The Divorcee

Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from the Book of Mark.

Mark 10:2-12  And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

Moses only allowed divorce because of the hardness of people’s hearts, and when somebody’s heart turns cold and bitter towards their spouse, and they hate them so much that they spend hours trying to figure out a way to leave them, then we are to let them go. For lack of better words, you cannot force people to abide in a marriage when they hate you.

1 Corinthians 7:15  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

Over the years, many men have refused to grant a divorce to their wife, but the facts are that if she doesn’t want to be with you, then let her go. If your wife decides to abandon ship, and takes off with no intention of returning, then you are no longer under the boundary of conscience in the sight of God. It is they who left you, not the other way around, and you can be remarried if you so choose. If a spouse divorced you, and has been baptized into the faith, God is going to punish their behavior.

I talk a lot about wives, (I think simply because I am a man), but I want to make sure that you women out there understand that I’m not disregarding the fact that many of you have had the same types of things happen to you. Men are not to forsake and abandon their own wives either, because they are part of our flesh! Our wives might do a lot of evil things to us, but we are a bunch of sinners too, and just like children, we must train our wives in the way they should go, and be merciful with them as needed, as God has been merciful with us. When a wife professes to be a follower of Christ, she is commanded by God to submit to the authority of her own husband in everything, so separating from his presence, or wickedly taking his children from his presence, only proves that she hates Jesus in her heart along with the man that He has placed as the authority in her life. When a wife departs her husband, she might experience temporary freedom from the boundaries of earthly law, but she cannot escape the justice of Spiritual law in Christ Jesus, as she becomes His enemy. The temporary freedom that they might experience on the Earth will be short-lived, because they will eventually suffer the eternal consequences of an everlasting lake of fire. These are the dangers of not choosing to fear God enough to abide according to one’s own conscience. 

Hebrews 10:26-31 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

People who divorce their spouse and claim to be Christian are the most foolish people I have ever known, because those who do these things have no fear of God whatsoever. Who would point a pistol at a judge in a courtroom? Who would punch their dad in the face? Someone who divorces their spouse and professes to be a follower of Christ do the same thing to Jesus by mocking his precepts of Charity and divine mercy. All they are is unbelievers, wolves that are dressed up in sheep’s clothing. Although you might care greatly for your wife, if she walks off on you she falls into the ranks of the unbelievers, and will suffer the eternal consequences of God.

Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Our precious Lord Jesus is a God to be feared, and divorce is the evidence that someone does not fear Him or the consequences that He will bring upon those who sin willfully against His purpose. I beg any of you today, don’t get married, unless you are ready to go the distance in your marriage, and suffer along the way. If you cannot do that, then you are better off being single. A brother might sin against a brother, but then repent and make up. A friend might sin against their friend, but repent and make up. In order for a marriage to last, the same things will need to be done. If your spouse sins against you, you will need to abide by their side out of loyalty to the teachings of Christ in the gospel. 

Because the Apostle taught that we are not supposed to leave an unbelieving spouse, it’s common sense that you are not supposed to leave a spouse who claims to be a believer either. You are not supposed to leave a marriage for any reason at all in the New Testament! As I’ve said many times before, if a wife finds fault with her husband, claiming that he has sinned against her in some manner, and then divorces him because of it, she sins against Christ when she departs from her husband, meaning that she is no better than the one that she left. What’s the old saying, two wrongs don’t make a right. That is called hypocrisy, and self justification, and when she exalts herself over her husband in such a manner, she is no better than the one she left. So whatever sins might be committed during a marriage, adultery is the same as all of the rest, because all sins are equal in the eyes of God, as is taught by the Apostle James. 

James 2:11-13 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

It is also forbidden to marry somebody who has been baptized into the faith and then divorced their spouse. If they have been baptized and even had Holy Communion, you will enter into a willful act of adultery by marrying them. A lot of times people who do these wicked things will join up with other people who have been divorced, but they will eventually be damned together. To marry somebody who’s been divorced, is to commit adultery, and it can’t even be repented of because it is a continual daily sin, like murdering somebody every single day. If a spouse leaves you with no intention to return, that’s a whole different situation because the sin is upon them, and you can even get remarried again. But I would suggest to everybody that if you can stay unmarried, we have a lot more time available to focus on Christ Jesus, as we wait for God’s judgment.

As a Christian, if your spouse were to depart you, and puts forth paperwork to divorce you, the sin is upon them. Divorce is ultimately an act of hatred, and is completely void of Divine Charity, which is why it is forbidden in the New Testament. Love is the end of the commandment, and when you remain in your marriage you prove to the Lord Jesus that you love Him from your heart. Marriage is not always going to be a piece of cake, and there will be times when you have to suffer with the foolish things that your spouse might do, but this is exactly what Jesus did for us when he suffered and died on the cross for our sins. We are called into suffering, even when it happens within your own marriage.

To claim to be Christian and divorce your spouse is claiming to be better than them, just as the proud Pharisee condemned the publican for his faults. But pride cometh before the fall, and those who are unmerciful shall receive no mercy from God. Those who divorce their spouse, think that they are better than them, and because of their own self-righteousness, they will receive the vengeance of a merciful God. Unbelievers divorce others all the time, but a Christian is supposed to be the epitome of love, long-suffering and mercy.

If you had a spouse abandon you, then I wouldn’t even consider you a divorcee. This is because they did it to you, and in the sight of God you are no longer under the bond of marriage. But those who have been baptized, and choose to divorce their spouse are a stain upon the gospel of Christ, and if you care anything about your own salvation, make sure that you steer clear of…..

…..The Divorcee

Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️

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