Topical Sermons Power Point Show

Scripture Reading: Matthew 19:3-9

Part 1

God Hates Divorce (1)

Intro.
1. Judah was marrying foreign women & putting away wives, Mal. 2:10-16.
2. God hated this treachery against their wives; their sin was bringing them under divine judgment, Mal. 2:16-17; cf. Prov. 2:17.
3. This lesson is about the sin of sundering what God has joined together (Matt. 19:6); the honor of marriage & how it is dishonored.

-(Part 2 will elaborate on why God hates divorce & why we must.)
4. To honor marriage we must hate the sinful separation of mates (Heb. 13:4).
5. We must save marriages; not easily destroy (sunder) marriage, or “agreeing to disagree” over what God has revealed concerning marriage and divorce.

I. MARRIAGE, Matt. 19:4-6 (Gen. 2:24).
A. God Established Marriage, Matt. 19:4-6. (joined together: “fasten together with one yoke, yoke together, unite”)

1. God made marriage a permanent, committed union, Prov. 5:18.
2. We honor marriage by being “one” with our mate & keeping the God-given responsibilities & privileges of marriage instead of selfishly viewing marriage as disposable for the sake of fulfilling one’s selfish, sinful pleasures and choices.
B. God Protects Marriage, Matt. 19:9-12; 1 Cor. 7:10-11; Heb. 13:4.
1. God protects marriage by defining its purposes, obligations & privileges, Rom. 7:2-3. (Never married, spouse died, put away for cause of fornication.)
2. God protects marriage by commanding not to sunder what He has joined together, Matt. 19:6 (Mk. 6:17-18).
3. God protects marriage by making it very difficult to put away and remarry with His approval, Matt. 19:9; 1 Cor. 7:10-11.
4. Apostles understood this difficulty – so must we! Matt. 9:9-12
5. Instead of looking for loopholes and “ways out,” God commands us to look for solutions that maintain our marriages & make them what they can be - what God wants them to be. (If the unbeliever departs, no remarriage, 1 Cor.7:15, 23.)
C. God Honors & Judges Marriage, Heb. 13:4 (Rom. 7:2-3).
1. We must judge ourselves by the word of God now to not fall into eternal punishment (Jno. 12:48).

2. Already many are under condemnation for not honoring marriage; they need forgiveness through repentance & faith in Christ, Acts 26:18-20.
3. Many cannot see the honor of marriage because they…
a. Are entangled in the sins that dishonor marriage (2 Pet. 2:14).
b. Have not seen marriage as a relationship from God that includes God.
D. Man Dishonors (Perverts) Marriage, Matt. 19:3, 6-8.
-Primary responsibility of marriage is love -- will of the mind, a decision of the heart to obey God’s commands (1 Cor. 13:4-8; Jno. 14:15; 1 Jno. 4:20-21).

1. By refusing marriage (fornication), 1 Cor. 6:13, 18; 7:2 (Heb. 13:4).
2. By bringing adultery into marriage, cf. Jer. 5:7-9; 13:27.
3. By sundering what God joins together, Matt. 19:6 (3).
a. CHORIZO: “to separate, divide, part, put asunder, to separate one’s self from, to depart” (CHORA, “the space lying between two places or limits”).
b. Jesus said “they are no longer two but one flesh” (19:6); do not sunder the one flesh relationship!
4. By treating the exception as the rule, Matt. 19:9 (5:31-32).
5. By divorcing for every cause, Matt. 19:3, 7-8; 1 Cor. 7:10-11.
6. By remarrying without God’s permission, Matt. 19:9 (Rom. 7:3); 1 Cor. 7:11.
7. By saying “all marriage is good,” 1 Cor. 7:17, 20, 24 (Mk. 6:17-18).
E. We Honor Marriage by Keeping it Pure “Until Death We Do Part,” Rom. 7:2; Ezek. 16:8 (15, 32, 38, 59); Heb. 13:4.
1. Christians are in the best position to do so, Eph. 5:22-25.
2. Yet, more & more Christians see putting away their mate as God’s will if “it doesn’t work out.”
3. God hates such selfish, sinful treatment of one’s mate and the marriage He has blessed with honor, 1 Pet. 3:7; Col. 3:18-19.

Conclusion

1. God made marriage for us; we must give ourselves to God to make our marriages what He wants them to be!

2. What God joins together is good -- let not man separate (Matt. 19:6).

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