Foundations for the Family 01

Text: Matthew 19:1-11

Place Preached - (Mississauga International Baptist Church)

Date Preached - (11/30/03)

Introduction:   

The Family is under Attack!!

Psalms 11:3  If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

STATISTICS

Current Divorce rate is 4.3 per 1,000 couples – Marriage rate is 8.9 per 1,000 couples.

One in two marriages performed today will end in Divorce.

2 Timothy 3:1-3  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, ....

3  Without natural affection

100,000 abortions in Canada yearly and ten times that number in the US.

25 out of every 1000 women of child bearing age had an abortion in the last year.

Domestic abuse is on the rise.  Perverse behaviour of all kinds is prominent and accepted.

The definition of marriage has been debated in our courts of law.

WHAT IS MARRIAGE?

A legal contract?  Two individuals cohabiting?

NO – Marriage is the Divinely recognized union of one man and one woman in a one flesh relationship for one lifetime.

LOOK at verse 6 - God has joined them together – JOINED – to glue / cement / yoke.

No nation has ever had a higher view of marriage than the Jews. Marriage was a sacred duty.

Marriage was not to be entered into carelessly or lightly.

The Jewish laws of marriage and of purity aimed very high. Ideally divorce was hated. - BARCLAY

Jesus is in the last days of His ministry.  Before going to Jerusalem for the last time, He has come into the Perean region of Judea on the east side of the Jordan River.

Here he is tempted or tested once again by the Pharisees.  They bring up a contentious issue, an issue that is still troublesome today.

Matthew 19:3   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?

For every cause. CAUSE – reason, motive, accusation, fault, whatever the logic.

The temptation turned upon the dispute dividing the two great Rabbinical schools, the one of which (that of Hillel) held that a man might divorce his wife for any reason which rendered her distasteful to him; and the other (that of Shammai) that divorce was allowable only in case of unchastity – sexual infidelity.

Rabbinical Law made divorce compulsory on two grounds 1). Adultery – 2). Sterility

NOW The public leaned toward the school of Hillel and divorce was done on the flimsiest pretexts.

• If the wife burnt the bread, spoiled his dinner.
• If she spoke disrespectfully of his parents in his presence.
• If she was a brawling woman whose voice could be heard in the next house.
• If he found a woman he liked better, or considered more beautiful.

Interestingly, their were two grounds which were insufficient for granting divorce.

1. Desertion (If there was a case of desertion, Death must be proved).

2. Insanity

In the wife’s case it was for her protection lest she be left uncared for.

In the husband’s case, he would be incapable of signing the bill of divorcement.

Keep in mind - A woman could be divorced with or without her consent, but a man could be divorced only with his consent." The woman could never initiate the process of divorce; she could not divorce, she had to be divorced.

There were certain safeguards. If a man divorced his wife on any other grounds than those of flagrant immorality, he must return her dowry

Christ did not argue for one Rabbinical school over another, He appealed to Moses, an authority that the Pharisees would acknowledge.

Verse 4 establishes God’s desire for the home and the crucial foundation upon which it is built.

There are some foundation stones that are necessary to a proper understanding and implemetation of God’s plan and purpose for the family.

I. The Oracles of God

By “Oracles”, of course we mean the Scriptures – The Written Utterances of God – The Bible.

1 Peter 4:11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;

“Have ye not read?” vs.4

LOOK UP & READ Gen. 1:27 & 2:18-24

Now either the Pharisees had read the account of the Institution of Marriage in the Garden, or they had not.

If they had not, they were guilty of great negligence and sloth.

If they had read them, they either understood it or did not.

If they did not understand it, it was greatly to their reproach, who pretended to great knowledge of the Scriptures, and to be able to explain them to others.

If they did understand it, there was no need for this question.

If we’d just go back to God’s Word – We’d straighten out a lot of controversy.

Christ’s response to the Sadducees who wanted to embroil Him in a controversy over the resurrection over a woman who outlived seven husbands – was much the same.

Matthew 22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

Confusion in Our Day

Folks are confused as ever today -  If we just went back to the Bible!!!

We would know about God’s plan!

We would know life begins in the womb!

Jeremiah 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

We would know that abortion is murder!

We would know that homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle, but sin.

Leviticus 18:22  Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

In Romans 1 God gave men and women up (Called them Reprobate) who were given over to this sort of uncleanness.

We would know that Divorce should not be considered an option!!

Malachi 2:16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away....

We would know God’s Reasons for Marriage are...

1). Companionship

Genesis 2:18   And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

2). Continuation of the Race

Genesis 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

3). A Pattern for the Church

Ephesians 5:22-23  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

There is to be commitment, love, mutual respect and submission.

II. The Ownership of God

“He Made them..” – Vs.4

ILLUS: The rights of the creator to his/her own work are recognized through our copyright and patent laws.

Colossians 1:16-17  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Psalms 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

God Instituted Marriage vs.6

It ought not to be dissolved by any man; not by the husband himself, or any other for him; nor by any state or government, by any prince or potentate, by any legislator whatever; no, not by Moses himself.

God and man being opposed in this passage, shows, that marriage is an institution and appointment of God, and therefore not to be changed and altered by man at his pleasure; this not merely a civil, but a sacred affair, in which God is concerned

The characteristics of marriage.

By going back to the original Edenic Law, Jesus reminded His listeners of the true characteristics of marriage. If we remember these characteristics, we will better know how to build a happy and enduring marriage.

1). It is a divinely appointed union. God established marriage, and therefore only God can control its character and laws. No court of law can change what God has established.

2). It is a physical union. The man and woman become “one flesh.”

Even if a man and woman disagree, are “incompatible,” and cannot get along, they are still married; for the union is a physical one.

3). It is a permanent union. God’s original design was that one man and one woman spend one life together.

God’s original Law knows nothing of “trial marriages.” God’s Law requires that the husband and wife enter into marriage without reservations.

4). It is a union between one man and one woman. God did not create two men and one woman, two women and one man, two men, or two women.

“Group marriages,” “gay marriages,” and other variations are contrary to the will of God, no matter what some psychologists and jurists may say.

CONCLUSION:

If we build after God’s pattern we will not have to worry about Divorce.