Sunday Morning February 9, 2003 Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: ¡§Church On The Rocks¡¨ [#12]
SOME QUESTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO IGNORE
1 Corinthians 6:12-7:40
Introduction:
1. As we continue in our study in 1 Corinthians I knew we would get to some passages that I would want to skip and we have arrived at one of these today. Our text covers some questions that I would like to ignore because it will definitely upset some people but remember that the Bible is the authority on the questions and answers of life whether we like it or not.
2. I would also ask any of you who are listening whether on the radio or in the congregation to listen to the entirety of the sermon with an open heart. If you turn me off before the sermon¡¦s completion you will miss out on some very important statements and Scripture.
3. My last statement before we ¡§tackle¡¨ this subject is, ¡§If there are small children listening, parents or grandparents need to take in consideration that I will be talking about sex. By the way, older children and teenagers really need to hear this sermon. Adults, don¡¦t fool yourselves, you kids know a whole lot more about sex than you many want to believe. The problem is, their sources of information are not good and so they need to hear the truth of the Word concerning sex, marriage, and divorce. As we begin, I want you to read our text this afternoon because we are going to deal with these questions, but will not read all of the verses. We will also be using several other passages of Scripture so you may want to take notes.
Question #1
Thoughts On Divorce
Mark 10:2
Mark is careful to point out the Pharisee¡¦s motive. They came to test Jesus, so they selected a very controversial question, the issue of divorce. It is obvious that they were trying to get him to make a choice between the two views which were widely held in that day in Israel.
1. One was the teaching of the great rabbi, Hillel. Moses, in Deuteronomy 24, had said that a man could divorce his wife if he found any indecency in her. Hillel interpreted that to mean anything, which displeased the husband. If the wife made bad coffee, he could divorce her. If she did not keep the house clean, if she got angry or argumentative, or whatever, she could be divorced. This was the easy school of divorce of that day.
2. Opposed to that was the school of Shammai, another great Hebrew rabbi, who taught that divorce was to be strictly limited, that only under certain conditions could divorce ever be granted. So the nation was split between these two schools of thought.
3. We have the same problem today. There are probably very few issues that are any more controversial than divorce. Here in our own church we feel pressured both ways. What to do about divorce? Is it something insignificant to be taken lightly and to be granted because of incompatibility alone? Or is it something very serious to be granted only under extremely limited conditions? This is the same question Jesus was confronted with.
The Law Of Moses
Jesus took them back to Moses and how he handled divorce.
Mark 10:3-5
1. Notice that Jesus did not just answer them. He took them back to the Scriptures. He took them back to Moses and then He clarified the Law. He showed them the motive for Moses permitting divorce.
Mark 10:5
2. It was because men¡¦s hearts were hardened that Moses allowed divorce. Divorce reveals in public what has been going on in private in that marriage. This is what the Law does. The Law is given to reveal sin. Hearts were being hardened and that is why divorce came in. What is a hardened heart? When you determine that you are going to handle something yourself and not listen to what God has to say about it, you have hardened your heart. According to Moses, if a husband found something he didn¡¦t like in his wife then he could divorce her. What should a husband do when he finds something in his wife that he does not like?
1 Peter 3:7
3. This is telling us not to just react to them but understand why they are acting the way they are. We are to work out our problems while being considerate of one another. So this is why Moses granted divorce. It would tend to make public what had been going on in private, so that the world would see the difficulties, which were being hidden within the confines of the home. This is what divorce did then, and this is what it is doing in our own day. We are living in a time when one out of three marriages ends in divorce in this country. Something is causing such an enormous breakdown that we are forced to look at this problem seriously. This is what the Law is all about. It is given to reveal sin and to drive us to grace. Law can never heal the problem; it simply points it out. This is why God permitted divorce.
The Purpose Of Marriage
1. Jesus did not stop there. He then showed them a bigger problem. Though he has put his finger on the reason why marriages fail ¡V because of hardness of heart ¡V he goes on now to show us how they can be cured, by revealing to us the purpose of marriages.
Mark 10:6-9
2. You recognize those words. They are quoted at every wedding ¡V and yet are often forgotten. Jesus takes us right back to the very beginning of the human race and points out to us that what happened there is the main factor, not what happened with Moses and the Law.
3. The Law came in only to show us the problem that existed. The real issue, the real question, is not how to get a divorce; the real question is: Why maintain a marriage? This is what we ought to know.
To answer this question Jesus focuses on three important factors: The actions of God, the desires of God, and the warning of God.
The Actions Of God
Mark 10:6
1. God made them to be distinct and different sexes. God intended to have race of humans that was divided into two recognizable sexes ¡V male and female.
2. He made them male and female made them biologically and psychologically different one from the other. M
3. Men and women are made spiritually identical. This is what makes men and women equal before God.
The Desires Of God
Mark 10:7-8
1. ¡§For this reason¡¨ ¡V what reason? Why, because they are male and female. That is what they were made male and female so that ultimately they might be joined together and become one. This is what God had in mind in making them male and female in the beginning.
2. There are a great many implications in this simple statement.
„« Recognize that it does away with all such notions as ¡§homosexual marriages.¡¨ There are no such things ¡V not true marriages. It takes a man and a woman to be married.
„« But what our Lord makes clear is that this relationship is the highest relationship possible in life. Notice that it takes priority over all others. Closer even than the ties of blood is that of marriage in the mind and heart of God. ¡§A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.¡¨
3. So what is the purpose of marriage? It is to become one, as Jesus said. It is not something that happens instantaneously when you get married. The wedding service does not make you one. The first act sex after marriage does not make you one. It begins the process, but does not finish it. It takes the whole marriage to accomplish this. Marriage is the process of two people becoming one.
The Warning Of God
Mark 10:9-12
1. Notice that Jesus takes the matter far beyond the Jewish view of marriage. The Jewish view, as reflected in the Law, was that the initiative was always with the husband. It was only the husband who could divorce his wife. But in our Lord¡¦s words here, they are on an equal basis. And he indicates that adultery, sexual infidelity, destroys the work God has been doing by building oneness in a marriage. You see, the phrase, ¡§What God has joined together¡¨ does not refer to a wedding service; it refers to what has been going on in the marriage. God has been blending two people. He has been putting their lives together. He has been doing it. That is why he has taken them through the trials and conflicts they have gone through. He has been using one against the other to break down their resistance and reveal the hard places in their hearts and to soften them and make them into the people he intended them to be. God has been at work in the marriage.
2. This is why marriage involves sex, and why sex is such an important part of it. Sex is the visible picture of what a marriage ought to be. This is why God reserves sex for marriage. He is building a miracle; he is making a union out of two, as a picture of what he wants to do for all of humanity. This is why adultery, sexual infidelity, breaks the work of God and brings it to an end. I know that when I am addressing this many people that some in it will have gone through divorce, perhaps with adultery involved. I am not trying to condemn anyone, but I do want to make clear what Jesus said. Divorce is sin. Divorce is a violation of God¡¦s intention for marriage. It always is, and it always involves some form of sin, but thank God that sin can be forgiven.
3. But I also want to make clear that though there is a way for forgiveness and restoration, we ought to understand that God¡¦ way of restoration involves repentance. I have heard Christians say, ¡§If you do not like your present mate, divorce him or her, and get married again. Even if it is wrong, God will forgive you if you ask him to, and you can just go on and enjoy the new union.¡¨ That bothers me greatly because it takes lightly what God takes very seriously and because Scripture teaches that just giving God lip service and saying I am sorry is not the same as repentance of sin. Adultery does end the marriage, yes; but it does not mean that forgiveness cannot come in and make it over into a new and fresh experience, in which God can begin again the work of creating that miracle of oneness, which He intends for us. This is what marriage is all about. It is God¡¦s way of putting two lives together to produce an oneness that will be a testimony to the whole world of the grace and the power of God to change human lives. He can soften hearts, and remove hardness, and change people into what they ought to be. This is what marriages are for.
Question #2
This same scene is found in Matthew, but there is a statement in Matthew that brings up our next question.
Matthew 19:10-12
1. The question here was, ¡§If marriage is so much trouble, why get married?¡¨ Our text answers this question very well.
2. Simply, it is better to remain single if that person can do so without falling to sexual temptation; but if they cannot, then they need to marry.
3. The reason that it is better to remain single is that person can devote all of their time to the Kingdom of God whereas the person that is married has to split their time between God and family. Remember, purity is the key. This brings us to our last question.
Question #3
I believe I have answered this question already but I am going to give you the question and then quickly cover the answer one more time because it is so important. How does God feel about sex?
1. As I said earlier, God is the One that created sex, but it was intended only for married couples. The act of sex begins the marriage relationship in God¡¦s eyes.
2. The problem comes in when unmarried people have sex or married people have sex with someone other than their spouse. Sex is probably one of the most abused gifts that God ever gave mankind. Sexual perversion is rampant and has been for a long time. You can find where God condemns homosexuality, bestiality, rape, adultery, pornography, prostitution, etc¡K
3. Although mankind has abused this gift, God sees sex in marriage as a good thing. Just as a side note to married couples real quick: Sex is not a weapon. You may be asking, ¡§What do you mean¡¨. What I mean is, do not use sex as a means of getting your way. Hey, I didn¡¦t come up with this God did.
1 Corinthians 7:3-5
Conclusion:
1. This morning I want you to examine your life very closely. If you have been divorced, don¡¦t get mad at the sermon. Just get things right with God if you have not already. You may be saying, ¡§None of this divorce is my fault¡¨, and you may be right; but in almost every divorce is two people that both made some mistakes. Either way, I¡¦m not the judge of your life, God is. Take it up with Him.
2. Maybe you are here this morning and you are guilty of some of these sexual sins. Maybe you are having sex outside of marriage. Maybe you are in a homosexual relationship. Maybe your problem is pornography. Maybe your problem is just thinking bad thoughts when you see someone that you are attracted to, (which by the way is also a sin). Again I am not here to judge you. That is not my job. My job is to preach this sermon and I have. It is your responsibility to confess and repent of the sins in your life to God.
3. You may be here this morning and you do not know Jesus as your Savior. You need some hope. You need someone you can always go to. That someone is Jesus. That hope is Jesus. Wait no longer. Come today!
[Note: Some of the thoughts and headings on the first point, divorce, come from the Sermon "What About Divorce?" Mark 10:1-12 by Ray Stedman.]
