Synoptic Gospels - Matthew 19: 4-12

Matthew 19 and the Creation Ordinance of Marriage

Matthew 19, we got to get out of here someday. Maybe today I will finally stop chasing every theological rabbit known to man and get through this but it's I don't know, it's an important text and so I've not wanted to rush through it like we've rushed through the rest of the Synoptic Gospels over the past eight years or something like that, you know.

The term rushing for Reformed Baptists is different than back in my old days in the Southern Baptist Church where we had this thing called a quarterly and it was sort of it sort of told you what you had to do and and I remember being so excited when I got the quarterly once I was the master teacher and We were gonna do the Book of Romans.

But we're gonna do it in one shot and For example, it had us covering Romans 9, 10, 11 in one lesson. So cover you couldn't even read the entire text. You're supposed to be covering in one lesson, you know.

So so we don't rush quite like that. Anyway shape or form so but most people would feel we were a little bit too far the other end of the spectrum of speed but that's. So we are back in Matthew chapter 19 the parallel is in Mark chapter 10 there is a brief parallel in Luke chapter 16 as well.

But once again the the text Pharisees Came up to him and test him asking is it lawful divorce one's wife for any cause? He answered have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made the male and female and Said for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

There are no longer two but one flesh, but therefore God is joined together. Oh man put asunder. They said to him why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and put her away. He said to them for your hardness of heart Moses Well, you divorce your wives from the beginning.

It was not so and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for unchastity and marries another Commits adultery. The disciples said to him as such as the case of a man with his wife. It is not expedient to marry.

But he said to them not all men can receive this thing. But only those to whom it is given for there are eunuchs Who have been so from birth and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men and there are eunuchs who have been made?

Themselves eunuchs the sake of the kingdom of heaven he who is able to receive this let him receive it. Now we have looked at a Number of the important elements of this particular text the the background the creation created order.

We've talked about how people in our society struggled to understand these things because of The values that are instilled in them from a secular society. We have looked at the fact that God is the one who joins a man and woman in marriage.

We saw that this is based upon male and female. We have mentioned of course the fact that what this means then is that from the Christian worldview Marriage can only be defined as a man a woman those systems of Law and we all know that in the not-too-distant future.

I think if you had asked any of us five years ago How far down the road this would be we probably would have put it farther away than it has become. But in the not-too-distant future probably Through the legal system to the judicial Avenue probably not through Legislation there will be some kind of a decision made in our society regarding this matter of perverting the meaning of marriage so that it is something that includes two women two men.

I would argue that if that happens that there is really no logical basis beyond that for this to not include a man and two women or three women one woman and three men and given the ethical or anti-ethical Systems of people like Peter Singer and others in our society.

Evil evil men, that's the only way they can be described. That you would then open the door to discussions of Marriages including non-humans. We already have people pushing speciesism. The idea that you're a speciesist if you think that humans have rights that animals do not.

There are radicals out there and for many many years we've just laughed at them. But they are there and they are very serious and they've got money and Once the foundations are destroyed. What's the basis for even and what has been the basis for defining marriage in our society?

But the Judeo-christian ethic once that has been Openly and utterly repudiated. What's the basis for not saying that you can't marry your dog or your horse or a chimpanzee? There are some women that would find a chimpanzee a cleaner person to live with than some husbands.

So What what you know, what could what could be the argument it all becomes a matter of taste at that point and so that time is coming and Obviously that means we have opportunity of giving testimony to the fact that As God is our creator then he knows how we are to function and he knows what is right and is wrong for us and That to you know people are always asking.

Well, who's being hurt by this? Anyways, have you ever heard the moral relativist in our society? Why should you care what I do in the privacy of my own home? Why should you care if two men get married or two women get married?

And aside from the obvious The things we see together for we see for example Not only the first divorces of homosexuals happening now but the the the massive issue of adoption of Because of course these unions cannot produce children because they're unnatural.

They're a perversion of the created order. And so you have children and I would argue Without without any embarrassment whatsoever. This is an abuse of children it is one thing for a child to Be raised in a situation without a father.

Because that father has been killed in war killed in an accident the scripture talks to us about orphans and widows and the fact that society is to a faithful society a society that fears God is to Be involved in helping in those situations but there is a vast difference a vast difference between a recognition of The fact that there is death There is war there is disease.

There is what we call the accident That takes the life of a father or a mother or even of both parents. There is a vast difference between that recognition and the blessing and establishment of situations where a child is specifically put in a situation where they are deprived of a father or a mother or both or even worse given the Example of two fathers and two mothers, which of course neither one is a father or a mother to begin with.

The vast difference one is a recognition of the fallen world we live in the other is a rejoicing in Rebellion against God. God will not bless a society That is so perverted in its thought and so perverted in its action that it would engage in this it will bring Without question the judgment of God and I cannot believe that it will not be swift.

The Destruction to the children the destruction to the lives of the individuals. I've mentioned this before you never hear it. Because in our society there is no longer Almost anyone that I would call a serious journalist that actually seeks To speak truth no matter what that truth is.

But you will almost never hear a discussion of the fact that the life expectancy of The practicing homosexual is Significantly less than the life expectancy of the heterosexual. For both men and women it is a life-destroying behavior I think partially to be perfectly honest with you due to the Constant suppression of the conscience that is required.

This is why we see the homosexuals so very frequently using that that language of shame shame shame. Because they know shame so well. It's something they experience internally and they hate those Very clearly who by their life and by their profession remind them of the very things they're having to suppress.

And we say these things realizing that our our place of fellowship here is is only a matter of hundreds of yards from a gay bar up on Indian School Road some of us have had the Misfortune of having to drive past there during certain demonstrations.

They're having and it's just it's it's is. Lifestyle is amazing, and I don't know if any of you saw this story. We're gonna be hearing more about it, but the Alliance Defense Fund I had one of their chief people in one of the classes that I taught last year on this one At Golden Gate and one of their folks contacted me Sent me information about a legal situation they've become involved in.

Where a woman back east at Augusta State University, I think was the name I think it's in Georgia. Has been told by the university she's getting her master's degree in counseling and She has been told by the university that if she does not abandon her Christian views on homosexuality she will be expelled.

She has to take Remedial classes do remedial reading and report on how that remedial reading changes her beliefs. She will not be allowed to receive a master's degree as a Christian in that in that University won't be a lot.

All because it has now become the the dogma and the orthodoxy of our society. To embrace and promote even though it remains about 3 of the population. Embrace and promote not just the acceptability of this lifestyle, but the moral virtue of Homosexuality.

This is not the first time this has happened. It happened in Rome and look what happened to them. And every society in which this has become a predominant Not activity. It's never a predominant activity.

It is grossly unnatural. It is a perversion and is disgusting to the vast majority of us. But when it becomes Something that is promoted and accepted the society every single society in which that has happened has been destroyed that is just simply a fact of history and We cannot expect.

There Kate Smith can sing. God bless America till she turns blue in the face. The only thing that we should be saying God bless America about these days is God bless America with heartfelt repentance.

Because that is absolutely what is necessary but this This situation once again gives us many opportunities of Giving testimony to the fact that when we go against What God's Word says we destroy our own lives.

Destroy our own lives. This isn't a matter of personal opinion. That's what everyone's. The the secularism around us wants to say that especially in the area of religion. This is the one area where every single person's opinion is equal to any other person's opinion and see what we're doing is We're taking from the the pluralism of the side.

It says that you can believe what you wish and no one can come along and force you. We then transfer that uncritically not thinking clearly not thinking logically into meaning every single opinion in this field is equal.

Well, there's no logical connection between those two things. You know, let's use another field that isn't so fraught with with emotion. You can you can have an opinion About the the greatest basketball player of our age and you'll have people who will sit around forever and a day arguing those issues and They find it to be enjoyable and a pleasant way to pass time.

But it does not follow that because you can have all sorts different opinions that there are not some opinions that are just simply absurd. I Mean you can argue Jordan and LeBron and Kobe and so on so forth.

But anybody who would say that I'm the greatest basketball player of all ages is nuts. Okay. I mean that's just stupid. That is not an equal opinion to any others so the freedom to have opinions does not mean that every person's opinion is equal to somebody else's and So when it comes this matter of religion, then all of a sudden well everyone's opinions equal.

Therefore there is no truth in this in this field. It's all just subjective. It's just me me me me me. The reality is that if God has spoken then he has spoken with clarity and on this matter. There is no question.

Oh yeah, you know when I when I Co-authored the the book with Jeff Neal on the subject of homosexuality I Was amazed even at that time and this was a number of years ago. Now. This is came out in 2001 2002 2001 I Was amazed even then how many books were flying into bookstores?

From pro-homosexual advocates just perverting scripture and There that you could buy an entire library. I have over a shelf worth of books. Perverting the scriptures and and giving you Every possum many of the books giving you four or five contradictory possibilities.

Just desperation to try to get around with the text of scripture is others are just straightforward and saying it's a homophobic text. Therefore it should be illegal and there are people saying that That you shouldn't you should that the Bible should be banned because of these types of things.

They at least admit what it what it actually is is saying but to be able to enunciate In our society from a clearly thought-out Christian worldview why homosexuality is wrong. And why it does impact you why what people do in the privacy of their own homes does impact the rest of society the person sitting his own home shooting up or getting or Blasting his mind on whatever drugs or drink he's using.

It's easy to see that when he leaves his home and runs into my car and kills me and my family. How that whole idea of no man is an island is very clearly the case. But there's so many other things now that the government has decided to be our nanny from birth until death.

Then the government gets to start deciding what kind of behaviors it's going to reward or which kind of behaviors it's going to punish. And so we get to start paying for other people's behaviors. Etc etc the whole thing requires us to think through what a Christian worldview is about and especially when it comes this issue of marriage.

Yes, my marriage is impacted by the society in which I live. Constantly denigrating what marriage is supposed to be all about and it's not just homosexuality. But the attitude of our society toward marriage as a whole toward the family as a whole.

Divorce, Sexual Sin, and the Old Testament Background

Now the question then becomes the question is asked of Jesus. Well, Moses allowed for divorce and Jesus says it was because of sin is Because of the hardness of your heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so in other words the Creation ordinance is one man and one woman.

But then we have the whole argument about well, what is the grounds for divorce? I'm not gonna spend too much time here. I think that it is a huge subject and a Difficult subject, but I do want to bring something up that actually the first person who ever pointed out to me was our beloved pastor and He was he did so in the context of how often we do tend to interpret the New Testament as People ignorant of the Old Testament if I've been pounding anything home recently in the sermons.

It has been the necessity of knowing Old Testament backgrounds. And and Thinking as the writers in the New Testament would have been thinking as people who know the Old Testament. You know that in Matthew 19 we have the Very important phrase except for in this translation says unchastity the term is for Naya and The term has a general Connection to Sexual sin of some sort but even wider to just simply uncleanness and I was you know I've heard all the all the arguments.

I've heard people trying to say that this doesn't actually mean anything and and I've heard people you know attacking the phrase and saying it shouldn't be there because you don't find it in Mark and Luke blah blah blah.

But I think what lies behind that phrase in Matthew. Is a recognition that would certainly have been given for Mark and Luke which is why they don't include it. Think about the Old Testament law with me for just a moment and under the Old Testament law Moses allowed for a certificate of divorce.

What were the other? Situations and I had never heard anyone discuss this before. What are the other situations in which what would be called a de facto divorce? Would come into existence under the Old Testament law.

Well think about it. What were? The laws or the penalties. For being found the congregation to be a homosexual. What's the Old Testament law regarding homosexual? Execution. What is the Old Testament law regarding Idolatry.

Execution. So if you were married Let's say you're a woman and You are married to a Jewish man. Decide that he's going to Become a worshiper of Moloch under the Old Testament law. If he is seen entering into the shrine of Moloch by two witnesses.

He is to be brought before the elders the people a trial is to be held and Upon being found guilty what is going to happen to him? He's going to be stoned. He's going to be executed. He's going to be taken out of the congregation not just excluded for the congregation.

But he is going to be executed. What happens upon death to a marriage. It's dissolved and The woman whose husband is executed. What is her situation now? Well, she's a she's a widow. But is she allowed to marry so as a divorce taking place.

Yeah, in essence, it's not. It's a divorce due to death. But it is not just natural death. There were certain laws. So if married to a woman and you discovered that she had become involved in homosexuality.

What would happen to her? Well, we already went through the whole process there there would be in essence a divorce granted via the laws penalty coming to bear upon that particular individual and So there were a number of situations.

That under the Old Testament law would have resulted in an individual who had been married being eligible for marriage again. Because the penalty of the law would be brought to bear upon an individual and of course, we know that one of the reasons that the prophets Condemned the people of Israel in later times is because they stopped following the law in these areas there were people going to the temple prostitutes and the shrines and going up the Asherim the high places and so on so forth and profaning the worship of Yahweh and and bringing degradation upon the people very very regularly and So we see the same Degradation and view of marriage along at the same time with that degradation of the people of Israel and so I guess the question would then be Is that what is in mind in Verse 9 when you refer to these this poor Naya.

Do we have to limit it solely? to a very limited narrow band of sexual sin so that under the Old Covenant if you are married to a Person who becomes a homosexual That the law provided a Just and righteous ends to that marriage, but no longer you just have to live with it you have to be exposed to the disease and The degradation that is a part of that.

I struggle with that Obviously when we include with this The statement from Paul in first Corinthians in regards to the unbeliever leaving It would certainly strike me that an unbeliever Who would? Do something like that become engaged in homosexuality or something like that has left the marriage covenant.

Especially today when you have AIDS and all the other diseases that and that was one of the Most horrific elements of having to study that for that book was I was raised in a very sheltered way, and I'm thankful for that.

But the the types of diseases and sicknesses that are rampant rampant in Homosexual community, but you can't talk about okay politically correct can't talk about Just you know I mean I was in my late 30s late 30s late 30s early 40s somewhere around Late when I wrote that book and there was there were things I had to read that I just like never thought that Okay Wow hadn't okay Wow I didn't know the depravity of man was quite that deep, but hey there you go.

Does that mean that's a a person has to be exposed to that I I personally think the poor Naya here in Matthew 19 would have to have that Old Testament background and would have to have Those things in mind that the law had provided for a ipso facto divorce By the law coming to bear upon the one who was guilty of those things at the same time very clearly This text and Jesus's words as interpreted by the disciples Was very much out of line with the understanding of the day very much out of line Listen to the disciples at him as such as the case of a man with his wife.

It is not expedient to marry.

Wow Wow. Can you imagine?

How deeply impacted? Even these Jewish men and at least the Jewish view of marriage was somewhat superior to what was You know around them and yet even in their context even in the light of the arguments between Sham I and hello, and it's the schools of Jewish thought and you know one had a very liberal policy.

You know if your wife burns the toast you can divorce your type situation. Which is still? Rampant in Middle Eastern cultures primarily Islamic cultures today. And even the more conservative that had at least a little higher view still these Disciples saw this as in essence some kind of a a Non-expedient thing to do a Binding in a way that was far stronger than what they were comfortable with and It's it's striking to us to in light of what we have in Ephesians and in completed New Testament revelation To hear this kind of language.

Eunuchs, Celibacy, and the Early Church's View of Sexuality

Now Jesus response is likewise confusing to a lot of people. And I think you need to understand the abuse of this text as well. A lot of people do Abuse this text and what I mean by that is This discussion of eunuchs now we know that historically there was such a thing as a eunuch The kings who would have large harems of women The most beautiful women of the of the kingdom etc. Etc Would have eunuchs who Were in charge of these women Who would actually literally physically be castrated so that they would not be able to Engage in a type of sexual intercourse with the women in the harem.

And so some people even in early church history like origin read the Three different groups you have there are eunuchs who have been so from birth. There are men who are never able to have children Or engage in sexual activity, that's Fact.

There are eunuchs who have made eunuchs by men Either accidentally or purposefully and There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs the sake of the kingdom of heaven. There are those in other church history such as origin who took this text and Took it, and this is what's amazing to me given how origin Was the father of allegorical interpretation he would have been much better off if he had used allegorical interpretation here, too but he did not he took it literally and And Did not have himself made a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven he did it himself.

And The problem is that I I think that misses the fact that there are three groups here. There are those who are naturally made eunuchs from birth. There are those who are unnaturally Made eunuchs by men and there are those who choose a life of celibacy.

For the sake of the king of God especially in the sense of service. I mean Let me give you an example. When I was in Italy a number of years ago I Don't know. I guess I do know why I say that. How many of you been to Italy okay?

Just a couple of people. Smallest showers in the world. It was amazing. I mean I've been a lot of cruise ships and cruise ships tend to have very small showers because you know you gotta pack four thousand people onto a boat.

Italy has smaller showers in their bathrooms than you have on a cruise ship. Now some of you may recall in 2005 when I was there I was the heaviest that I got during my I want to look like brick and George days.

And I weighed 254 pounds, I've got a picture of me staying by the Tiber River, and I'm like wow big man and that was that was 65 pounds ago, so I've changed a little bit, but over there in Illustration I was using from from.

What was that? I know but that was the second part of it. Oh, I do hate when that happens. Oh, it was a really good illustration to Give me a second here origin origin origin yes indeed origin Italy. What was it?

There's a great illustration, too. I hate when that happens just pops right out of your head. I can't get it back if I remember next week. Maybe I can I can get back to you, but it was a great illustration, too.

I hate that. Oh. Well, we'll press on from there. Sorry scratch that one. But it was it was a good one. So there are three groups here that are in line, and I was talking about the allegorical interpretation wasn't I?

Yeah. Yeah, that's really bugs me. You know it's like trying to remember somebody's name. It's around the tip of your tongue, and it's just like where did it go? I can't know where it went. I've had something to do a translation or something.

Well guess not. Oh. Well, we will have to skip on from there, so anyways origin did this and Interestingly enough after his time it was made illegal to do this in the in the church. There were laws passed against it.

But there were people who thought this somehow made you more spiritual. And we do recognize that the early church was infected very early on with an extremely unbiblical view of sexuality in marriage.

So much so that you have the development of the celibate clergy, and what has that led to today? In Roman Catholicism, did you remember what my illustration was there Jim? Oh? Well and right now neither am I it's my own mind.

That's the hard part spouse if the unbelieving spouse is willing to stay then the unbeliever is not to leave but if that unbelieving spouse then Becomes involved in something like homosexuality or something like that or something along those lines.

That again, I think would raise the very same issue in regards to what what the marriage covenant is and I think there are simply certain. I think what the law is recognizing is that there are certain behaviors.

I mean, I have a hard time when someone says look if your husband If you're married to the husband, and he doesn't become a homosexual and But he's beating you daily. You just have to put up with it. I I don't see that because the law would have brought a penalty to bear upon that man for what he was doing.

And I think we just we skip most of the discussions of that phrase in Matthew 19 Take place in a complete vacuum Separated from the Old Testament law but the New Testament writers would have had all that stuff in their mind and if we don't but I think we have we have an issue there in Missing the range of which poor Naya can can have application.

Now don't get me wrong. I if a There are there are happily married couples Christian couples today That have testimony of having gone through extremely difficult circumstances where the man was abusive but in God's grace the woman stayed with him and saw him through that maybe through drunkenness or drug addiction or depression or whatever else it was Resulting eventually in his salvation.

Okay, great. Fine. Wonderful. But if some guy is, you know, ranting and raving and holding a gun on the kids It's time to have that man put into the place where people like that are supposed to live and I Have a hard time seeing if that wouldn't fall into the same thing because that would result in in that person's Coming under law in the Old Testament and receiving the penalty thereof.

So But yeah, obviously Paul addresses that same issue because there were people in the early church that the the wife Becomes a Christian and is no longer willing to do the things the husband wanted to do as a pagan and he says out of here and What Paul is saying is let the unbeliever go you are not bound in that situation but if that person Chooses to say you now become a testimony To the grace of God in their lives and this may be the means by which God draws them to himself as well.

So yeah That was a situation that The early church had to face that the people of Israel had not because you weren't to marry outside people of Israel anyways. So it was a unique and new situation as the gospel went out into the world that the the church has to deal with and it's We know this the constant Force of the world will be against a godly marriage and a godly home that's just Doesn't matter what society you're in There will be different ways in which that's done.

The the pressures on a Christian marriage in Ghana Will take different forms Than the pressures against Christian marriage in the United Kingdom or France the United States There will be different specifics.

But there will always be that pressure and I would say that the The there is a direct correlation between a nation's and a society's Promotion of proper marriage and The blessing of God upon that nation and vice versa and that means we're going the wrong direction big time in Western culture.

A Christian Worldview of Marriage and National Blessing

Let's close our time with work Indeed our gracious Heavenly Father. We ask that you would help us to understand your word We would see it in its full context that we would walk in light of it Lord that you would give us understanding that we might speak to those around us and that we might indeed encourage one another and Living in a godly fashion before your sight be with us now as we go into worship pray in Christ's name.