Christian
Politics –
Part 9: Marriage
Pastor
Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
Online Audio Files | HOF Church Facebook | Truth Digest
Facebook
This Document is a Sermon Outline, you may hear
the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this, and other Full Sermon
Audios. For a complete list of Sermon
Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth
Digest on facebook; for our Official
Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on Facebook
at House of Faith Church
SERMON INTRODUCTION
Over the last few weeks,
we have discussed the following issues and shown where the bible stands.
Ø Jesus, if a U.S. Citizen, would vote in
elections to fulfill citizenship duties
Ø What about the matters of life and death?
o
Healthcare – Miracles, modern
medicine & personal control over decisions (not government/insurance/doctor
control)
o
Suicide & Euthanasia
– for reasons other than defense of self, family, property or country, the
intentional killing of one’s self, or another is murder, and wrong according to
God.
o
Abortion & Stem Cells
– Abortion too is the intentional killing of an innocent, and considered murder
since scripture show that life truly begins at the moment of conception when
God begins to knit you in the womb where He also names you.
Ø Crime and punishment and how the Lord would
approve of the death penalty for certain offenses
Ø War, defense, and national security
Ø Guns and matters of defense
Ø Immigration and matters of national security
Ø Marriage
Ø Education
Ø Economy, budget, trade, campaign finances
Ø Green Values
SCRIPTURE READING
Matthew 19:3-12
“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?”
4 “Haven’t you
read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and
female,’ 5 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’? 6 So they are no
longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one
separate.”
7 “Why then,” they
asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and
send her away?”
8 Jesus replied,
“Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But
it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces
his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10 The disciples
said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better
not to marry.”
11 Jesus replied,
“Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given.
12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have
been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs
for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should
accept it.”
I.
WHAT IS BIBLICAL
MARRIAGE?
a. What does the bible say marriage IS?
i.
Jesus defines marriage
to the Pharisees in Matthew
19
1. In the beginning the Creator made them male
and female
2. For this reason [Marriage]
3. A man will leave his father and mother (still living
at home)
4. And be united (physically, emotionally, living
together, consummating) and the TWO will become ONE flesh.
5. Therefore (because of marriage) what God has joined
together let no man separate
ii.
The takeaway
1. God made male and female so they could marry and
consummate (have sexual relations in marriage)
2. Men and women live at home until they marry
3. Once they move in together they become one
4. God has to “join” them together
iii.
So, the biblical
principal of marriage given to us by Jesus states that a man and woman are
brought together by God and become one in their new home and life.
b. What about the church service and the vows and
stuff?
i.
Well, we made most of
it up and it is not biblical.
1. We see celebrations for marriages
2. This was in part to make public the fact that two
were becoming one and no longer available (why marriages today are posted in
the paper)
3.
There were marriage
contracts (testaments) writ to make legally binding, but this too was man-made,
and not scriptural or required by God.
ii.
But what about vows,
or having preachers officiate, or rituals, or prayers or license and
registration?
1.
Nope. None of it is
biblical.
2.
We made it up.
c. Are you sure?
i.
Who married Adam and
Eve? Were they even married?
1. Genesis 2:25b “…Adam and his wife…”
a. So yes, they were married, but how?
2. Genesis 2:21-25 “the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep
sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then
closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the
rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
“This is now bone of my
bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
24 That is why a man leaves
his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
25 Adam and his wife were
both naked, and they felt no shame.”
a. Genesis 2:22b states the LORD brought “her” to the “man”
b. In verse 23 Adam says, “she is NOW bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh” In other words, “we are ONE”
c. In verse 24 states he is united to his wife and they
become one flesh.
ii.
Marriage is NOT a
ceremony, a reception, a public notification, or a piece of paper given by the
State in which you reside.
iii.
Marriage defined by
Jesus in Matthew
19 IS
1. A male and female the LORD has brought together
2. They agree to be ONE
3. They live together and consummate the relationship
4. They do not break that covenant made between them
and the LORD
d.
In
scripture we see
i.
Many examples of God
bringing people together for marriage
ii.
We also see polygamy
of patriarchs and kings, men and women not treating each other with integrity,
honor or love as God intended, and sin marring the goodness of marriage.
iii.
However, it does not
destroy the truth of the LORD’s teaching on marriage
iv.
What about sins like
cheating, polygamy, divorce, etc.?
II.
WHAT IS
AND IS NOT ALLOWED?
a. The Pharisees tried tricking Jesus with a
question about divorce
i.
Some Pharisees came to
him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for
any and every (any) reason?”
ii.
The LORD answers by first
quoting Genesis
1. Matthew 19:4-6 “Haven’t
you read,” he replied, “that at the
beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 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’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore
what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
iii.
Then the Pharisees
spring their trap, “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man
give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
1. Jesus then gives the reasons and allowances for
divorce
a. Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because
your hearts were hard.
i.
Ephesians
4:18 “They are darkened in their
understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is
in them, due to their hardness of heart.”
ii.
Hebrews
3:8 “Do not harden your hearts
as in the rebellion…”
iii.
Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit
I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and
give you a heart of flesh.”
iv.
Hardened heart means
unsaved, rebellious towards God. They were allowed to divorce because they were
not living for the LORD and were not loving their wives as they ought.
b. But it was not this way from the beginning.
i.
In the beginning we
were not rebellious of God, and a man and woman were meant to be one flesh,
brought together by the LORD and never to separate.
c. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except
for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.
i.
The word translated
into “sexual immorality” here is PORNIA
1. Where we get the word Porn from
ii.
Jesus states that you
may ONLY divorce under the condition that one is committing Pornia
iii.
If pornia is NOT being
committed and you divorce, then you are committing adultery
iv.
Adultery is the act of
“becoming one” in residence, emotionally, physically, sexually with anyone
OTHER than your spouse.
v.
So, what exactly IS
pornia?
b.
Pornia
and divorce
i.
Pornia is translated
as “fornication”, “sexual immorality”, “spiritual immorality” by implication or
figurative
ii.
It is used as fornication, whoredom, idolatry,
adultery, immorality, encounter, to join, worship of idols
iii.
It comes from the word
Pornao, meaning to sell off, or surrender willfully, sexual purity, spiritual
purity, to be promiscuous or marital unfaithfulness.
iv.
It is the defilement
of oneself in breaking a covenant (with the LORD)
v.
Remember, marriage is
a covenant between you and your spouse and God.
vi.
So, Jesus is saying if
you are married and your spouse breaks that covenant in the way of pornia, you
may divorce because the spouse has already broken and nullified the covenant
with the LORD.
1. But if you leave for reasons other than Pornia, such
as the Pharisees implied (any reason), such as your spouse got fat, you don’t
like them anymore, you’re bored with them, you like someone else you met, etc.,
then you would be committing adultery.
c. Biblical Marriage according to the LORD
i.
A man and woman brought
together by the LORD (Gen 2:22;
Mat 19:6)
ii.
They become ONE FLESH
(living together, becoming one emotionally, physically)
iii.
The two of them have a
covenant with the LORD
iv.
They do not divorce,
or commit pornia, thus breaking the covenant
III.
WHY DOES
IT MATTER TO GOD?
a. What marriage represents
i.
We are created in
God’s Image Genesis
1:27-28
ii.
We are created in part
to be united (male, female, God)
iii.
Ephesians
5:25 “For husbands, this means
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for
her."
iv.
Marriage is symbolic
of the unity of Christ and the church in covenant with God
1. This is why we “become one”
2. This is why God hates divorce
3. This is why divorce is granted for pornia, breaking
of covenant with God
4. This is why it is man and woman, symbolic of Christ
and church
b.
The LORD,
marriage and communion
i.
Tradition in Jesus’
time had a man and woman who believed the LORD brought them together, sit a
write a covenant contract written by the bridegrooms’ father. If the bride
accepted the contract, she would drink from the cup and it was done.
ii.
Jesus used this to
show the disciples what the New Covenant and Salvation through Christ meant.
1.
The bridegroom is
Christ (Revelation
18:23)
2.
We, the church is the
bride
3.
The contract
(covenant) is writ by God the Father
4.
We read (understand) this
contract by breaking bread, acknowledging that Christ’s body was broken as a
substitutional sacrifice for us, and we outwardly express our understanding of
the contract (New Covenant) by eating the bread, and fully except this covenant
with the LORD by drinking of the cup just as the bride does.
c. Can we change what the LORD says IS marriage?
i.
Well, there was celebrations of marriages in
scripture so receptions don’t really change what the LORD teaches.
ii.
There were “legal”
documents (covenants writ proposing marriage) in Jesus’ time, and He didn’t
denounce them, in fact used them as example of the New Covenant. So, nothing
really changed there.
iii.
What about a ceremony?
Well, a public announcement of marriage was the purpose of the reception, but
if you want to stand in front of them first and give public vows to the LORD
and your spouse, there is nothing there changing what Jesus says IS a marriage.
iv.
What about voting?
We
simply need to ask ourselves; does it contradict what Jesus says a marriage is?
Jesus
says marriage IS;
·
In the beginning it was
established
·
ONE Man and ONE woman brought
together by the LORD
·
United emotionally,
spiritually, physically
·
In covenant together with
the LORD
Is
polygamy OK? Jesus said it was
established in the beginning, Adam and Eve. One man, one woman. It is symbolic
of the union between Christ and the church. There is only ONE God and ONE
church. You either belong to the LORD or you don’t.
Is every
marriage that is legal by the state a real marriage? Jesus said it was established in the beginning, whom
the LORD has brought together, let no man separate. It has NOTHING to do with
laws of man or the land.
What
about gay marriage? Jesus said, it was
established in the beginning, one man and one woman whom the LORD has brought
together. If anything changes what has been established in the beginning, or is
against scripture or sinful, it will not meet Jesus’ criteria.
Homosexuality is sin, therefore
would not be “brought together” by the LORD
Homosexuality removes the rule, one
man and one woman, therefore would not be “brought together” by the LORD
Because the LORD would not cause man
to sin, and did NOT bring these together, they will never be recognized by God
as married, regardless of the “laws of the land”.
But
what if a Gay person wants to be a Christian? If they are not “living” the sin that
tempts them, they can be. We all have temptations, which do not become sin
unless committed. A person who is tempted by a gay lifestyle, or a person who
is tempted by polygamy or cheating, may want to avoid marriage.
The
disciples asked Jesus about this when He talked about marriage in Matthew 19
Matthew
19:9-12 “I tell you that anyone who
divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman
commits adultery.”
10
The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and
wife, it is better not to marry.”
11
Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it
has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are
eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to
live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept
this should accept it.”
There
are situations (even born this way) that would cause Jesus’ biblical definition
of marriage to be broken, and Jesus’ answer to those who cannot “accept this
word” about biblical marriage should live like a eunich for the sake of the
Kingdom of Heaven.
In
other words, if you cannot live by Jesus’ definition of marriage, then you must
live “sexless and marriage less” for the Kingdoms sake, or to be His follower.
What
about divorce and remarriage?
If a spouse dies, or commits pornia and is divorced in God’s eyes, you may
remarry. If God did not bring you together, then your marriage (even if legal
through government) was never recognized by God, and therefore null and void.
CONCLUSION – How would Jesus vote on marriage and it’s definition
According to scripture I believe Jesus would not vote for a politician
who wanted to promote sin in any way, or redefine what Jesus defined as
marriage.
As far as people who actually marry the same sex, barbie dolls, cars or
lamp posts? Jesus still loves them, and so should we!
There are many sins in this world keeping us from the LORD, but sin
should never keep us from trying to reach and love the sinner.
NEXT WEEK: Part 10 – Education
Want to learn more
about Salvation and Getting Saved?
Want to hear the audio to this sermon?
No comments:
Post a Comment