18 | Letters to the Church: Singleness, Marriage, and Divorce

Slides:

Slide: Two reminders to the single:
You’re not broken.
Singleness is not your identity.

Slide: If you’re “single and ready to mingle”, you need to get hitched.

Slide: Don’t be fooled, marriage doesn’t solve all sexual problems.

Slide: Implications to young Christians:
Don’t be afraid to marry young.
Not ready to marry? Then keep your distance!!!

Slide: Mal. 2:13 "This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts [it with] favor from your hand. 14 "Yet you say, 'For what reason?' Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 "But not one has done [so] who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did [that] one [do] while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 "For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously." 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet you say, "How have we wearied [Him?]" In that you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them," or, "Where is the God of justice?"

Slide: Matt. 19:3 [Some] Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful [for a man] to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" 4 And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created [them] from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5 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'? 6 "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." 7 They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND [her] AWAY?" 8 He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." 10 The disciples said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry."


Slide: Paul doesn’t answer all of our questions. Some conclusions:
Don’t make divorce the unforgivable sin.
Failed already? Start here!
Don’t embrace a culture of disposable relationships.
Divorce is rarely permitted and never commanded.


Slide: Remember, marriage is designed as a picture of the Gospel!