For a while now I have been observing how the entertainment mediums, especially television and the movies, are brainwashing people in a very subtle way. The movies and the shows that glorify adultery and fornication are the obvious means; I am talking about movies and shows that make these things appear to be nothing just something romantic and exciting, but the reality of it all is that these programs only serve one purpose, and that is to poison the mind of people. The only purpose they serve is to destroy the basic family principles, principles that we established by God from the very beginning of creation as we find in Genesis 2:24 when we read “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” But as I said, this is the obvious, this is what can easily be perceived by anyone that possesses just a small sense of moral value, but there is another type of programming that is watched with perhaps more frequency that serves as the same type of poison, but it is one that is not noticed by people. But although the majority of people do not notice the poison this does not mean that it is not having the intended effect. This does not mean that it is not being introduced as a subconscious or subliminal message in our mind. I know that most of you are intrigued by what I am saying, and many must be thinking: what are you talking about? Well what I am talking about is the television commercials and advertisements. As I said, the majority of people do not pay attention to these small programs that on average only last from thirty to forty seconds, but if you start paying attention to their message you will soon discover that they do more than just try to sell you a product, in fact they are selling you ideals and attempting to change the moral values of people through subconscious messages. I am talking about ideals and values such as homosexual marriages or unions, rebellion, and homes consisting of only one adult figure head in the family group. As I said the majority have not noticed these things, but I am sure that the next time you see a commercial or advertisement you will see exactly that I am speaking the truth. All of you will notice that in the majority of the commercials or ads, there appears a woman or a man dealing with children or other issues, but very rarely will you see a couple. Very rarely will you see the representation of the complete family nucleus; very rarely will you see the mother and the father with the children. What you will see is a single woman dealing with the problems, and in some cases two women or two men, etc. etc. This is why today I will speak to you about the importance of the family nucleus. Let’s now turn to the Word of God.
Matthew 19:1-8 - And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; 2And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. 3The 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? 4And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7They say unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Before I proceed with today’s message I want to share with you a brief detail that will help us better understand today’s message. According to the most recent census poll, the National Center for Health Statistics recently released a report which found that forty three percent of first marriages end in separation or divorce within fifteen years. This is a percentage that commenced to grow from the mid 1960’s. Between 1970 and 1992, the proportion of babies born outside of marriage drastically leaped from eleven percent to thirty percent, and from 1970 the number of marriages has dropped thirty percent. Perhaps many of you may be thinking that this information could not possibly have any relevance to today’s message, but if you think that way, I invite you to think again because a brief detail that I have omitted will shed new light into this whole matter. What I purposely omitted was that in 1962 the Supreme Court, citing the First Amendment of the Constitution, determined that prayers had to be suspended in the schools. In other words, the Supreme Court decided to eliminate God from the public school system. How many can start making the connection between the listed statistics and the condition of the family nucleus today? Keeping these small details in mind, let us now continue with our study for today.
It is imperative that we all know that none of these things have occurred by coincidence; the destruction of the family nucleus is a carefully planned-out strategy by our enemy. All that we are seeing and will continue to see is part of the satanic strategy that seeks to separate man from God. Why this strategy? The answer to this question is easy. The reason for this strategy is that our enemy knows very well that the family is the school of values and principles where future generations will be educated through what they see and hear. In other words, the family nucleus is the only place where future generations will receive a solid moral foundation so that they can deal with the diversity of social problems, and the total corruption of moral values that is razing this world. I say this because as faithful believers, none of us can depend on the school system or third parties to teach our children moral values and principles. No faithful believer can cede the right to instruct their child, because if we do this, we are in fact facilitating Satan the opportunity to contaminate and poison the next generation. It is for this reason that in Proverbs 22:6 we are told “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
In the verses that we are studying today we read “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; 2And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. 3The 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? It is not difficult to see today’s world attitude reflected in these passages. I say this because today, just as the statistics demonstrate, people get divorced as we find here “for every cause.” This is something that has happened and will continue to happen for two main reasons. Number one and the most important of all is that God is not on the heart of both in the marriage, in other words unequally yoked. And this is something that we are warned to avoid as we find in 2 Corinthians 6:14 when we read “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” And the second main reason is that our enemy has achieved a great success in making people think and believe that divorce is something normal and without importance or significant consequence. I wish to stop here for a brief moment to make a brief clarification.
I know that divorce is a very controversial theme, and that just as in the time when Jesus walked the earth, there are only two opinions to interpret this delicate theme, this is why many pastors today stay clear from it. The first opinion is that divorce is not permitted, except in the case of adultery. People that submit to this opinion support the concept that regardless of the cruelty or mental or physical abuse that may exist in the marriage, divorce must never be granted. The second opinion is that divorce is something that is permitted, as long as the problem between the couple is one that can not be resolved, and that the continuation of such a union would cause more harm than good. In other words, people that submit to the first opinion maintain that Christ gave very specific instructions reference this issue, while the people that submit to the second opinion maintain that Christ only provided guidelines to follow.
Making a brief parallel between the time that Jesus walked the earth and us now, we find that back then there were also two opinions to interpret this delicate theme. In Deuteronomy 24:1 we find that Moses said “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.” Now, in Jesus’ days existed the people that submitted to the teachings of the Shammi school, in other words the people that submitted to the first modern opinion. I say that they submitted to the first modern opinion because that interpreted the word “uncleanness” only as adultery. But there was another group of people that submitted themselves to the Hillel school, it is to say, to the second modern opinion, and even more liberal that that. I say this because they interpreted the word “uncleanness” as anything that displeased the husband. In other words, not properly toasting the breakfast bread was a good enough reason to get a divorce. It is for this very same reason that the religious people of the time, the Pharisees, attempted to discredit Jesus by asking Him this question. They knew that regardless of the answer He gave, a portion of His followers would stop supporting and following Him. In other words, they did it to divide and separate the people from god. Why have I explained all of this?
I have explained all of this because divorce is not something that should occur for as they said “for every cause.” Divorce is not as how the enemy wants it to seem, it is not something to be considered normal and without consequence. Divorce is something very serious with very serious consequences and that is why Jesus answered them the way He did as we find here when we read “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7They say unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.”
Now, although divorce must never be for as they said “for every cause,” God does not expect nor desire for a person to remain in an abusive, sadistic, or a physically violent union. This is something that is very well reflected in Colossians 3:18-19 when we read “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” And also in Ephesians 5:28 when we read “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.” God only wants what is best for us. But the sad reality of it all is that when the couples love is not based in Christ as their foundation, the couple will never be able to endure the tests and tribulations that all couples must face. Then what will happen is that over toasting the breakfast bread will be sufficient cause for divorce. The final result is that divorce will always produce serious consequences to our life, and the life of the ones that we love, specifically our children. Why do I say this?
As I stated in the beginning the home or family nucleus is the school where our children, the future generation, will learn how to act and behave in our society in a manner that will please God. And as faithful believers and responsible parents we have been called to teach our children. This is something that is very well reflected in Titus 2:4-10 when we read “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. 6Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. 9Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; 10Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” The truth of it all is that during our early years, all of us here learned from observing and listening to our parents. By observing the way mom and dad behave, children will learn the meaning of the word love, and love is something of extreme importance. Look at how the apostle Paul said it in 1 Corinthians 13:13 when we read “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (NIV). Why is love so important? Love is so important because love can conquer all opposition and destroy any obstacle. Let’s never forget that there is but one reason as to why we are here, and the reason is found in John 3:16 when we read “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” By observing mom and dad’s actions children will learn the meaning of forgiveness and to forgive. This is another aspect of our life that is also of the utmost importance. Our Lord let’s us know the importance of this aspect in our life when we read Matthew 6:14-15 where He tells us “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Brethren, the truth of it all is that if more love and forgiveness existed in this world, then this world would be a much better place to live in.
In conclusion. As I said in the beginning, our enemy has launched and intense attack against the family, because he knows that is he can destroy the home he will be able to poison and control the next generation more easily. If our enemy achieves to destroy the home he will more easily be able to accomplish his purpose, which is to separate men from God. Why will it be easier? It will be easier because the next generation will grow up without the basic moral principles that can only be learned in the home. When the mother and father do not exist in the home, when the perfect balance that God created from the foundation of the world ceases to exist, then that generation will grew up learning those things that please the world, but that are condemned by God. That generation will grew up learning that as far as premarital sex is concerned, abstention is not the issue, the issue is protection. That generation will grow up learning that marriage is not as God designed it between a woman and a man, but that it is perfectly fine for it to be contracted between couples of the same sex. That generation will grow up learning that abortion is not the murder of one of God’s creation, but rather a family planning option. That generation will grow up accepting all of those ideals and principles that are an abomination to God and this will happen because throughout their life they have not had the example of the parents, and they have been exposed to the subconscious or subliminal messages that are being constantly beamed into their minds. Through these messages the devil and his army have launched an intense attack to undermine and destroy family principles. With every day that passes the devil is moving closer to his objective to separate all of humanity from God through philosophies and traditions. This is something that we have been warned about as we find in Colossians 2:8 when we read “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Divorce and the disunion of couples should never be the first solution to the marital problems, and it is definitively not something normal. The first solution and the only one that never fails is Christ.
