A Lifelong Covenant.

Opening:

Good-morning again Connection Church. I am so happy that you have decided to come and worship God with us today. We come together on the Lord’s Day to worship Him. God is the object of our worship. We have worshipped Him through fellowship, through singing, through the learning of truths, and now we are going to worship through the reading and preaching of God’s Word.

Introduction of the Text:

With this in mind, open with me to Matthew 19:1-12. We have been working verse by verse through the gospel of Matthew. We have made it a long ways through. We are less than ten chapters out from the end of the gospel of Matthew. We have learned much and seen much in this book. We have seen again and again the Apostle Matthew has shown us the authority of Jesus. He has emphasized the fact that Jesus is the King of kings. Jesus is Lord and He has all authority. He has authority over sickness and the forces of nature. Jesus has authority over death and disease. Jesus has authority over sin and men. Jesus is God and therefore is Lord of all. In short, Jesus is the boss. He makes the rules and it is irrelevant weather or not we like them. What He says goes. He made all and rules all. Thankfully our Lord is gracious and is clear.

Reading of the Text:

With this in mind I would ask the congregation to stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Matthew 19:1-12 19 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.

3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed 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.”

10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

The Word of God, let’s pray.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are. We thank you for the wonderful gifts you have given us. Lord, we have violated your Law. We are all sinners and transgressors. We do not deserve your grace but we thank you for it. You are a good Father and King. You bless us with great blessings. You have provided salvation. We do not deserve this. You have forgiven us and washed us clean. We are pure and whole before you. You have given those of us who are married spouses so that we may glorify you and enjoy life together.

Lord, you are good to us beyond words. May we humble ourselves before you. You are Good and gracious. Lord, we love you. We have no right to stand in judgement over what you have said to us. We are to humble ourselves and accept your word. You have spoken to us through your word and we are to hear and accept it. Help us not to try to make ourselves gods. May we be humble and hear your word. It is blessing to hear from you. Lord, may we not care about what we think but only about what you have said.

Lord, help me to communicate the truth of your word well today. May I not speak my own thoughts. May I not speak anything untrue but may I be faithful to the text. May I be faithful, Lord. Keep my lips from any lying words.

We ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Opening Illustration:

The passage we just read is one that stirs up great controversy. People hate it. Pastors attempt to twist it and say that it is merely a product of its time. They claim that were Jesus to be present in our day, He would not say such things as He does here in this passage and those like it. Jesus would not have been so offensive if He simply lived in our more progressive and advanced time. It is clear that Jesus is saying divorce is wrong. This is shut out with hisses and boos from many people. Cries of “You can’t say that!” are heard when a preacher dares to simply communicate what Jesus Himself has said.

But why is this? Perhaps you are here and you are upset that we would even cover this passage. “Skip to the next set of verses about Jesus welcoming the children, pastor! That is unoffensive.” Well, have no fear, we will get to those verses, and I assure you there are people who will be offended by them. But why are people so offended by Jesus’ words on divorce? Perhaps lets give an illustration that will offend no one.

Let’s say that a man named Tom enters into a contract with another man named Hank. The contract is to help move Tom. Tom has just bought a new house and needs to move his possessions into the new house. He strikes a deal with Hank. He will pay Hank $500 to move all his furniture into the new house. Hank accepts and they move on with the arrangement. Hank shows up on the appointed day with his truck. He hauls load after load and moves every scrap of furniture from Tom’s old house to the new house. It takes time and a lot of work, but Hank has kept his end of the bargain. All the furniture is moved. He approaches Tom and informs him of the finished job. Tom thanks Hank and then asks him to leave. There is one problem, Tom has not paid Hank. Hank informs him of this laps of memory in a way that sounds much like, “Hang on buddy.” Tom then informs Hank that he has decided he no longer likes the deal they struck. “Let’s just call the whole thing off.” says Tom. The furniture has been moved; Hanks half of the deal has been kept. Hank promptly tells Tom that he is a rat and that it is fundamentally wrong to break their deal.

Now for the rhetorical question. Who in their right mind would stop Hank in that circumstance and say, “Excuse me Hank, but it is really insensitive to tell Tom that breaking the contract is wrong.” No one would say that. Clearly it is wrong to break the contract that these men entered into. Now you may be saying, “Hold on Pastor, this illustration really isn’t a fair comparison to marriage.” To that I would heartily agree. Marriage is a far more serious agreement. Marriage is a covenant, not a contract. Marriage is given as “Till death do us part.” It is a lifelong covenant. It cannot accurately be compared to a contract of $500. My point is not to give a point for point comparison. My point is that people are so quick to get angered when someone says divorce is wrong, but they don’t get angry when you say people should keep their word.

My hope is that in this sermon you don’t hear, divorce is not good and shut down. My hope is that you hear that commitment to the covenant of marriage is right and good. Breaking that covenant is wrong. This is not a personal attack. It is estimated that everyone in America has been affected by divorce, either directly or indirectly. It is still estimated that over 50% of marriages end in divorce. We hear so much about pandemic in these days, but this pandemic is one in two. Not to be pessimistic but these numbers mean that if you attend two weddings, one will statistically end in divorce. These are bad odds. This justifies the idea that virtually everyone is directly or indirectly affected by divorce.

This is why I think it is foolish for people to get upset the moment a preacher preaches about divorce. The Bible is not silent about this issue. The Bible speaks clearly to it. And if the Bible speaks to an issue that plagues over half of marriages, shouldn’t we study it? If Jesus speaks directly to an issue that affects almost every person alive, shouldn’t we see what He says? If we had a massive crime wave that affected every person, wouldn’t we want to know what Jesus says about it? We should.

Transition:

So let’s dive into this text. Let us lay aside our preconceived notions about this issue and see what Jesus says. The first thing we see in this text is that Jesus leaves Galilee.

Jesus Leaves Galilee.

Explanation:

You may think this is a strange thing to start this passage off with but I assure you that it is significant. Jesus leaves Galilee and enters into the region of Judea. Judea is where Jerusalem is. If you recall, in the past few chapters Jesus has explained to the disciples multiple times that He will go to Jerusalem where He will suffer and be executed and then rise from the dead. Jesus is entering the area of the crucifixion.

Argumentation:

The end is coming. But this is no surprise to to Jesus. He knows what is coming and is perfectly following the Father’s plan formed before the foundation of the World. All is as it must be. Christ is nearing the fulfilment of why He came. His death that will bring salvation to all of His sheep. The good shepherd is about to lay down Him life for His sheep.

Transition:

And as Jesus enters the region of Judea, He is followed by large crowds who He heals. He is also approached by His enemies, the Pharisees. The Pharisees try to trap Jesus.

The Pharisees Try to Trap Jesus.

Explanation:

The Pharisees have attempted this multiple times. They hate Jesus and have been plotting His death for some time. Here they approach Him again. They ask Him, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” Here is the trick question. Some context, there was a debate over this issue at this time. The popular teaching of the day was that a man could divorce his wife for any reason. It could be for serious reasons such as adultery or something as trivial as burning the bread or even simply because the man found a more attractive woman. Divorce could happen for any reason. There was a very unpopular view that divorce was never permissible. Both of these teachings are wrong. But the popular view was that one could divorce his wife for any cause.

Suffice it to say that the culture had embraced this. Divorce was very common. However, even though the majority opinion was that you could divorce your wife for any cause, this was still a heated debate. The pharisees sought to entangle Jesus in this debate. It is also likely that they are asking Jesus this because He has just entered into Judea. This is the region under the control of Herod. Not just any Herod Antipas. This is the same man who executed John the Baptist. And if you will remember, Herod executed John for speaking out against Herod’s wrongful marriage to his brothers wife. It is not unlikely to assume that the Pharisees are hoping to get Jesus to speak against Herod’s illegitimate marriage. If they could get Jesus to speak out like this, maybe Herod would kill Jesus like he did John. One can picture the hope of the Pharisees. “Herod got rid of one thorn in our sides, maybe we can get him to do it again!”

Transition:

But notice how Jesus answers. Jesus appeals to Scripture.

Jesus Appeals to Scripture.

Explanation:

Jesus then says this, “Have you not read...” Jesus answers the Pharisees by taking them back to Scripture. He would have been justified in giving them the tongue lashing of a lifetime. He could have easily spoken by His own authority. Remember, Jesus is God. He could have spoken and struck them down. No one would be more justified in answering the critics on their own authority than Jesus. This is the Jesus who spoke to the sea in violent storm and it calmed immediately, twice. This is Jesus who speaks and commands lame to walk, deaf to hear, blind to see, and dead to live. This is Jesus who speaks and sins are forgiven. But here we see Jesus again appeal to Scripture.

Argumentation:

Why do I bring this up? Because even though Scripture is clear about this, it is the misconception within much of the church today that the Old Testament is gone and no longer authoritative at all. It has passed away and been replaced by the New Testament. This however is not the case. We see Jesus at many times appeal to the Old Testament. He appeals to the Word of God as His authority. Jesus does not nullify what the Old Testament says. He does not do away with it. He fulfils it. In other words, He brings it to it’s full. The Old Testament is not gone, it is fulfilled. It is still the Word of God and is therefore binding as such. Jesus proves this by appealing to it just define marriage.

This makes sense. The Scriptures are breathed out by God. They hold the very breath of God. The Word of God holds the exact same authority as if God were speaking directly. In response to the Sadducees at a different time, Jesus says this. “ have you not read what was said to you by God...” Matthew 22:31 Notice the phrasing. Have you not read (We read the Scriptures) What was said to you by God (God speaking directly) Jesus says that reading the Scriptures are as if God is directly speaking. So Jesus does not have to speak again to marriage. God has already clearly spoken. We have no need for Him to speak again to this issue. He has already spoken clearly.

This also would have been a particularly pointed jab at the Pharisees. The Pharisees had large portions if not the whole of the Old Testament memorized. They were the epitome of having great head knowledge while missing the most basic truths. They were incredibly prideful about their knowledge and learning. John MacArthur says this, “Jesus’ opening words had nothing directly to do with the question of divorce but were a sarcastic and biting rebuke to the learned Pharisees, who prided themselves on their great knowledge of Scripture. Responding to their question with a question of His own, Jesus was in effect asking, “Have you not read the book of Genesis? Are you not aware of what God Himself declared at the very creation? Don’t you know the very first thing God said about marriage?”

Jesus appeals to Scripture and teaches the Pharisees the error of their ways. Jesus appeals to the book of Genesis. To the very beginning. He appeals to the creation of man. Jesus says “From the Beginning.”

From the Beginning.

Explanation:

Look again at verses 4-6. 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus appeals to the beginning. He directly quotes from Genesis. Genesis 1:27

27  So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Jesus appeals to how God made man. Jesus identifies that God made man male and female. This is the first part of marriage. Adam and Eve. God made one man and one woman. Man was made for woman and woman was made for man. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman. This is shown by Jesus’ quote of Genesis 2:24-25. 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This is marriage. The man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife. The example given and the teaching Scripture is one man and one woman for life. This is Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. He takes marriage back to its origin.

Jesus then adds His own words. “What therefore God has Joined together, let not man separate.” These are powerful words. Jesus is here directly stating what the passages in Genesis are hinting at. Marriage is directly instituted and given by God. In the marriage covenant, God joins them together. This is not just a commitment made by man to be treated as breakable. This is a covenant made by God. God has joined the man and the woman together. Divorce is man attempting to break apart what God has joined.

Argumentation:

In our messed up time, Jesus would be accused of hate crimes. If He were to tweet this teaching, it would likely get Him banned from twitter. Jesus is affirming the biblical view of marriage. Marriage is as it has been since God created it. It is the lifelong covenant between one man and one woman. Marriage is instituted and defined by God. Remember, He is God. He gets to define things how He wants. Jesus affirms this. As God, He affirms what He has already clearly established. And He does not give room for what He has made to be destroyed.

The man is to leave his father and mother and cling to his wife. In the act of marriage, the two become one. This is not referring to the physical act. This is speaking of the unity of the man and woman. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul takes this so far as to say that the man has no rights over even his own body, but the wife does. Nor does the wife have rights over her own body, but the husband does. The are intimately one. Their souls are knit together. One Commentator points out that children are the ultimate outcome of how the husband and wife are to be one. Children come from the father and the mother. This unity is blessed and is not to be torn apart.

The fact that God is one who binds man and woman together in marriage is a serious matter. This places a heavy weight on marriage. We are not to treat marriage as a light matter. It is not the equivalent of a contract. It is a divine covenant built on love and submission. It is not an emotional exchange of feelings but a lifelong sacrifice of service. Man and woman cling to one another before God. This does not mean that only Christians can truly be married. That exception is not here given. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman. This is a blessing that God gives to the saved and unsaved. This is an example of it raining on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Transition:

Jesus gives the definition of marriage and the Pharisees attempt to answer Jesus. They bring up Moses’ certificate of divorce.

Moses’ Certificate of Divorce.

Explanation:

Here is the pharisees response. 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” Notice first off that they ignore all that Jesus has said. They do not engage in it. As someone who loves debate and sound argumentation, this is the first sign that the Pharisees are receiving a sound spanking. In a debate, you can tell the losing side by their unwillingness to deal with the presented answer. They in essence answer with “Yeah… but...” This is the Pharisees answer. They attempt to bring up a passage from Deuteronomy. This is their big gotcha moment. They think they have Jesus. But there is a key flaw here. They allude to a passage from Deuteronomy, but actually listen to the passage.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.”

The Pharisees said that Moses commanded men to give their wives a certificate of divorce. However, the passage itself contains no such command. Moses is speaking of a practice that is happening in his day in Israel. Men were divorcing their wives because they had found no favor in their eyes. This means that the men had found some fault in their wives and then divorced them. Moses in this passage is not commanding or even justifying divorce. Instead, he is protecting the women from being mistreated. When the woman was given a certificate of divorce, she could remarry and could not be treated as property to be taken back by her first husband if he changed his mind. This practice freed the woman from being pulled too and fro by the whims of wicked husbands.

And here is the folly of the Pharisees. They attempted to twist Scripture to manipulate God. Think about it. These wicked Pharisees attempted to twist the Scriptures inspired by the one they were standing before. This is the epitome of folly. And look at how Jesus answers them. “8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed 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.” Jesus answers them by giving the proper reading of this text in a few sentences.

Moses did not command divorce. He allowed it. Why? Because of the hardness of their hearts. And notice that Jesus equates the hardness of the hearts of the people Moses was dealing with with the hardness of the Pharisees hearts. The hardness of your hearts. He then explains what is clear, that it was not this way from the beginning. And beyond this, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality, and marries another commits adultery. God does not recognize the legitimacy of the divorce except on the breaking of the covenant through adultery.

Argumentation:

Just as with church discipline, this is a hard teaching. It is not unclear but it is hard. Divorce is wrong. If someone is divorced other than for sexual immorality, if they remarry it is initially an act of adultery. This is a hard saying. However, it is the teaching of this passage in Matthew. It is the teaching of Mark 10. It is the teaching of 1 Corinthians 7. There are exceptions to this, and this particular topic needs deep study. So if you have questions, please come talk to me. Study these passages.

But I want to give clarity on a couple things. First, if you have been divorced, you are not broken beyond repair. Often times when a pastor says “divorce is wrong” it can come across as if he has just said, “divorce is the unforgivable sin.” This is not true. Divorce is not the unforgivable sin. We have already covered that in Matthew. What Jesus is saying is that divorce is wrong. Divorce is not a good thing. I think most people would agree with that. Jesus is saying that one should not be divorced because God has joined the man and woman together. It is wrong to break apart what God has joined except for sexual immorality. However, Jesus is not saying that anyone who has been divorced and remarried is in perpetual sin. You are not lost. Believe me, Jesus forgives every sin and every wrong. More than this, He restores the lost sheep. If you are a Christian and divorced, you are washed completely clean. No sin is held against you. You are totally justified.

Second, to those of you who are currently married. It does not matter if you are in your first or fiftieth marriage, do not divorce your spouse except for two reasons. Jesus says that sexual unfaithfulness is grounds for divorce. Paul says that if your spouse is unsaved and wants to divorce you because of your faith, then you let them divorce you. These are the two reasons given. Beyond this, fight to stay together. Fight for your marriage. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church. Wives, honor and submit to your husbands as to the Lord. If you need counseling, get it. Humble yourselves and stay married if at all possible. Do you separate what God has joined together.

Transition:

Marriage is not easy. It is hard and it is lifelong. Because of this teaching, the disciples ask a question that is natural. Should no one be married?

Should No One Be Married?

Explanation:

Mark’s gospel reveals that the disciples and Jesus had at this point entered a home and now they are questioning Jesus. Matthew records this; “10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

In essence the disciples seem discouraged by this teaching of Jesus. They say that it must be better to not be married. Jesus does not outright agree with them. He says that this is a saying only for some. There are those who are not to be married. There are those who are eunuchs from birth, who are made that way or who are that way for the sake of the kingdom. To avoid being needlessly graphic, a eunuch is one who through a physical process has their desires for marriage and such removed. Jesus does not exclude these from the kingdom. Being married is not a requirement for being saved. And there are some who are better off not being married.

Argumentation:

Paul echos this teaching of Jesus. I have referenced 1 Corinthians 7 multiple times in this sermon. Because of this, I give it to you as homework. Go home and read 1 Corinthians 7. However, to summarize the teaching, if you are single and have no desire for physical intimacy, as a Christian, you should remain single and dedicate your life to the service of Christ. This is described as being like a eunuch. Remain in this state. However, if you have the desire for physical intimacy, you should be married.

Marriage is a beautiful and good thing when lived as unto the Lord. Singleness is a beautiful and good thing when lived as unto the Lord. However, I would say as a personal note, that those who have no desire for physical intimacy are rare. We are made to be united in marriage. However, those who have desires in this way are not in sin to be single unto the Lord. But I do believe most are to be married.

Transition:

And this is the under text of this passage. It is true that Jesus is speaking of divorce. However, underneath this is the beautiful bond of marriage.

The Beautiful Bond of Marriage.

Argumentation:

I fear that after a passage like this, we may be in a place like the disciples. We may discouraged about marriage. This is not what we should feel. The breaking of the marriage covenant is a devastating thing, but this is because marriage is so beautiful. For those of you who are married, do not be discouraged. For any who long to be married, do not be discouraged. Marriage is beautiful bond. Proverbs 18:22 is true. “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.” Do not be discouraged. Marriage is a blessing from God and is to be cherished. We are to live in union with out spouse before God. Husbands are to love their wives and wives are to honor their husbands. This is a beautiful thing. Do not forget that from the beginning He made us male and female and the man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.

Transition:

Marriage is a picture of God’s Covenant with us.

Marriage Is the Picture of God’s Covenant With Us.

Argumentation:

This is likely the primary reason marriage is beautiful. All through Scripture, God’s covenant with His people is compared to marriage. Israel the church are described throughout the Bible as the bride. Jesus is the bridegroom. It is a beautiful picture. However, it is not always beautiful. We are unfaithful. We are an adulterous bride. We cheat on our bridegroom through idolatry. We are compared to an unfaithful bride. If you want a beautiful picture of God’s commitment to us, even though we are unfaithful, read Hosea. There is more homework. Just read Hosea. It is a beautiful picture of How God remains faithful to His people even though we are so faithless to Him.

This is the gospel. God redeemed us. What did we do to deserve salvation? Nothing! We are not good. We are sinful enemies of God. We have broke His Law and commands. He is good, we are not. But in love, He has saved us. He has purchased us with His own blood. We are now united to Him as a bride to her husband. However, let’s think about the Christian walk. We are not fully faithful to Christ. We stray and we cheat on Him. We have greater loves than Him. We do not love Him as He loves us. We continue to sin. However, His blood covers those sins as well.

When Christ died for our sins, He did not cover only some sins. He paid for all of our sins. When we sin, His blood covers it. When we are faithless, He is faithful. When we are adulterous, He buys us back. He always comes for us. He always loves us. He is a faithful husband even when we are a faithless bride.

Communion:

This is one of the beautiful things about communion. As Christ’s bride, we physically remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us. We remember how He bought us from slavery with His broken body and shed blood. He has saved us. We are His. We remember how His body and blood atone for even our present and future sins. It is a reminder of His faithfulness to us. This is why communion is only for those who are saved. It is only for the bride of Christ. If you are not a Christian, you are not permitted to take this. However, for all those who are saved, who are trusting in Christ alone for the their salvation, you are to participate in this. Therefore if you are a Christian, you are the bride of Christ. Come and receive the body and the blood.

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26 23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Let us take the bread in remembrance of Christ’s broken body.

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Let us take the cup in remembrance of Christ’s shed blood.

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Let’s Pray.

Prayer:

Closing Hymn:

Closing Benediction:

1 Corinthians 16:22-24 22 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.