Sermon Tone Analysis

=MsoNormal>*                                         Divorce and Remarriage*                    4~/6~/08 a.m. 

 

*1.

**Marriage*

**

* We are joined in marriage by God for life *

 

*Mk 10:5-9*   5 And Jesus answered and said to them, ….6

But from the beginning of the creation, God  /‘made them male and female.’/

7  /‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,/ 8 /and the two shall become one flesh’/; so then *they are no longer two, but one flesh.

9 Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”*

* *

* Rom.

7:2, 3**  *2 For  the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to /her/ husband as long as he lives.

But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of /her/ husband.

3 So then if, while /her/ husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

* *

*Marriage to an unbeliever*

 

*1 Co 7:10-16*  10 Now to the married I command, /yet/ not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from /her/ husband.

11 But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to /her/ husband.

And a husband is not to divorce /his/ wife.

12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.

13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.

14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such /cases./

But God has called us to peace.

16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will  save /your/ husband?

Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save /your/ wife?

* *

*Marriage is a covenant witnessed by God*

* *

*Mal 2:14*       *Because the Lord has been witness *

*     Between you and  the wife of your youth, *

     With whom you have dealt treacherously;

     *Yet she is your companion *

*     And your wife by covenant.

*

 

*Gods’ purpose for marriage is companionship and Godly children*

* *

 *Ge 2:18*   18 And the Lord God said, “/It is/ not good that man should be alone;  I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

*Mal 2:15*  15     *But  did He not make /them/ one, *

     Having a remnant of the Spirit?

*And why one?

*

*     He seeks godly offspring.

*

     “Therefore take heed to your spirit,

     And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

* *

*We are joined in the covenant of marriage by God for life for companionship and raising Godly children*

* *

*2.     **Divorce*

*God hates divorce *

*Mal 2:15-16*                  “Therefore take heed to your spirit,

                                        And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.

*16**     “For  the Lord God of Israel says *

*     That He hates divorce, *

     For it covers one’s garment with violence,”

     Says the Lord of hosts.

*Therefore take heed to your spirit, *

                           That you do not deal treacherously.”

* *

*Christ’s teaching on divorce*

* *

* *Christ limited the permission of divorce to the single case of adultery.

*

* *

* *These precepts given by Christ regulate the law of divorce in the Christian Church.

*

* *

*Mt.19:3-9*     3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife *for /just/ any reason?”

*

4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made /them/ at the beginning /‘made them male and female,’/ 5 and said,  /‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and/  /the two shall become one flesh’/ ?

6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh.

Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

8 He said to them, “Moses, *because of the  hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your  wives, but from the beginning it was not so.*

9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife,* *except for sexual immorality*, *and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”*

*

* *

*Divorce was granted by Moses on account of the hardness of the heart.*

* Mt 19:8* 8 He said to them, “Moses, *because of the  hardness of your hearts*, permitted you to divorce your  wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

He is making the point that divorce is contrary to God’s plan for marriage.

Even though the Law of Moses allowed divorce, it was only a provisional and *reluctant allowance*.

Jesus put “teeth” into the Law by declaring that, even if the divorced couple had not been sexually unfaithful to each other, they would commit adultery in God’s sight if they now married other partners.[1]

*Jesus gives scriptural reason for divorce*

* Mt 19:9*9  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, *except for sexual immorality*, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

* *

*Divorce is not permitted for just any reason *

*Mt 5:31-32;* 31 “Furthermore it has been said,  ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

32 But I say to you that  whoever divorces his wife* for any reason except sexual immorality *causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

* *

*Divorce should never be considered good, nor should it be taken lightly*.

* *

*Jesus allows divorce for one reason only—“immorality,” or illicit sexual intercourse.*

·        A person dissolves his marriage by creating a sexual union with someone other than the marriage partner.

·        In that case, the decree of divorce simply reflects the fact that the marriage has already been broken.

·        A man divorcing his wife for this cause does not “make her an adulteress,” for she is one already.

·        Divorce for unchastity usually frees the innocent partner to remarry without incurring the guilt of adultery

* *

*Although Jesus allowed divorce for adultery, He did not require it.

*

Just the reverse:

·        Insisting that divorce disrupts God’s plan for marriage,

·        He opened the door to repentance, forgiveness, and healing

·        Reconciliation was Jesus’ way of solving marriage troubles.

* *

*Paul’s Teachings on divorce.*

*1 Co 7:12-16*  12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.

13 And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.

14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

*15** But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such /cases/*/./

But God has called us to peace.

16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will  save /your/ husband?

Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save /your/ wife?

 

*The other exception that justifies divorce, according to the NT, is desertion.

*

*1 Corinthians 7:15*    *15 But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such /cases/*