My sermon/teaching notes for Wednesday, Sept. 16^th  Our current Wednesday Series is THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon.  To see the sermon each week please visit http://www.fbcap.net

Matthew 5:31–32 – Divorce and Commitment

[31] “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

Gen. 1:27 – So God created man in his own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them. (ESV)

Gen. 2:24

• Leave and Cleave
• One man and one woman.  Forever

Deut. 24:2-4

• Moses to the Israelites.

Mal. 2:14-16

• God hates divorce
• Divorce is just one OF THE MANY THINGS that God disapproves of.
• Divorce is not the unpardonable sin.

[32] But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (ESV)

Matthew 19:3–9 – [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.”

• Whoever separates from their spouse except for sexual immorality commits adultery

1 Corinthians 7:10-16 – [12] To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. [13] If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. [14] For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. [15] But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. [16] For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? (ESV)

• from your unbelieving spouse (the assumption is that one became a believer after the marriage)
• But if the unbeliever leaves then the spouse is not bound

1 Corinthians 7:39–40 – [39] A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. [40] Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God. (ESV)

• If your spouse passes away, then one is free to remarry.

THINKING BIBLICALLY ABOUT MARRIAGE:

It Is God’s Plan (Gen. 1 & 2)

• One Man and One Woman
• As One Flesh
• Not to be alone
• Fill the earth

It is God’s Picture (of the Gospel)

• Christ and the Church

Ephesians 5:22–33 – [22] Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

[25] Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, [26] that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, [27] so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. [28] In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [29] For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, [30] because we are members of his body. [31] “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” [32] This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. [33] However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (ESV)

• Christ’s Love For His Church
• Sanctify Her (GROWING AND CHANGING)
• Cleansed by the Word
• Presented in splendor…spotless
• IN THE SAME WAY…HUSBANDS LOVE YOUR WIFE
• MARRIAGE IS A PICTURE OF LOVE, FAITHFULNESS, GROWTH

RATHER THAN DIVORCE…COMMITMENT

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