Matthew 5:31-32

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 148:1, 11-13
• Hymn — Give to Our God Immortal Praise (#3)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Catechism — Shorter Catechism Q&A 104
• Hymn — Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting (#188)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 24:1-4
• Scripture Reading — Matthew 5:31-32
• Sermon
• Hymn — A Christian Home (#719)
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Marriage in a Divorce Culture

Scripture: Matthew 5:31-32

I. Marriage Is Important Because It Protects the Spouse

A. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 24:1 and corrects the Jewish misinterpretation of the word "indecency"

1. Rabbinical schools in Jesus's day had stretched "indecency" to mean virtually any displeasure a husband had with his wife (e.g., overcooking food as grounds for divorce)
2. The Hebrew word for "indecency" is rare and elsewhere conveys a particularly heinous act — not a trivial complaint

B. Jesus narrows the legitimate ground for divorce to sexual immorality (Greek: porneia)

1. Porneia refers to heinous sexual misconduct: adultery, incest, fornication, and similar acts
2. 1 Corinthians 7 adds abandonment as an additional ground (Paul)

C. The original intent of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 was to protect women, not to provide an easy exit from marriage

1. A certificate of divorce allowed a woman to remarry without social disgrace
2. The prohibition on taking back a remarried ex-wife was meant to slow men down and discourage hasty divorce

D. Marriage as covenant reflects God's own covenant faithfulness

1. As Yahweh is steadfast in love toward Israel despite Israel's failures (Hosea), spouses are called to the same steadfast commitment
2. Covenant commitment is the spouse's assurance of security — "until death do us part"

II. Marriage Is Important Because It Protects Sex

A. The severity of the penalty for adultery in Leviticus 20:10 reveals how seriously God guards sex within marriage

1. The adulterous spouse was effectively to be regarded as dead
2. A wronged spouse who took back a repentant adulterer performed an act of extraordinary mercy — like raising someone from the dead

B. Jesus connects this passage to his preceding teaching on lust (Matthew 5:27-30)

1. Cutting off the hand and eye includes fidelity within marriage
2. Proverbs 5 and 1 Corinthians 7 both commend contentment with the spouse of one's youth as the remedy for sexual temptation

C. The tenth commandment's prohibition on coveting one's neighbor's wife undergirds sexual contentment in marriage

1. Sexual discontentment outside of marriage is insatiable — like addiction, each new experience requires another "fix"
2. The answer remains what it was at creation: a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife (Genesis 2:24)

D. The church must hold the line on the biblical vision of sex and marriage as a refuge for those wounded by the sexual revolution

III. Marriage Is Important Because It Protects Society

A. Jesus warns that divorce outside of proper biblical grounds causes adultery to ripple outward — affecting not just the couple but others who remarry (Matthew 5:32)

B. Jesus addresses his disciples specifically — the foundation of the church — calling them to be salt and light within a divorce culture

1. Evangelicals divorcing at rates equal to or greater than unbelievers represents a failure of this calling
2. The church cannot be a safe house for the sexually broken if it conforms to the culture's view of marriage

C. The Cultural Mandate in Genesis 1:28 begins with family: "be fruitful and multiply"

1. The fall fractured this mandate precisely at the point of marriage — Adam blamed Eve, discontentment entered
2. The genealogy of Cain illustrates how marital unfaithfulness (Lamech's polygamy) leads to social violence and lawlessness

D. The church as the Bride of Christ — the last Adam — is to reflect the spotless, covenant love of Christ for his people

1. Christ is not discontent with his bride; he cleanses and sanctifies her
2. Christian marriages are to shine that same light into a divorce culture, serving as Salt and Light to the watching world