We turn once again this morning to our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, our text being verses 31 and 32, in many ways continuing on from the text that we considered last week regarding adultery, this one dealing with divorce. Not an easy subject, of course, and most likely I will not answer every question everybody has with regard to divorce. And that really is not my intention as I believe the text brings it forth this morning. Once you've found Matthew 5, there are two other passages that would be profitable for us to read as we are going to consider them along with this text. They inform this text as we need it to be informed. So if you would turn also to Deuteronomy 24 first of all. We'll read together a few verses from Deuteronomy chapter 24. We find this in a section regarding miscellaneous laws that Moses was giving for the civil nation of Israel, the civil laws of the nation. Deuteronomy 24, verses 1-4. Hear now the Word of God. If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, Or if he dies, then her first husband who divorced her is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. And then turning over to Matthew 19. A few pages past it. Matthew 5. Matthew 19. where our Lord again deals with the subject of divorce as He's being tested. Picking up our reading at verse 3 through verse 9. Some Pharisees came to Him to test Him. They asked, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason? Haven't you read, He replied, that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate. Why then, they asked, did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? Jesus replied, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness and marries another woman commits adultery. And then to Matthew 5. Picking up our reading in verse 27. You have heard that it was said, do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. It has been said, anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness causes her to become an adulteress and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. There we end with the reading of God's Holy Word. May He add His blessing to the reading and consideration of it this morning. Well, beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ, we come to a text like this and I think we might wonder, at least some of us, well, why do we really have to consider it? Even as preachers, we struggle with these things. Why do we need to consider this in a worship service in the congregation? It seems a little bit anticlimactic, doesn't it? I mean, after considering the previous text which talked about lust and heart adultery, that one, you see, was interesting. That one had some shock value. That one was convicting for so many of us. But this one speaks about divorce. And while so many of us here are not even married, there are the boys and girls, and there are young people, and those among us who are single. And we are Christians. We are Christians in a Christian church. Most of us are not tempted or troubled by divorce. Oh, really? You see, statistically, it is reported that the divorce rate in the United States of America, which leads the nations, is still about 50%. One out of every two marriages ends in divorce. Half of them. And the truth is, most, if not all of us and our families, have been touched in some way by divorce, whether directly or indirectly. And this text, you see, is also a part of God's inspired Word and we would be negligent if we skipped it. And we would also be missing out as Jesus ties this to the previous text that we might see the terrible danger of lust and adultery so often with its result being divorce. But positively, what Jesus is teaching and reminding us here is what He said in Matthew 19, verse 6, Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate. And therefore, together we consider Jesus upholds the permanent bond of marriage. And He does so, first of all, explaining the original intent of Moses. Now, it's good for us to remember as we've been doing from week to week that Jesus is dealing in this portion of the Sermon on the Mount, He is dealing here with a false interpretation of the law of Moses. He is not contradicting Moses at all. He is honoring the law of Moses. He is explaining the truth of it here in a civil application of it in the life of Israel. And what they had heard was said, what they were taught, notice it focuses on the certificate of divorce. You have heard it said that anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. That seems to be the focus of what was being taught from Deuteronomy chapter 24. And Jesus explains Deuteronomy chapter 24 in Matthew chapter 19, showing us that the intent of Moses with regard to the certificate was to control divorce. It's interesting that in Deuteronomy chapter 24, adultery is not even mentioned as a reason, as an excuse for divorce. Probably because that was punishable by death. According to Deuteronomy 22, verse 22, and that death obviously ended the marriage. So adultery, by way of the punishment, death ended the marriage. But the object and the purpose of the certificate, we must understand, was to control a situation that was way out of hand because of the hardness, because of the sin and the selfishness of the hearts of the people. You see, divorce was being practiced. Widespread being practiced. Moses is not there, we must understand. He's not giving a law concerning this is how you go about it or saying that it's okay. Moses recognized divorce he did not condone it but the situation was this that the men of Moses' day had a very low a very poor view of women and they believed that they had a right to divorce their wives for whatever reason they could come up with you name it anything is fair game but really no matter what the excuse they might give ultimately the men wanted someone else so therefore we could say it was lust and so the intent of the certificate was to protect women because of the social situation of the day you see that left women and many children unprovided for uncared for it left them as social outcasts with no rights and no proof of having done nothing unworthy. So Moses' allowance, his permission of divorce, included basically three principles that we see from Deuteronomy 24. And the principles included that divorce, first of all, was limited to certain causes. If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her and he writes her a certificate of divorce. Now, the word indecent there, it's very hard to know exactly what it means. There's no agreement on it. Some say, well, it means adultery. It means all kinds of sexual sin is included there. But that's problematic because as we said a moment ago, that was already subject to death. The punishment was death. It could mean some sort of ceremonial uncleanness or some sort of repulsiveness or any sort of action or condition that was not proper or that was morally disgusting. Now, of course, that still troubles us. But remember, we need to understand they were taking liberty, all kinds of excuses. And what Moses is doing there is taking away so many frivolous excuses that the men were giving. Moses greatly limited and narrowed the excuse for divorce. And we are to understand here that he is saying it could only take place with regard to exceptional reasons. And those reasons themselves needed to be verified by two witnesses. So the first principle, divorce was limited to certain causes. The second principle is that it must be made official by giving a certificate of divorce. Before this, a man could simply say that he didn't want his wife any longer. He could kick her out and she would be at the mercy of the world and even be at risk of being wrongly accused and charged with unfaithfulness or adultery and she would face stoning to death. And therefore, the certificate, it had to be made official for the protection of the wife who was not guilty of a capital crime of unfaithfulness or adultery. The certificate with the husband's reason penned on it would be for her protection to show that she was not guilty or worthy of death. But if you think about it, whatever reason the husband might have put on there really did not help the husband's reputation either. But the point of the certificate along with protection for the innocent wife was to show the people that divorce was a serious step. It was not to be entered into lightly. And in this way, Moses undergirded the seriousness of marriage. And the third principle that Moses laid down in Deuteronomy 24 is that divorce came with a prohibition against remarriage. And this is really the crux of Deuteronomy 24. If a wife was let go by her husband, if she married again, and that husband either died or he divorced or the first husband could not remarry her because Moses says she had been defiled and because this remarriage would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Now that's tough language. That's very tough language. One of the ways that a person was defiled according to the Old Testament was through sexual relations with one who was not their spouse. And therefore, most likely her being defiled here is because the wife had been with another husband when in the sight of God the first marriage was not legitimately over. And therefore all of this, beloved, was to be a deterrent to casual divorce. As one commentator says, a remarriage to her former husband would be tantamount to legal adultery and therefore detestable to the Lord. Again, the bottom line is that Moses' intention, His original intention was to control a divorce problem being practiced that was way out of hand. And to teach the people that marriage was not something that you can walk in and out of at will, and therefore even the certificate was permanent then, once it was given. His intent was for the protection of the innocent party and most of all, I think, to demonstrate divorce for what it is. It is damaging, it is destructive, And it is hated by God, as the Lord says through Malachi. I hate divorce. And therefore, Jesus upholds the permanent bond of marriage, explaining the original intent of Moses, but secondly, exposing then the distortion of the religious leaders. Notice again what they said, what we read in verse 7 of chapter 19 of Matthew. Why then, they asked, did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? we see the distortion right at the very beginning they claimed in a sense that Moses commanded the certificate to be given because he commanded the divorce if she was indecent get rid of her but that wasn't true at all again as we said in the first point he only set down certain conditions to control the problem the Pharisees and the teachers of the law said it could be for any reason they were going back in a sense before Deuteronomy 24 and they were making it even worse we might say than what was being practiced back then they were insisting on their right to divorce for all kinds of reasons they gave their own definition to what indecent means if a husband stopped liking his wife for any reason if she became unsatisfactory to him for any reason. And you probably wouldn't be surprised after considering the Sermon on the Mount so far, you probably wouldn't be surprised at some of the examples that are given. For example, a husband could divorce his wife for spoiling or burning the dinner. How many split families would we have? Or if the husband burnt the dinner? A husband could divorce his wife if she had a nagging or an argumentative personality. A husband could divorce his wife for speaking disrespectfully of his parents. If he lost interest in her. If he did not consider her attractive any longer. And I like this one. A husband could divorce his wife if she spoke so loud that the neighbors could hear her. for any reason. Ridiculous. But again, the most important part to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law was the certificate of divorce. That piece of paper. They ignored that which was most detestable to God. They followed the laws of their own making to the literal letter with paper and ink called a certificate of divorce. You see, that was not only her freedom paper stating that she was free from the marriage vow she made to her husband. But in the husband's mind, that was his freedom paper as well. After that, he was off the hook. He was safe. Yet, Jesus makes it clear in our text that the certificate of divorce did not have the authority to dissolve a marriage as the leaders taught and as they thought because of the danger that came with frivolous divorce. Verse 32 of the text, but I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness causes her to become an adulteress and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. And notice again what Matthew 19 says when Jesus says almost the same thing. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness and he marries another woman, he also commits divorce. The danger that came with frivolous divorce is adultery. In a sense, Jesus is saying that no matter what the civil law may say in the sight of God, anything other than marital unfaithfulness does not break the bond of marriage. And therefore, even though the innocent party is free to marry once again, the guilty party, the one who divorced wrongfully, whether he or she. The one who, in this sense, put his wife away without that bond being broken would be guilty himself if he remarried and guilty before the sight of God for, in a sense, making her and her new husband break the bond of the first marriage through their marriage. Now, I think we would all agree that as we look around our world, our society today, we recognize the very same misuse of divorce and the very same low view of marriage today. By so many, it's not seen as a permanent bond. It's a matter of convenience. If that. Or for others, not being married is a matter of convenience. Vows are spoken lightly, in a sense, with fingers crossed. I do. unless someone better comes along, or unless I lose interest. It kind of seems as if vows are changed to say only what one is willing to agree to. Prenuptial agreements are made with the expectation that the marriage is only temporary. And I would suggest that the number one reason stated today for divorce that's written down, that's recorded, is irreconcilable differences. that's no different than what the pharisees said for any reason whatsoever irreconcilable differences and you know what that is beloved that's a code for selfishness isn't it it's a code for it's not what i thought it was going to be i came across an article this past week that caught my attention only because i was studying for this sermon, it was entitled 11 Reasons He Dumped You. Of course, it has to do with dating, but as I scan to those reasons, it seemed to fit with some of these irreconcilable differences. For example, he got bored with her. He got burned out. They had divergent lives. Or he misread his feelings about her. Or his friends and family didn't like her. Or she was too negative. And then as I was looking on the internet to find out the divorce statistics, some interesting headlines that came to my attention with regard to those statistics, such as these. How to start a divorce in three easy steps. Save money on your divorce. Online divorce services. Take care of it easily at home. Cheap, uncontested divorces. All advertisements, you see. And my favorite one, expert divorce help for only a dollar a day. Indeed, beloved, we recognize the very same misuse of divorce and such a low view of marriage today. But Jesus makes it clear that this is not how it is in the kingdom of heaven. That it's not how it is among those whom He has brought into His kingdom by His perfect righteousness. They, God's people, His citizens, delight in God's view of marriage. And therefore, Jesus in the third place upholds the permanent bond of marriage by expounding the truth as ordained by God. In Matthew 19 again, you notice the Pharisees wanted to go back to Moses. Jesus says, why stop there in a sense? Let's go back a little bit further. Beginning in verse 4, listen again. Haven't you read, He replied, that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate. Why then, they asked, did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? Jesus replied, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard, but it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness and marries another woman commits adultery. In expounding the truth as ordained by God, Jesus points out the real meaning of marriage. He points out its sanctity, its set-apartness. It was ordained by God in the very beginning as a covenant relationship, as a covenant bond signified by becoming one of flesh and kingdom citizens, believers by the grace of God. They get this. They understand that with marriage something new is taking place. Certain other ties are broken between parent and child and a new tie is being formed that is to be unbreakable. Indeed, Moses allowed what was already taking place, Yet, in restraining and controlling it, God through Moses was leading His people back in the direction of His institution in the beginning. And of course, there's real work involved in marriage, isn't there? Because of sin. Because of the hardness of our hearts that you and I still struggle with. Marriage takes work. Whenever I have the privilege to do pre-marriage counseling with a young couple who desire to be married, I always remind them that one sinner plus one sinner does not a perfect couple make. It's two sinners. It's double trouble under one roof. We do enter marriage knowing what a blessing, what a gift it is from God, but also because of the hardness of our hearts, realizing that it may not always be easy, that the honeymoon comes to an end and the reality of everyday life sets in. And that difficult times, times of disappointment, times of stress may very well come, but those are not an occasion or an excuse for divorce. It is a commitment. Two people promising their lives to each other. Boys and girls and young people, you might think, well, what does this have to do with me? Well, in a sense, you can prepare. If the Lord should give you a spouse one day, you can prepare right now. How? By keeping your promises. Sticking to your Word. You don't just make a promise and turn your back on it. We'll cover that, the Lord willing, in the next section of the Sermon on the Mount. Marriage is a commitment. And far from backing out when the going gets rough and tough, Christian marriage partners sort out their differences in the light of Scripture. And work at it. And sacrifice. because they have vowed before God and man to live together and to love each other for better or for worse until death parts them. There is only one excuse, possible excuse for divorce, marital unfaithfulness, which includes here all sexual irregularities and misconduct, because again, that has broken the marriage bond. It's always been that way. Remember, adultery was punished by death. It broke the marriage bond. It ended the marriage relationship. We no longer stone people to death for adultery. But Jesus says that that is an excuse. That is a potential reason for divorce. Yet, God does not command it. And we are called to try to solve our problems. If the offender is truly repentant by the grace of God and changes their ways, The offended one is encouraged to live with that one in love. Paul talks about desertion, which fits in here too in 1 Corinthians 7. He's talking there about a Christian, a believing spouse with an unbelieving spouse. But he says there, he says if the unbelieving spouse deserts the believing spouse, then that believing spouse is free to remarry. But he also points out that if the unbelieving spouse is willing to live with the believing spouse. The believing spouse is encouraged to stay with the unbelieving spouse. And the same is true here. There is an encouragement for the offended one if the offender truly repents by the grace of God. Love determines to seek the other's good, to cherish, to shelter, to nurture, to edify, to forgive as hard as it may be and to show patience with one's spouse. Why? Because that's what God does for us. You see, we need to confess that we face many temptations to lust after things that would remove our eyes from Jesus and to commit spiritual adultery. And we often do. But He lovingly turns our eyes and our hearts back to Him. And that's why the real model for marriage, beloved, is Christ and His church. Kingdom citizens continually remember our constant, our daily unfaithfulness to our heavenly marriage partner, our groom, Jesus Christ. Yet, He does not write His bride off. He does not send her away because God hates divorce. And our Lord Jesus Christ has worked to save His bride. He has every reason to divorce us. But instead, He went after her as Hosea was commanded to do. Go after your adulterous wife, the Lord says. Bring her back. Love her again. Our Lord Jesus Christ loves His bride. He died for her. He redeemed her. And He brought His church into a bond that will never be severed. I'll let that sink in for just a moment. That bond that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ will never be broken. It will never be cut apart. It will never be severed. And He is still working to cleanse and purify and seek her best in preparation for glory. Indeed, our earthly marriages are to represent the marriage between Christ and the church. Yeah, beloved, praise God. And this is so very important. Praise God that adultery and divorce is not unforgivable. Praise God for that. for His mercy. It is not unforgivable. But for those who truly repent of their sins in Christ Jesus, their sin is forgiven in Him. And those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the forgiving grace of God, they desire then indeed not to repeat whatever actions they have committed, but to run away from these things and instead to promote the permanent bond of marriage. To promote it. And this, again, is not just for those who are married, but it's for all of us here. It's for the boys and girls. It's for the young people. It's for the singles among us. We all are called to promote the bond of marriage. Together, as we have the assurance by faith of that impenetrable, never-ending, never-failing bond with Jesus Christ, we are called to promote the bond of marriage between a man and his wife, recognizing that God has joined them together and they are not to be separated, but instead to reflect the glorious marriage of Christ and His church and the love that exists there. So we are to take marriage seriously. The marriage is of others. And again, young people, boys and girls, the marriages that God may lead us into one day, take them seriously. That means, as you might anticipate it, marry only in the Lord. A believer. Marry for the right reasons with proper motives. We said last week that your actions now, young people, will affect your marriages and lives, the marriages God may give you later on. And through marriages, giving a picture of the bond of love that we enjoy with Jesus Christ, that others may be led, may see that marriage between Christ and His church. Promoting that permanent bond. How? Well, notice again the text from last week. You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And our Lord says the same thing about the right hand. Cut it off. Beloved, it is through marriage that God has chosen to populate His world and by which He builds His church and prevents sexual license and immorality. The lust and adultery leading to divorce attacks and disrupts and destroys this. And therefore, you and I, each one of us is called to promote the permanent bond of marriage by submitting to the Seventh Commandment. As we considered last week, doing all we can with the help of the Holy Spirit to run away from temptation. Fighting against the lust and heart adultery that damages relationships. Together, may we all support and encourage and protect the marriages of others by respecting them and not interfering in them even in seemingly innocent ways by casual flirting which makes one jealous or through suggestive speech. But instead, respecting the marriages of others and the vows that others have made to each other and to the Lord. You see, just as marriage to Christ by faith is to be an incentive and motivation to put off the ways of the old man, marriage between a man and a woman ordained as a permanent bond by God is to be an incentive and a motivation for those married or not to fight against the sin of lust and unfaithfulness. Indeed, this honors our eternal marriage as the church with Jesus Christ our Lord. Beloved, God loves marriage. And the marriages that faithfully reflect the marriage of Christ and His church, may we love marriage and seek to promote that permanent bond for Jesus' sake. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we bow humbly before You, thanking You again for Your Word and the instruction You give to Your people through Your Word. Indeed, hard things. Things difficult to understand. Yet, Father, grateful for Your forgiving grace. We are humbled, O Lord, that You are a forgiving God. And that day by day we might know that the sins that we do commit that are brought before You, that You forgive them for Jesus' sake. And that we do no longer live in fear of separation from You forever. But we live as a forgiven people in the joy that You have given to us in Christ Jesus. Father, through this difficult word this morning, encourage us, admonish us, support us. Help us to live for You and to be an encouragement to others who may be facing difficulties and hardships even in their relationships at this time. So Lord, hear our prayer for Jesus' sake. In His name alone, Amen.