Let No Man Separate

Good Morning Church

Get a bible out…you need a bible today…like everyday…

Open up to Mark 10:1–16 .

Also put a page marker on Matthew 19…

READ V1-16

Got a tough one today…

As you can tell this will be a discussion on DIVORCE.

We are going to start a little different today…

We are going to start at the end out the text…

Because it is going to show us how to approach the Lord…

V13-16 We must come to Him as children

We must approach Him as little children…

Children know nothing…they are naive…inexperienced…and vulnerable to being deceived…

SO like children…we approach our Father today…and ask Him to give us wisdom and truth…

And we will listen as children and be obedient as children…

That how we will seek Him today on divorce…

Now we will see 2 applications as we walk through this text…

The Lord is going to give us a…

Practical application and Spiritual application

Before we dive into the text we must first understand 2 things…

We must understand what marriage is and what divorce is…

What is Marriage?

-When flesh joins flesh.

Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cling to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”

What is Divorce?

-When flesh is leaves flesh.

So marriage and divorce between man and woman is a business of flesh…

We must understand that as we dive in this morning…

SO what is the text today addressing?

Now, we have spoken about this many times as we have walked through Mark…

As you are reading any of the 4 gospels, you must remember that you are reading the accounts of 4 different men…

2 of whom where disciples of Jesus…

So you are seeing the witness of Christ from 4 different eyes…

Because of that, it is best study practice to layer these gospels on top of each other to get the full picture.

So lets hop over to Matthew, in chapter 19 and get the parallel to Mark 10.

READ Matthew 19:1-9…

SO what is the full question being asked by the Pharisees???

Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife…FOR EVERY CAUSE????

Can a married couple get divorced for any reason???

2 schools of thought being taught by the Pharisees during this time…

A Conservative view on divorce and a Liberal view…

The conservative view was only divorce for adultery…

The liberal view was that you can leave your spouse for any reason you like…

SO the Pharisees are questioning Jesus here…

Asking Him what are the grounds for divorce if any???

Now, we are going to look at the biblical answer to that question…

Again there is a practical biblical application for this text…

But as we move through it…it will transform into the true spiritual application the Lord wants us to see here…

SO…lets answer the question…

What are the grounds for divorce and or remarriage???

Practical Application

The bible clearly states 3 reasons for divorce and or remarriage:

-Death (this one is pretty easy to understand, you die in the flesh, the contract in marriage ends with your death…till death do us part)

Romans 7:1-4 “Know you not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman which has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that you should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God.”

-Adultery (when you are married, you physically join yourself to your wife, we are talking about consummation here folks. And when you commit adultery, you tear your flesh from yourself and join yourself to another)

Matthew 19:9 “And I say to you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commits adultery: and whoso marries her which is put away does commit adultery.”

-Desertion (When you are abandoned by your spouse, he or she leaves…we live in a no fault state which means legally we can divorce our spouse for any reason at anytime)

1 Corinthians 7:15 “But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God has called us to peace.”

SO according to the bible there are 3 and only 3 grounds for divorce and remarriage…

ALL OF THESE SEPARATE FLESH FROM FLESH…

This is the practical application…

NOW…I want you to understand something here…

These are 3 biblical grounds for divorce…

BUT…the next question we must ask ourselves is how does God feel about divorce???

HE HATES IT!!!

Malachi 2:16 “For the LORD, the God of Israel, says that He hates putting away…(divorce)”

SO…Why would the Lord…who HATES divorce…make biblical grounds for it????

Look back at Mark 10…in verses 3-5

The Pharisees ask…”can a man divorce his wife for any reason?”

Jesus says in verse 3…”what did Moses command you?”

In verse 4..they respond…Moses permitted to write a bill of divorcement in the law….

They are talking about….

Deuteronomy 24:1-2 “When a man has taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he has 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.”

So the Pharisees say…Moses gave us the ability to divorce…

BUT I want you to look at verse 5…look at Jesus’s response…

READ v5…”For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept”

Why did the Lord give us grounds for divorce???

Because HE KNOWS HOW SINFUL WE ARE!!!!

What is the root cause of all divorce???

SIN!!!!!

Because your hearts are so hard…and the sin you are capable of…you were given the ability to separate…

Because you are wicked at heart…you will commit adultery to one another…you will abandon one another…you will abuse…you will withhold…

BECAUSE OF SIN…

He says you were not created for this…this was not my desire for you…

BUT SIN HAS COME IN AND CAUSED DESTRUCTION…

SIN KILLS MARRIAGES!!!

Its driven a wedge between what God desired for us and where we are…

What is Gods desire for us in marriage???

READ V6-9

His desire is for NO DIVORCE!!!

And the desire for this was so great…that He removed the only marriage obstacle we have…

He fixed the root issue…

SIN…

Spiritual Application

Honestly…this is the big picture of the scripture…and in reality the big picture for the Church…the body of Christ

If you have placed your faith in the shed blood of Jesus then you are apart of the body of Christ…and He calls you His bride…

It is the Lords desire to be joined to you…and never separated from you…

To be wed to you…to lead you, protect you, care for you, love you forever!!!

It is His deepest desire…

I mean look at how important the desire He has is…This is a prayer our Lord prays..

John 17:20-23 “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word; That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me.”

This is His desire…

BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM…

The only thing standing in the way of us becoming one with God is our sin!!!!

SO He took care of that!!!

He took that sin…He slayed it…put it beneath Him…

He destroyed it!!!

We now are able to become one with Him…

Because He bled for us…

NOW because of His sacrifice…we can have Him forever…

No need for divorce…He has eliminated the need for it…

He has sealed us in His hand…He told us I will be with you always…I will never leave you or forsake you…

YOU ARE MINE AND I AM YOURS…FOREVER!!!!

We have become one in spirit…He placed Himself in us…

And a day is coming when we will dwell physically with our husband forever!!!!

If we flip to the book of Revelation…and go to the end…

We see a picture of eternity…

And it kicks off with what???

A WEDDING!!!! (Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!)

AND WHO IS PRESENT????

Revelation 21:9 “And there came to me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

And John goes on to say that he sees a great city descending from God in heaven and in that city is Jesus, the Lamb!!!

And He is the light…and he says in verse 24…

Revelation 21:24 “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it (the city): and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.”

It is the church…the bride of Christ…dwelling forever in His light…living out eternity with Him…In His city…In His glory!!!!

AMEN!!!!

SO what do we do with this today????

2 things this must do in the hearts of the Church today…

1- We have to see God’s true design and desire for marriage…

He designed to to be a union between man and women in the flesh…

He desired it to be forever…let no man separate…

So though there will be divorce…and some of you may have went through it, or had parents who went through it…

Some have experienced the sting of adultery…the sting of abandonment…

Some are guilty of causing that sting…

Either way…Jesus is full of grace and mercy and redemption…

Whatever sins you committed…they are paid for in full…

BUT NOW WE MUST SEE…AND PLACE OUR FOCUS GODS DESIRE FOR OUR MARRIAGE…

Our marriages are pictures of Christs love and desire for His Church (His Bride)

Remember if you are a Christ follower…He dwells inside of you…

So there are 3 people in every Christian marriage…

You…Your Spouse…And JESUS!!!

And He should be right at the center!!!

SO no matter what happens in the flesh between husband and wife…

We know that Jesus is in the center showing us His love and His redemption and His grace…

So that we can show each other His love and his grace and forgiveness and His redemption…

What a greater example to the world of God’s Love and forgiveness than a marriage that should have been doomed and destroyed by sin…

Holding together…

And when people ask…how did you do it??? How did you get over the adultery…the desertion…the sin committed against you…

You say…JESUS IS HOW…

So if your marriage is here…seek restoration…

We should never jump to divorce just because we can…

See restoration in you marriages…

Forgiveness…restoration…Grace…in our marriages…

Is just a glorifying picture of the forgiveness, restoration, and grace given to us by Jesus Christ as He was nailed to the cross…

That brings us to the second thing we must take from this today…

2-It gives us hope…

Hope for our current marriages…

No matter how bad it gets…IT CAN BE RESTORED!!!

And if it was bad…and you sought the route of divorce already…

Its done its past…

And you look forward now…maybe your remarried now…

Again…. the cause of all divorce is sin…and we know that our sins are paid for…

I urge you now, moving forward… no matter how bad it gets in the future…Always seek restoration first…

FOR GOD IS THE HEALER…WHO CAN AND WILL RESTORE ALL THINGS…

LETS PRAY FOR OUR MARRIAGES TODAY CHURCH!!!!

PRAY!!!