SEMESTER 5
273 – Marriage and Divorce – Why Divorce
BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CORRESPONDENCE
COURSE: SOTERIOLOGY V LESSON # 73
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
(MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE # 2)
WHY DIVORCE
Read: Mat. 5:27-32
INTRODUCTION:
1. All who are socially sensitive, know that divorce creates social havoc.
i. Children with two sets of parents, yet none.
ii. Grandparents and grandchildren denied each other.
iii. Children pitting one parent against the other.
iv. Fights over fair inheritance settlements.
v. Necessary communication with parties of the first marriage hurting the second.
vi. Complications from awareness of the previous marriage bed.
III: Consider the difficulty of two or three wives, or husbands, at funerals and weddings.
2. With these and other problems, how can it flourish, and why did God recognize it in the law?
I. DIVORCE IS NOT AN UNAVOIDABLE APPOINTMENT OF GOD
1. Let no man think, “This is in God’s approved direction for my life.” (Mat. 19:4-8)
2. It is not an act necessitated by hopeless incompatibility.
III: By compatibility and incompatibility, not genetic attributes, but achieved states.
3. It is not a divinely acceptable alternative to lifetime marriage.
III: The trap of, “It is better to switch than to fight, or be unhappy.”
II. A REMEDIAL MEASURE AFTER THE FACT OF SIN
1. God suffered (allowed without approbation) for survival of the nation, where sin abounded. (Deut. 24:1-2)
2. Not because of the desire of hard hearts, but the destruction by hard hearts. (Mat. 19:7-8)
3. The same principle as the laws which dealt with relationships of men with more than one wife.
III:By punitive laws for theft, murder, man-slaughter, etc., do not signify divine approval.
4. It was never to be a remedy for marital problems, i.e., “The easiest solution to the problem.”
5. It was to maintain a measure of order and decency after marriages were ruined by sin.
III. DIVORCE IS ALWAYS A RESULT OF SIN
1. This sin can be on the part of only one who breaks the vow by fornication.
i. This sin is usually on the part of both, and comes by selfishness.
2. Often one sin leads to another, then another, then fornication.
III: Offensive or negligent partners refuse to listen, and a friend does. Theshoulder becomes the bed..
3. Alcoholism, or abuse, is wrongly responded to, and divorce seems the solution.
4. Sometimes one or both partners become disillusioned with economy or personality.
5. In all cases, the breaking of the wedding vows is an act of adultery.
I. THE EVIL OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF DIVORCE
1. As long as men are sinners there will be divorce, theft, murder, lying, and covetousness.
2. The danger and tragedy is when it comes to be acceptable to a society.
III: How with acceptability, increase is inseparable and accumulative.
II. WHAT IS THE PROPER SOLUTION – HEAR GOD’S ORDER
1. One man to one woman till death do they part. (Mat. 19:4-6)
2. Do not marry a man you do not respect enough to obey. If you want to be boss, get a dog.
3. Do not marry a woman you do not respect enough to die for. Love is not enough.
4. Do not be too selfish to sacrifice the necessary.