Hello and welcome to our broadcast. Today we're going to start on the subject of divorce and remarriage. We call this program Plain and Simple. This subject is not plain and simple, but we'll do our best to make it that way. Stay tuned for our broadcast. I received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior when I was 12 years old. Our family joined a Baptist church, and soon after I heard that someone in that church was getting a divorce. As a young Christian, I felt that was wrong. And so I set out to see what the Bible says about this subject, and I have been attempting to figure it out ever since. We recently have experienced the tragedy of divorce in our own family, and this has renewed my efforts in attempting to determine what the Bible says about this subject. Well, I started by putting away my Bible commentaries, and I determined to compare Scripture with Scripture. And I will share some of those thoughts on this broadcast that I arrived at after a very, very lengthy and exhaustive study of the subject of divorce and remarriage. It has been said that the only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions. Well, please do not jump to any conclusions about what I believe about divorce and remarriage. What I believe is not important, and therefore it is not my purpose to present what I believe in these broadcasts, because I might be wrong. My purpose is to simply share some thoughts that I have found studying the subject in the hope that it might be of help to listeners. The first thing I did was I determined to beware of proof texting. For much of my Christian life, I have been guilty of proof texting. It is a very easy thing to take scripture out of context to support what we believe or what we want to believe. I want to believe there's absolutely no scriptural grounds whatsoever for divorce and remarriage. I know that God hates divorce, and so do I. However, regardless of what I want to believe, and regardless of any issue we're dealing with, whether it's divorce or whether it's any other issue, We need to be sure that we are not guilty of proof texting, taking scripture out of its context to prove what I think I already know or to prove what I want to believe. As I began my study, I asked myself several questions. Number one, what do I believe about divorce and remarriage? Question number two, is there any possibility that I might be wrong? Question number three, am I teachable? And question number four, will I allow the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth as he has promised that he would do in John chapter 16 and verse number 13? And so as we begin this series of broadcasts on this subject of divorce and remarriage, you need to ask yourself the same questions. What do you believe about divorce and remarriage? Write that down. What do you believe? Second, is there any possibility that you might be wrong? Third, are you teachable? And four, are you willing to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth? Now once again, my conclusions concerning this subject are not the purpose of these broadcasts. My purpose is simply to help our listeners to determine what is acceptable unto God and something is acceptable and something is not. Now there's four basic positions concerning the subject of divorce and remarriage. One is no divorce and no remarriage. Matthew 19 and verse 6, the Lord said, what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. Now, I wish that was the only verse in the Bible on the subject of divorce. That would make it so simple, wouldn't it? Whatever therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. I wish that was the only verse in the Bible. It is not. Another position is divorce, but no remarriage. Deuteronomy 24, 1 says, When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her, Then let him write her a bill of divorcement and give it in her hand and send her out of his house. The third position on divorce and remarriage is divorce and remarriage but only in certain situations. Jesus said again in Matthew 5 and 32 that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery. Now let me say right here, when I was 13 years old I decided if there's any contradictions in the Bible that I would throw it out. Does the Bible contradict itself? Well, Jesus said in Matthew 19 and 16, what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. Jesus also said in Matthew 5 and 32, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, commit adultery. Is there a contradiction here? There absolutely is not, but you might think there is if you look on the surface. We'll discuss that in this series of broadcasts. And so position number one, no divorce and no remarriage. Number two, divorce but no remarriage. Number three, divorce and remarriage but only in certain situations. And the fourth position that is taken is divorce and remarriage because repentance means forgiveness. And the Bible says when we ask God to forgive us our sins, as far as the east is from the west, so has he removed our transgressions from us. So there you have the four positions. Number one, no divorce, no remarriage. Number two, divorce, but no remarriage. Number three, divorce and remarriage, but only in certain situations. And number four, divorce and remarriage because God forgives us of our sin and they're gone. Well, which one is right? First of all, let us look at the subject of marriage itself. Marriage is of God. The word marriage is in the Bible 19 times. Married, 30 times. The word husband is in the Bible 120 times. And the word husbands, plural, is in the Bible 19 times. The word wife is in the Bible 396 times. And the word wives, plural, is in the Bible 132 times. And the word home is in the Bible 51 times. One example of that is 1 Samuel 2.20 says, Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and they went unto their own home. God is the author of marriages, and God is the author of wives, husbands, children, and homes. When we go back to the beginning of the Bible, in the book of Genesis, we find seven times that the Lord said, It is good, when God created the world. We read that seven times He said, It was good. You can see it in Genesis 1-4, verse 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, and 31. And the last time He said it, He said, It was very good. It was good. But one time, the Lord said it was not good, and that is in Genesis 2.18, and the Lord said it is not good that man should be alone. I will make a helpmeet for him. Now we need to realize, first of all, in the subject of marriage, that happiness is not the foundation for marriage. Most brides are never happier than they are on their wedding day. However, the divorce rate is up 700% in the last 100 years. Part of the problem may rest in the fact that we think marriage is a foundation for happiness. The truth is, happiness is only going to be maintained in a marriage if love is the foundation. Happiness is a byproduct of love. People who are having marital problems are obviously unhappy. Unhappy husbands or wives may have the misguided thought that a divorce will solve their problem. The fact is divorce creates far more problems than it solves. Let me say that again. Divorce creates far more problems than it solves. Divorce is not the answer to being unhappy. The truth is, every marriage has marital problems. The dictionary says a problem is simply a matter or a situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome. Let me give you that again. A problem is a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome. There's what you do with problems. You deal with them and you overcome them, and divorce is not a solution to these problems. God's program for solving problems between any family members is forgiveness and reconciliation. Divorce is never, never God's solution for marital problems. We need to understand that. Now, the Bible is very plain about the subject that when we become married, we become one flesh. Genesis 224, therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. When the Pharisees attempted to trap Christ in his words concerning divorce and remarriage, we read that Jesus quoted that verse in Genesis 2 and 24. Matthew 19 and 5, Jesus said, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Again in Matthew 19 and verse 6, He said it again, wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh, what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. He quoted again from Genesis 2 and 24. Mark's account of this situation occurs in Mark chapter 10, and Jesus there again quoted Genesis 2 and 24 in Mark 10 and verse 8. He said, And they twain shall be one flesh, so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. When dealing with the carnal, immoral Corinthians at Corinth, Paul also quoted from Genesis 2 and 24. He said in 1 Corinthians 6 and 16, What, know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. And then at the church at Ephesus, in the context of the home, Paul said in Ephesians 5 and 31, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. Paul went on in this context to make a comparison when talking to the Ephesians of Christ and his church. He said, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and His church. And so it's very obvious, again and again and again, the Bible says when people get married, they become one flesh. One flesh. Well, if a person has a mosquito bite on his or her arm, would that person actually think that it would make the situation better by cutting off the arm? That is ridiculous. And again, I want to say that the Bible is very clear that reconciliation, forgiveness and reconciliation is God's way of solving problems. Divorce is never God's solution for marital problems. Any more than cutting off your arm because you have a mosquito bite is going to affect the body. And the Bible says when we become married, we become one flesh. And when you have a divorce, you are affecting everybody. Everybody. Divorce is never God's solution for marital problems. Well, in Matthew 19 and 6, Jesus answered the Pharisees, saying, Wherefore, they are no more twain but one flesh, what therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder. But what about the exception clause? What about Matthew chapter 5 and verse 32 where it says, but I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, What are we going to do with that verse? Well, Matthew 19, verse 6. Again, I want to quote it, and I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, shall marry another, and shall marry another causes adultery, and whoso marrieth her which is put away committeth adultery. In this series on the subject of divorce and remarriage, we're going to look at what Moses said about it, we're going to look at what the Pharisees said about it, we're going to look at what Paul said about it, and most importantly, we're going to look at what Jesus said about it, although all of everything that is in the Bible is obviously under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In our next broadcast, we're going to look at what Moses had to say about the subject of divorce and remarriage, but let us ask ourselves these questions again. What do I believe about the subject of divorce and remarriage? Is there any possibility that I might be wrong? Am I teachable? If you're teachable, you might be having to say, I was wrong at the end of this series. You might. Or, will I allow the Holy Spirit to guide me into all truth? Make sure that's our foundation as we look at this important subject of divorce and remarriage. Be with us again tomorrow. We'll try to make it plain and simple. you