom will be so strong that they reject marriage rather than be found unfaithful to Christ

If the Kingdom is great enough to sacrifice a wonderful good for, how much more should we flee what He has called destructive, dishonorable, and disobedient

The call to follow Jesus extends to every part of our lives, even this one.

750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers 459: Obedience

In General Patton’s Principles for Life and Leadership, Gen. George-S. Patton Jr. says:

Picking the right leader is the most important task of any commander. I line up the candidates and say, “Men, I want a trench dug behind warehouse ten. Make this trench eight feet long, three feet wide and six inches deep.”

While the candidates are checking their tools out at the warehouse, I watch them from a distance. They puzzle over why I want such a shallow trench. They argue over whether six inches is deep enough for a gun emplacement. Some complain that such a trench should be dug with power equipment. Others gripe that it is too hot or too cold to dig. If the men are above the rank of lieutenant, there will be complaints that they should not be doing such lowly labor. Finally, one man will order, “What difference does it make what [he] wants to do with this trench! Let’s get it dug and get out of here.”

That man will get the promotion. Pick the man who can get the job done!

God too is looking for people to whom he can give authority and responsibility. Like Patton, he gives people jobs and watches to see how they respond. Most of all, God is looking for obedience and faithfulness.

How should we respond?

By living in accord with Christ’s calling

By faithfully teaching Christ’s calling

By offering hope to those broken by sexual sin with Christ’s calling to the Kingdom