The message for today comes from 1 Corinthians 7, 10 through 16. To the married, I give this charge, not I, but the Lord, the wife should not separate from her husband. But if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And the husband should not divorce his wife. To the rest I say, I, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. For now, excuse me, for how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? Let's pray. Gracious God, Heavenly Father, Lord, we pray that as we continue to walk through this chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and as we begin to remap our minds by the power of the Holy Spirit to possess and to put into practice a biblical view of marriage, divorce, singleness, of human sexuality, Lord, particularly regarding these topics, our minds have been so corrupted by the philosophies of this world more than we realize. And it can be difficult to wrap our minds around the words of Scripture, the words of the Apostle Paul, And so, Lord, we pray that you would enable us to bow before your word, that you would enable us to interpret our experiences and our reasons and our thoughts and our rationale in light of Scripture, and that we would not seek to interpret Scripture in light of our experience or our rationale or our reasons. or what the world may say and believe. Help us, Lord God, to be faithful to your word, to rightly divide it, to understand it as it was meant to be understood, not desiring to read anything into it or to ignore anything that is there. We pray that our thoughts would be guided by your Holy Spirit, Lord. And we pray all these things in Christ's name, amen. It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that the United States has a divorce problem. That's probably not a shock to anyone. But here's some interesting facts that came out of a 2020 study that was conducted by the National Research Group. As of 2020, they discovered that 41% of all first-time marriages end in divorce. 41%, that is an alarming rate. According to that 2020 study, 60% Of all second marriages end in divorce, that is those that ended in divorce the first time, the second marriage, so it doesn't count for widows or widowers, but 60% of all second marriages after the first marriage ended in divorce will also end in divorce. And 73% of third marriages will end in divorce. It gets worse each time, not better. The top five reasons that were given for divorce among those who were surveyed, 75%, tragically, 75% said the primary reason, though not the only, but the primary reason that their marriage ended in divorce was a lack of commitment. In other words, they simply got tired of being married to each other. They just were no longer committed to the marriage. They were no longer committed to one another. They were no longer in love with one another. We're just done. We don't want to do this marriage thing anymore. 60% of those whose marriages ended in divorce said that a leading reason was sexual infidelity. One spouse was sexually unfaithful with someone else. What I found very interesting regarding that was that among that 60%, 56% cited pornography as a contributor to the divorce. A third leading cause of divorce in the United States, 57% said too much arguing. They just fought all the time. They did not know how to resolve conflict within the marriage. They didn't seek help. They decided we're just done. Forty-six percent said they believed that they married too young, and 36 percent said that the leading cause of their divorce was financial problems, either struggling with having money or being financially unfaithful to one another, financially cheating on your spouse. That's a thing that I actually recently learned doing this research. That's when one spouse is hiding how they are spending the money from the other spouse. They may have separate bank accounts and one is not being honest with the other, or one controls all of the money and isn't telling the other how it's being spent where it's going, 36% said financial problems was the leading cause of divorce in their marriage. But what was interesting from this study as well is that the study also discussed certain things that would reduce the likelihood of divorce. What are some things, so they also surveyed people who had been married for over 10 years and thought their marriage was going well and they asked them, What are some things that you think are doing well, are helping your marriage? And they listed several things, but here's what I found interesting is that the one thing that would decrease the likelihood of a divorce in your marriage by the greatest percentage was this, and I quote, having strong religious beliefs decreases the likelihood of divorce by 14%. believing that the meaning and the significance of marriage lies beyond this world and beyond this life. The bottom line is that most Americans and most Christians, at least most Christians living in the Western world, have a wrong view of marriage, particularly today. As marriage is something that is being redefined almost on a weekly basis. It's gotten to the point where marriage is almost meaningless. It can mean whatever you want or it has no meaning whatsoever. However, marriage is not a social construct. Marriage is not a human invention like the automobile. where we can take it and we can finagle with it and we can tinker with it and we can try different ways to improve it and to make it better. We can do that with the automobile because we created the automobile and it's just a machine. But we cannot and we should not tinker with marriage in the attempt to try to improve upon something that was created and established by God. The institution of marriage was established by God and thus should be based on that model, the model that God created for us. all the way back in Genesis chapter 2, the original first marriage. Even though we don't find much didactic instructions regarding marriage in Genesis chapter 2, just the very way in which God created humans and placed them in the garden speaks volumes regarding what marriage should look like and be like and function like. For example, here are four lessons about marriage that we can get from Genesis 2 just by means of observation. Number one is that marriage is to be between one biological man and one biological woman. That's how God intended it. And we can't miss that point because as you read the creation account in Genesis chapter one in particular, don't miss the point that when God created all of the other living creatures, we're told that God said, let the seas be swarming with living creatures. And suddenly the seas were swarming with living creatures. There they were, all of them in abundance. God says, let the sky be swarming with flying creatures, and there they were. Let the land be filled with various living animals, and there they were. We are not given any indication in Genesis chapter 1 that God created one bull and one cow, or that he created one male trout and one female trout. but rather that God said, let the seas be swarming with living creatures. And in an instant, all of the freshwater creeks and streams and lakes were swarming with rainbow trout. Yet when God creates humans, he creates one man and one woman. He did that intentionally. Because it would have visually driven home a very clear message, it is just you and me, Adam and Eve. It's worth noting that God didn't create one man and several women. He created one man and one woman. because that is how he designed it to be. The message to Adam and Eve would have been clear. This has to work between the two of us because there is nowhere else for us to go. Adam wasn't gonna go find another bride. The second lesson we learned just by means of observation from Genesis chapter two is that they were to be partners for a lifetime. One man, one woman, forever. It's how God intended it. And apparently they got the message and passed that down to future generations. Because we see that pattern being followed, at least until we get to Jacob. Noah, as far as we can tell, only ever had one wife. The Bible never talks about Noah having more than one wife. Adam lived 900 years, it never talks about him taking on additional wives other than Eve as the earth began to be populated. Abraham only ever had one wife at a time. He did marry after Sarah's death, but he was only married to Sarah throughout her life. Isaac was the same way. It's not until you get to Jacob. that he takes on two wives, and we see the problem that that creates. David takes on multiple wives, which creates even more problems. And it all comes to a head with King Solomon, we're told, who took on hundreds of wives, and the Bible tells us that they led his heart astray from God. Marriage is to be between one biological man and one biological woman for a lifetime. We're told in Genesis 2 that the man was commanded by God to tend and protect everything in the garden, Genesis 2.15. Those were instructions that were given only to Adam because Eve had not yet been created. Adam, you've been created. Here is your job. Here is my instructions for you, Adam, to tend, that is to take care of, and to protect everything within the garden and the garden itself. Adam would have understood that when Eve was created later, that that would have included her. Now she's in the garden. It is my role to tend to her and to protect her as well. But then we're told, In Genesis 2.18, that God thought it's not good for man to be alone, and so I will make for him a helper suitable to him. So Eve is created as a helpmate for Adam to do that which God had commanded Adam to do. Adam is given the instructions, Eve is created to help him carry out those instructions. Thus, the purpose of marriage, because we have to ask that question, why did God create the institution of marriage? We know that he did, we see that, but why? Why not create human beings like every other animal, just a multitude of them, and they can all just have sexual relations with each other and multiply like the animal world and just fill the earth? Why one man? And why one woman and why the way he did it? Because the purpose of marriage is to glorify God by reflecting the triune nature of God. Only marriage does that. The purpose of marriage is to glorify God by reflecting the triune nature of God. Within the Godhead, there is the Father, there is the Son, and there is the Holy Spirit. And we know from various scriptures throughout the Bible that the Father determines the plan of redemption. It's the Father who does that. He lays out the plan of redemption. This is how we are going to save a people. I'll give you a few texts. There are so many we could go to, but I want to give you a few so you know I'm not making this stuff up. John 4, 34, Jesus says this, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Jesus said, I came to do my father's bidding. Jesus says in John chapter 5 verse 30, I can do nothing on my own as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. Chapter 6 verse 38 and 39, Jesus will say, But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never cast out, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me." God the Father had a plan. He gives that plan to the Son, and the Son says, I will carry out that plan. Jesus comes to do the will of God the Father. And so within the triune Godhead, the Father lays out the plan of redemption, the Son carries out the plan of redemption, and the Holy Spirit acts as the helper for Christ and the church, which is the body of Christ. In Luke 4.1, we're told that when Jesus goes into the desert to be tested by the devil for 40 days, there we're told that he was led, the Greek is ago, he was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. That Greek word does and can mean simply to lead, but it also carries the meaning of to bring or to carry along. The idea is that the Holy Spirit encouraged Christ and supported him as he was about to go into the wilderness to do battle with the enemy. The Holy Spirit was there, not only in the wilderness, but throughout his life, encouraging Christ and saying, you can do this. I've got your back. I'm going to strengthen you. I'm going to encourage you. I'm going to help you. All the way to the cross. In Matthew 12, verse 28, Jesus tells the Pharisees that all of the miracles he performs, he performs them through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is able to perform miracles. In Hebrews 9, verse 14, we're told that Jesus was only able to offer himself at Calvary because of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 9.13 says, for if the blood of bulls and goats and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, who through the Holy Spirit was able to offer himself on the cross? In other words, and there are many other texts we could look at, we are given every indication that the Holy Spirit was the one who was there with Christ every step of the way. The Holy Spirit was the one who encouraged him and strengthened him and was his closest friend on earth. In John chapter 14, Verse 16, also John 14, 26, and John 15, 26, we are told there that Jesus will also give the Holy Spirit as a helper to the church. John 14, 16, and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive. John 14, 26, "'But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.'" So the Holy Spirit is given as a helper, not only to Christ, but after his ascension to the body of Christ. This marriage is designed to reflect the triune relationship within the Godhead. God the Father provides the plan of redemption to God the Son. He gives the instructions, the direction to God the Son, and the Holy Spirit acts as a helper to God the Son in order to help him carry out the plan of redemption that the Father has given him, and then to apply it to the church. provided direction to Adam to tend and to keep everything in the garden. And then Eve is given to Adam to be his helper to carry out the will of God, to carry out the direction and the instructions of God. It is for this reason divorce is so abhorrent to God. As the Bible tells us in Malachi 2, verse 16, and I know there's debate on how to translate that verse, I think the Dominican standard does a fine job, where God says, thus says the Lord, I hate divorce. Divorce is so abhorrent to God because in all of creation, marriage most uniquely reflects the Trinity. Marriage most uniquely reflects the relationship within the Godhead between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus, when a divorce takes place, for any reason, something has happened within the institution of marriage that can never be within the Trinity. The Son can never be separated or divided from God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can never be separated from God the Father or God the Son. Thus, when a divorce takes place, something has happened within the institution of marriage that simply cannot be within the Godhead. It is for this reason Paul uses such strong language when giving instructions on divorce. Look at what he says in verses 10 and 11. To the married I give this charge, not I, but the Lord. The wife should not separate from her husband. If she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband And the husband should not divorce his wife. First of all, let me just comment on his phrase, I give this charge, not I, but the Lord. Paul is conveying that his instructions are based on the teachings of Christ. In other words, he's saying this isn't coming from me, this isn't my idea. I am basing my instructions on the teachings of Christ. Well, notice in verse 12, he says the opposite. To the rest I say, I, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. In other words, what he is saying there, however, is that what he is about to say in the following verses is coming from himself. And it's not based on any specific teaching that he finds in the teachings of Christ. Paul is saying, this is my thought. These are my instructions to the church. Now understand that is not to say that Paul believes that what he is saying is any less authoritative than the words of Christ himself. He's not saying that. We know that because Paul clearly understood his apostolic authority. In 1 Corinthians 14, verse 37, Paul will say this, if anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. Paul clearly understood his apostolic authority, that what he says is just the same as coming from Christ. But he wants to clarify in chapter 7 between what he is basing on the teachings of Christ and what is coming from himself. The second thing I want to clarify is that the words Paul uses, separate and divorce, you'll see that in verse 10 he uses the word separate, should not separate from her husband. Then he switches to divorce at the end of verse 11. Then in verse 12 and 13, he uses the word divorce twice. And then in verse 15, he uses the word separate. These are two different Greek words, but Paul is using them interchangeably. They're synonymous. So don't read more into these than is there. Some want to make the argument that, you know, the wife should not separate. Well, women were not legally able to divorce their husbands. And so then he says the husband should not divorce his wife. But then in verses 12 and 13, he uses the word divorce going in both directions. The husband shouldn't divorce the wife. The wife shouldn't divorce the husband. Paul is simply talking about divorce. And he's using these words interchangeably. But two things that are very clear that Paul is doing here is this. Number one, Paul is being very clear. He's making a clear statement that divorce should never be on the table for married couples. He is trying to make that as clear as he possibly can. Divorce should never be on the table for married couples. Notice the language, don't water it down. The wife should not separate from her husband. And the husband should not divorce his wife. Those words can seem really strong to us. And so as Christians, we're great at trying to soften language that make us feel uncomfortable, right? The Bible says divorce should never be on the table unless A, B, C, D, E, F, G, X, Y, L, M, N, O, P fall into play. If you have any of those exceptions, then you can talk about divorce. We want to make a really strong stance on divorce, but then we offer a multitude of exceptions as to how people can get out of their marriage. Likely, Paul has in mind the teachings of Christ in Matthew 19.8. Jesus is quite clear there in Matthew 19.8, his teachings on divorce. He said to them, because of your hardness of heart, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives from the beginning. It was not so. Moses allowed you because of the hardness of your heart, there was granted an exception. But Jesus says, but from the beginning, this was never intended to be. This was never God's design for divorce to occur. Yet often we try to soften Jesus' words. The disciples understood what Jesus was saying. He goes on to say, and I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery. Because you see in the Old Testament, they had actually created all of these various exceptions. Jesus says, I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality, sexual infidelity, and marries another, commits adultery. The disciples respond, if such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry. Jesus, if you're serious, if that is the only reason we can get divorced, probably better just not get married. It landed on the disciples with all of the weight that Jesus expected. God permitted, through Moses, divorce because of the hardness of the human heart. He understood, God understood human nature and that there are some transgressions that it can be incredibly difficult for humans to forgive, sexual infidelity being one of them. But notice what else Paul says in verse 11. To the married I give this charge, not I, but the Lord, the wife should not separate from her husband. The wife should not separate from her husband. And of course, this works both ways. Verse 11, I'm sorry, I read verse 10. Verse 11, but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. Presumably, this works both ways, regardless of who does the separating. They should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to one another. Luke, being a companion of Paul, Paul may have had in mind what Jesus says in Luke 16, verse 18. Listen to the words of Jesus. Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. And he who marries a divorced woman from her husband commits adultery, period. There's no exception clause. If we take Luke 16, 18 alone, Jesus is saying that if you divorce, you can never remarry. You can never remarry. Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. And whoever marries a woman, divorced from her husband, commits adultery. This passage taken alone, again, would say that remarriage is never to be permitted. Divorce, really, is not allowed. But Matthew 5.32 and Matthew 19.9 offer us Exceptions. This is where the debate begins. Because if we interpret Luke in light of Matthew or vice versa, in other words, if the Matthew passages, and when I say the exceptions, Matthew 5, 32, or we can just go to Matthew 19, Matthew 19, 9. Whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery." So there Jesus is saying, if you marry another, you commit adultery if the divorce was not based on sexual immorality. Jesus seems to be saying the same in Matthew chapter 5 as well. Matthew 5.32, Jesus says, I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife except on the ground of sexual immorality makes her commit adultery and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Jesus seems to be saying in those passages that remarriage after divorce is permissible if it is on the basis of adultery. But if we take the Luke passage alone, Jesus seems to be saying that remarriage is never permitted. So the debate is this, if the Matthew passages are understood in light of Luke 16, 18, then Jesus allows for divorce for sexual infidelity, but remarriage is never permitted. There are some reputable scholars today who think if you get divorced for any reason, you can never remarry. However, if Luke 16, 18 is understood in light of Matthew, the Matthew passages, then remarriage after divorce is permissible if the divorce is based on sexual immorality. In other words, it's just a question of which passage is the governing passage? Which passage shines light on the others? I will argue for point number two, based on my understanding, of verse 15. And point number two is this, in case you're confused. If Luke 16, 18 is understood in light of the Matthew passages, then remarriage after divorce is permissible if the divorce is based on sexual infidelity. In light of my understanding of verse 15, I do believe that is the case. The point, however, is this. If you are married, The goal is to strive to stay married. Paul makes that clear at numerous points. He'll say it again in verse 27. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. If you are married, Paul makes it clear in the strongest possible terms, do not seek to end the marriage. To be clear, he offers an example of a believer married to an unbeliever, right? In other words, he offers one of the most difficult kinds of situations. This is a believer married to an unbeliever. And if you've known someone in that situation, it can be incredibly difficult, particularly if the unbeliever is really into the unbelieving world. I mean, it's hostile to the spouse's Christianity, wants nothing to do with it, don't talk about it, I don't want to see your Bible. It can be very difficult. And so to be clear, Paul offers that illustration in verses 12 to 13. To the rest, I say not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. He couldn't be any clearer. Do not seek a divorce. Now, because of the language that Paul is using, there are some theologians who think that There may have been some in the church in Corinth who thought that if you have a married couple and one gets saved, they should divorce the unbelieving spouse because the unbelieving spouse is going to defile the believing spouse. And it may be that they are getting this idea from Ezra chapter 10 and Nehemiah chapter 13. If you remember your story there, Ezra and Nehemiah are telling the people of God to put away your pagan wives. They'd intermarried with non-Jews. Put away your pagan wives. They're going to defile the people of God. Keep in mind that the only Bible the church in Corinth had was the Old Testament. They had the letter that Paul had written to them before 1 Corinthians. They had whatever instructions Paul had given them when he was there for a year and a half. So they may be reading passages like Ezra 10 and Nehemiah 13 and thinking, okay, well, that's what we got to do. I'm a believer. I'm a Christian. My husband or my wife doesn't want to be. They're still worshiping pagan gods. You got to divorce them. You got to put them away. Paul says, don't do that. So to be clear, if you are married to an unbeliever, no matter how difficult that may be, Paul is saying, so long as the unbelieving spouse desires to remain married, Paul says, stay married, stay married. Unless they're asking for a divorce, stay married. He then offers two reasons why. the believing spouse should want to stay married to the unbeliever. The first is found in the first half of verse 14. For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. husband. That may sound strange, but understand the Greek word hagios is often translated particularly in the verbal form or in the participial form as sanctify or to sanctify or sanctified. It's the same Greek word. One is in the noun form, the other is in the verbal form. We see that in this book itself. You'll see it actually in chapter 1, verse 2, chapter 1, verse 30, and chapter 6, verse 11. The word for sanctify is the same Greek word we see here. Thus, what Paul is saying is that the believing spouse has a sanctifying effect on the unbelieving spouse. The believing spouse acts as a means of grace to the unbelieving spouse. And you say, how so? Well, it all goes back to Matthew 5, verses 13 to 16. There, Jesus says to his followers, to his disciples, and those who are claiming to be disciples, this crowd that is following him, you are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. In other words, believers in this world and in their community and in their family function as the light of the gospel to unbelievers, the light of the Word of God to the unbelieving world by their words and by how they live. You are the salt of the earth. We know that in biblical times, salt had two important functions. One, in a time where they had very little spices like we do today, right? You go to Walmart, there's like a thousand spices to choose from. But in biblical times, they had very few. Salt was really important for adding flavor to bland food. Thus, believers make this unbelieving, wicked, sinful world palatable to God. God endures patiently this world because of the believers who inhabit it. Secondly, salt had a preserving effect on meat. You could pack meat in a crate of salt and it would preserve it for months without refrigeration. Believers have a preserving effect upon the moral decay of this world. That is the same effect that the believing spouse has on the unbelieving spouse. They act as the light of the gospel to them. They act as a preserving agent to them. Very likely, they are not as bad as they could be if they weren't married to the believing spouse. But the believing spouse acts somewhat as a conscience to them. They are a means of grace to them. The second reason is in the second half of verse 14. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy, but as it is, they are holy. Now, this is a difficult sentence to understand from the Greek. Literally, it reads, since then your children are unclean, but now they are holy or sanctified. So even in the Greek, it doesn't really help. What is Paul talking about? I think that in light of verse 14, he is saying the same thing about children. That if you leave your unbelieving spouse and there are children involved, then who will be the sanctifying agent for your children? Who will be the means of grace to them? So Paul says, don't divorce your spouse if they agree to remain married. Paul does, however, allow for divorce for at least one reason, verse 15. But if the unbelieving partner separates or files for divorce or requests a divorce, asks for a divorce, Paul says, let it be so. Let them have it. In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. In such case, the brother or sister is not enslaved. It's the Greek word doulao, to enslave, to chain, or to bound to. He uses similar language in chapter seven, verse 39. A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes. Paul uses the same language. But if the unbelieving partner asks for a divorce, let it be so. In such case, the brother or sister is not enslaved, is not bound. God has called you to peace, Paul says. In other words, don't fight them on it, don't fret over it, don't stress about it, let them go. you are no longer bound to that marriage. For this reason, I believe Paul would acknowledge the exception clause that Jesus provides for in divorce because Paul offers his own exception clause. You're no longer bound to that individual. Since Paul will allow his own exception clause for divorce and remarriage, And I believe he would acknowledge Jesus' exception clause as well, but you can take that with a grain of salt. But then he concludes with verse 16. Or how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? The question is, is verse 16 the explanation for verse 14, or is it the explanation for verse 15? If verse 16 is explaining verse 14, then Paul is saying, stay married, not knowing if God might use you to save your spouse. Stay married, because how do you know? God might work through you to save your spouse. But if verse 16 is the explanation for verse 15, then Paul is saying, be at peace if your spouse wants a divorce, be at peace not knowing if God would have used you to save your spouse anyway. Could be both. It's difficult to know. Either way, here is what we do know. Here's what Paul is saying. You have to trust God with the salvation of your spouse. Ultimately, that's what Paul is saying. You have to trust God with your spouse's salvation, because in the end, you can't save your spouse. You can't save your children. Only God can do that. And so Paul says, God has called you to peace. The point throughout, however, is simply this, divorce must always be the last resort. And only for two reasons, physical sexual infidelity and the unbelieving spouse desiring out of the marriage. Divorce, understand this, divorce is never pleasing to God. Even under biblical reasons, divorce never brings a smile to the face of God. It is never glorifying or God-honoring because what God would rather see happen is that the marriage be reconciled and blossom and flourish, not crumble. Because marriage is designed to reflect the trinity to the world. and divorce simply does not do that. Let's pray. Gracious God, Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the instructions that you've given us through the Apostle Paul. And Father, we just, we pray, Lord, that you would help us to take a high view of marriage as you intend for us to, Lord. And we pray that as we go to the Lord's Supper, that you would remind us of the incredible price that Christ paid in order to have a bride that he might be married to for all of eternity. We pray this in Christ's name.