Latest / Admonition Podcast / Mark 10 (Lesson 1) - Aaron Cozort - 10-22-2025
Transcript
- 0:03We will be in Mark chapter 10 this evening.
- 0:10encourage you to take your Bibles and open them to Mark chapter 10.
- 0:26And we'll begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our study.
- 0:31Gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the blessings that you grant to us.
- 0:38We're grateful for the times and the seasons and the changes that we experienced throughout the year and for all of the things that work together for the good that you
- 0:49produce in them to bring forth life, to bring forth the ability to sustain life on this planet.
- 0:56But Lord, more than everything, we are grateful for your Son who came to bring true life, to bring eternal life, that we might know you, the Father, and that we might be one with
- 1:07you as you, Father, are with Him and He with us.
- 1:11Lord, we pray that we might stand before you in holiness and in righteousness, that you will forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory.
- 1:19In all of this, we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.
- 1:26Mark chapter 10 begins, then he arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan.
- 1:35And multitudes gathered to him again, as he was accustomed, he taught them again.
- 1:44The Pharisees came and asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him?
- 1:52Now in...
- 1:55Matthew's record of the question that the Pharisees present, I don't believe Matthew specifically or explicitly states that the question was a test, but it's clear from what
- 2:09they're asking that this wasn't uh the Pharisees seeking Jesus's knowledge.
- 2:16This is the Pharisees putting Jesus in the scenario of having to
- 2:22disagree with somebody.
- 2:26And so they ask him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?
- 2:34Well, if someone came up and asked you that,
- 2:40What would be the first thought that comes to your mind?
- 2:49Why are you asking me?
- 2:52Second thought might follow right on that, whose law?
- 2:57Right?
- 2:58According to whose law?
- 3:01Now, given that these are Jews and they're asking a religious teacher, whose law might we assume is being discussed here?
- 3:11Moses's law.
- 3:13So what did Jesus answer?
- 3:15He answered and said to them, what did Moses command you?
- 3:21Jesus, when confronted by a question where it's clear that the intentions were not justified, that the actions were illegitimate in their asking of the question, Jesus just
- 3:41asked them in return.
- 3:44Well, does he say?
- 3:49They said Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her.
- 3:59Jesus answered and said to them, because of the hardness of your heart, He wrote you this precept.
- 4:06But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
- 4:14They wanted to use what Moses wrote as a great big loophole that you could drive any accusation through and get permission from the law and Moses to do whatever you wanted to
- 4:34to your wife by way of putting her away.
- 4:38What Jesus pointed out is
- 4:42that their actions in the past were the cause for the instruction to begin with, but that their standards had fallen from God's standards.
- 5:00Jesus brings them back to the authority.
- 5:04True or false?
- 5:05Moses is the authority in religion.
- 5:11Even for a Jew.
- 5:13False.
- 5:17Whose authority did Moses have?
- 5:21God's.
- 5:23So when Jesus establishes God's standard on the matter, then you can assume one of two things.
- 5:34You can assume that Moses is in disagreement with God, or you can assume that Moses is in agreement with God.
- 5:46Right?
- 5:47But you only have one option or the other.
- 5:49Either he's in agreement with God or he's not in agreement with God.
- 5:53Right?
- 5:55Okay.
- 5:57There's a reason why we're going through it this way.
- 6:00There's a reason why we're talking about it this way and it's because when people get to the issue of marriage and divorce, they throw all standards of reasoning out the door
- 6:14to argue for their position, which is the Jews did.
- 6:21Either Moses agrees with God or Moses doesn't agree with God.
- 6:31One of two options.
- 6:34Now, when Moses gave the command to give a writing of divorcement, as he gives there in Deuteronomy chapter 24, which is what they're referencing, it is already founded upon
- 6:50God's standard for marriage.
- 6:56and God's standard of marriage and God's law for marriage not only preceded Moses's giving of this precept,
- 7:09but it also was superior to Moses's precept.
- 7:15and it also happened to be that which was not in disagreement with Moses's precept.
- 7:23but they had manipulated Moses' precept because they had the same hard-hearted nature that the Israelites did when Moses gave the precept.
- 7:38Jesus in answering them, accuses them of mishandling the law.
- 7:46of doing so in a hard-hearted way, of abusing what God had given them as an opportunity to resolve a very negative situation.
- 8:06in a very upright way.
- 8:09and instead they had turned it into a way to abuse people who had no standing under the law.
- 8:19So notice, in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 24.
- 8:27Moses will make it clear that there must be some reason for the divorce.
- 8:42And furthermore, that there has to be more than just a reason, there has to be an offense that has occurred that justifies the action.
- 8:56Deuteronomy chapter 24.
- 8:58When a man takes a wife and marries her, verse 1, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, there in verse 1, what does the
- 9:14word uncleanness mean?
- 9:17Anybody have a footnote or anything in regards to that word?
- 9:33Okay?
- 9:35That's quite an interpretation there.
- 9:37All right, anybody else?
- 9:41All right.
- 9:45So the literal translation of this is nakedness of a thing.
- 9:54All right?
- 9:55Literally it means he has seen the awareness or the visibility of a secret action.
- 10:08Something that had been covered up.
- 10:11Something that had been hidden.
- 10:15Okay?
- 10:15When something's clothed, you can't see what's hidden.
- 10:20When you see...
- 10:21The person without the clothes, you see what was hidden.
- 10:25It was laid bare, naked.
- 10:30The idea behind the term is he has become aware of an action after having been married that had been hidden beforehand.
- 10:47As a result of this, now she finds no favor in his eyes because of what had been hidden.
- 10:59But now he's aware of it.
- 11:01Okay, now notice.
- 11:06If he finds some uncleanness in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house.
- 11:14When she has departed from his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand,
- 11:24and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife.
- 11:34after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance." First
- 11:46thing to ask yourself is, is the law and the precept here about situation one or situation two?
- 11:57Because there's two situations, aren't there?
- 12:02If the law was just about situation one, then what's the discussion about situation two, therefore?
- 12:11Situation two was the reason for the loss.
- 12:17because what Moses was dealing with in this law is someone who was putting away a spouse
- 12:31And then after some time, taking them back.
- 12:36As if nothing ever happened.
- 12:40Moses says, no you don't.
- 12:44the action that is involved here actually assumes a violation of the marriage covenant so great that it would be unthinkable that the first husband would then take the wife back.
- 13:12And yet, here were people doing it.
- 13:15So there was a law that was made.
- 13:16There was a precept that was given.
- 13:18Now, what had the Jews in the first century done?
- 13:21They had said, well, Moses didn't say why we could put one away so we can put one away for any cause.
- 13:32because the precept didn't have anything to do per se with giving the limits on why you could put a spouse away.
- 13:42Other than it said clearly there was a justification from it because of an action that was hidden before the marriage.
- 13:53There was some action that was hidden that had it been aware
- 14:00They never would have entered into that marriage.
- 14:03And yet now that the husband realizes the situation, he's put her away for divorce, or put her away and given her a writing of divorcement.
- 14:14Now some time passes by and you go, well, you know what, let's just forget the whole thing and I'll take you back.
- 14:20Moses says, no, don't.
- 14:24because in doing so, you nullified the justification under the law for putting the spouse away to begin with.
- 14:35Okay.
- 14:38Mo, uh, Deuteronomy 24.
- 14:42Number one, assumes an action by the wife that was justification under the law for writing of divorcement.
- 14:56It assumes it.
- 14:58It already has built within it the precept that this woman has done something under the law which justified being put away.
- 15:10And
- 15:11that the action was hidden from the spouse.
- 15:15It further necessitates that by this writing or certificate of divorce, all bonds and separation between them has been nullified.
- 15:30which means true or false, they're still married.
- 15:38Once the writing of divorcement has occurred, true or false, they are still married.
- 15:45No, no.
- 15:46After the writing of divorcement, according to the law, are they still married?
- 15:51No.
- 15:52So can the husband take her back?
- 15:55No.
- 15:56Why?
- 15:56He's not her wife, or she's not his wife.
- 16:01Okay?
- 16:04Separation has occurred.
- 16:05The bonds of marriage are gone.
- 16:09That man has no right to take her back.
- 16:12If he does, he's committing an abomination.
- 16:15He's committing adultery by taking her back as if nothing happened.
- 16:20If she's put out by somebody else or if her spouse dies, you know, just come on back.
- 16:25No, no, no, no.
- 16:27You put an end to that.
- 16:30You put an end to that relationship.
- 16:32You can take her back.
- 16:34All right?
- 16:35So it's important to realize in Deuteronomy 24, a very specific situation is under consideration.
- 16:43Number one, one that assumes already a justification under the law for the divorce.
- 16:51And number two, that says once that separation occurs under the law, you can't put it back together.
- 17:01You can't just act as if it never happened and have that husband take that former spouse back because that would be an abomination under the law, okay?
- 17:13Now, go back to Mark chapter 10.
- 17:22in the question that was asked.
- 17:31What was the question?
- 17:42All right, is it lawful for a man to divorce or put away his wife?
- 17:49Turn to Matthew chapter 19.
- 17:51Matthew words it slightly differently, though the import is exactly the same.
- 18:00Matthew chapter nineteen verse three the Pharisees also came to him testing him and saying to him is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason
- 18:13the New King James translators add the word just for just any reason.
- 18:18eh So the import of the question is.
- 18:24Can a husband put away his wife for whatever reason?
- 18:30If you were to just take Mark's question, you would have, is there any justification for a husband to divorce his wife?
- 18:41Now, think about the question as it's formed and as it's given.
- 18:47Is it lawful?
- 18:49When you ask someone,
- 18:55Do you want cheese on your burger or not?
- 18:59What are the options that they've supplied you?
- 19:02Yes or no?
- 19:06And if you ordered a hot dog, do you think you would look at them and go,
- 19:14Why did you ask me if I want cheese on my burger or not?
- 19:18I ordered a hot dog.
- 19:22This is what happens when someone supplies you with two possible options, a yes or a no.
- 19:30in order to entrap you into answering a question where they can then accuse you for your answer.
- 19:40Jesus did not allow them to do that.
- 19:44Rather, He required them to stipulate the law.
- 19:53What did Moses tell you?
- 19:55Because the moment they start interpreting Moses...
- 20:01it's quite evident that they're interpreting Moses in a very particular way.
- 20:05Okay, so notice their reply.
- 20:09See if you can find this in Deuteronomy 24.
- 20:14Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and dismiss her.
- 20:21Did you find that in Deuteronomy 24?
- 20:24Yeah.
- 20:26Did they mention anything about the circumstance?
- 20:28anything about the reason, anything about the qualification in Deuteronomy 24?
- 20:34Nope, not a thing.
- 20:40just that what Moses allowed it.
- 20:44The law says this.
- 20:51When someone is being dishonest with their question and you provide them more rope to hang themselves with, you do yourself a great favor because the more you make them explain
- 21:15their question, the more evident it is that their question is the wrong question.
- 21:23Jesus corrected the question by going back to the standard that Moses's law already assumes.
- 21:39because Moses' law already assumed an action that met a standard.
- 21:48So Jesus doesn't wanna talk about the law that Moses gave, he wants to talk about the standard that God gave.
- 21:56So notice what Jesus does.
- 21:59Jesus answered and said, because of the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept.
- 22:06But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
- 22:10For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, so they are no longer two but one flesh." Now, quick
- 22:20question.
- 22:25Where did Jesus just quote from?
- 22:30Genesis.
- 22:32Who was the penman of the book of Genesis?
- 22:39They said, Moses allowed it in the law.
- 22:43Jesus said, Moses recorded what God said.
- 22:48Now you've got Moses arguing with Moses, not Moses arguing with Jesus.
- 22:55Jesus goes back to the point that Deuteronomy 24 was never the first word on the subject.
- 23:04Moses gave supplementary information in Deuteronomy 24, but you must first discuss the first thing Moses said on the subject.
- 23:15The first thing Moses said on the subject came out of the garden in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 where God said that I'm going to make them male and female.
- 23:28and that for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife." Moses' first word on the subject is, a man ought to be so devoted to his wife that
- 23:47he will leave behind his parents
- 23:49who gave birth to him, who nurtured him, who brought him into the world, who supplied his existence and gave him everything that he has and also are the arbiters of inheritance.
- 24:01He ought to leave them behind to be joined to his wife.
- 24:09Here they are going, is it lawful to get rid of her?
- 24:15And here's Moses going, this is how important this is that a man will leave everything that he has had to this point to be joined to her.
- 24:30Jesus points out you're talking about the wrong situation.
- 24:34You're asking the wrong question.
- 24:38You're dealing with the scenario backwards instead of the correct way.
- 24:44Then he says, verse eight,
- 24:49Not only is there significant verbiage from Moses saying, this is what marriage should be,
- 25:01He then quotes verse eight and says, or quotes from verse eight to say, and the two shall become one flesh.
- 25:16Jesus points out...
- 25:22that the very description of a man divorcing his wife would be like Moses's terminology, a man cutting himself in half.
- 25:42You ask the question, is it lawful or according to Moses for a man to cut himself in half?
- 25:49Sound like a ridiculous question?
- 25:53Sweet Cousin is.
- 25:56According to what Moses said, God has taken these two people and He made them one.
- 26:07Now notice the emphasis of where Jesus takes that to.
- 26:14So then they are no longer two but one flesh.
- 26:17Now, did Jesus say anything that Moses hadn't already said?
- 26:24No!
- 26:27Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.
- 26:37Jesus has left.
- 26:42The questioners.
- 26:47No room to argue.
- 26:51because what he has done is emphasized the standard.
- 26:58And what they have wanted to do is take the standard and ignore it while creating opportunity for the loophole.
- 27:12They have devalued God's command and God's action in the whole thing to assume that they're the ones, that is the husband and the wife, who have power over the situation.
- 27:29They get to choose what happens.
- 27:36Jesus is going to question them as to whether or not they have more power than God.
- 27:43whether they have more authority than God, whether they have more influence in the situation than God.
- 27:55They want the situation to be about them.
- 27:57He wants the situation to be about what God did.
- 28:02And Jesus emphasizes to them that what God has joined together, man is incapable.
- 28:12The idea of let not.
- 28:16It involves here the incapacity of man to do what God doesn't allow.
- 28:26There's four questions that I have always valued being taught back when we were in school, more so four statements, but four statements concerning marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
- 28:42And they're fundamental where when you think about them, you go, yeah, well, that's kind of a no-brainer.
- 28:52But when you realize the force of the statements...
- 28:57then you get the gist of why the questions are what they are.
- 29:03True or false?
- 29:05God.
- 29:08Sorry, true or false?
- 29:09Only God joins two people in marriage.
- 29:15True.
- 29:18Jesus makes it quite clear, God does the joining.
- 29:23True or false?
- 29:25God only joins two people in marriage in accordance with His marriage laws.
- 29:34Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure God only does it His way.
- 29:41There's not some law out there where God goes, well, my hands are tied.
- 29:46Some bureaucrat wrote a law, so I guess I gotta do it their way.
- 29:52No, God only joins two people in accordance with His marriage laws.
- 30:01Okay, well if Jesus is implying the impossibility of a person to undo what God's done,
- 30:13then who has the authority to disjoin two people in marriage?
- 30:21God.
- 30:22So, true or false, only God can disjoin two people in divorce.
- 30:30True or false, God only disjoins people in accordance with His laws for divorce.
- 30:42True.
- 30:44You know, when you said those four questions, you've answered almost every single argument about marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
- 30:54because all you have to do is, okay, what did he say?
- 30:58Done.
- 31:01You've really got to mess something up to get past the question of, well, what did he say?
- 31:08It's the reason why in a number of debates, one specifically, uh between an individual in the Brotherhood who held a false position on marriage, divorce, and remarriage, and
- 31:20Brother Garland Elkins, they got up to
- 31:23to have a debate they agreed upon the propositions.
- 31:26Guy got up and spent, I don't know, 8, 10, 15 minutes talking and making his argument.
- 31:33Brother Elkins got up and read Matthew chapter 19 verse 9 and sat out.
- 31:41And the guy got up kind of fluttled because Brother Elkins had like 15 minutes.
- 31:47Didn't use him.
- 31:49He got up and he spoke for another 15 minutes.
- 31:53Brother Elkins got up, read Matthew 19, sat out.
- 32:00By this point, the guy was a little put out.
- 32:05He got up and he spoke again.
- 32:07And he said, I don't want you to just tell me what Matthew 19, 9 says.
- 32:11Brother Elkin said, when you've dealt with the first passage, we'll go to the second one.
- 32:20Because the fact of the matter is, God's laws on marriage, divorce, and remarriage aren't hard.
- 32:26They're not difficult.
- 32:28They're not ambiguous.
- 32:30Matter of fact.
- 32:34Verse 10, in the house his disciples also asked him again about the same matter.
- 32:39So he said to them, whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
- 32:47And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.
- 32:55Jesus said, here's two people that have been joined by God.
- 33:05In order for adultery to occur, one party has to be bound to somebody else.
- 33:11That's the definition of adultery.
- 33:13When Israel committed adultery, spiritual adultery, by going after idols, had Israel not been bound to God, it wouldn't have been adultery.
- 33:31but because Israel was bound to God.
- 33:37When they went and followed after idols, God says, you've committed adultery.
- 33:44If this party over here is bound to no one, and this party over here is bound to no one, can they commit adultery?
- 33:58They can commit fornication, they can't commit adultery because it's no violation of a marriage covenant.
- 34:08And that is part of adultery, is a violation of a marriage covenant.
- 34:15Well, Jesus has just said that if a husband divorces his wife and marries another, he's committed adultery against the first wife.
- 34:31Now how could he have committed adultery against a wife by marrying someone else if in the act of divorcing her he was no longer married to her?
- 34:44The answer is he couldn't.
- 34:47But what Jesus is pointing out is there's man's laws and then there's God's laws.
- 34:55And God only separates two people in accordance with his laws, not man's laws.
- 35:04So here's a man who gives his wife a writing of divorce and says, I'm putting you away.
- 35:12And then that same man goes and marries another.
- 35:14Jesus says, he's committing adultery.
- 35:19How do you figure, Jesus?
- 35:21He gave her a writing of divorcement.
- 35:22According to the law, she's gone.
- 35:24The union's been separated.
- 35:26Jesus said, no, it hasn't.
- 35:30because God didn't separate them.
- 35:33God didn't dis- join them.
- 35:37Well then, that only applies to the men, right?
- 35:41Because Moses only gave permission for the man to give a writing of divorcement.
- 35:46So it doesn't apply to the woman, right?
- 35:48No.
- 35:49Jesus says, and if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.
- 35:58Here's a woman who says, you know what, I'm a Roman, and under Roman law, I'm divorced my wife, or my husband, I'm divorced my husband.
- 36:08So there you go, I'm gone.
- 36:12I like that guy, marries him.
- 36:15He said, nope, she's committing adultery.
- 36:20Now,
- 36:24Jesus does not spend the next 24 chapters going through every scenario in every circumstance.
- 36:38As a matter of fact, in Mark's record of the text, Jesus gives no exemption.
- 36:47for the law.
- 36:50And the law was what God joined together.
- 36:56Man cannot separate.
- 37:01And man's laws can't separate it either.
- 37:06Now, over in Matthew chapter 19...
- 37:12in Matthew's record of the discussion.
- 37:15There's one more back and forth.
- 37:22Verse 7, Matthew 19, they said to him, why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away?
- 37:32He said to them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
- 37:41And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality and marries another,
- 37:51commits adultery.
- 37:55Now, if you pay close attention to Jesus' comments to the Jews about the law, this begins way back in Matthew chapter five.
- 38:08Let's go back and read that real quick just to get the emphasis of it.
- 38:12In Matthew chapter five.
- 38:22You read in verse 17, do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets, I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
- 38:34For assuredly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot and one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
- 38:44Then go to verse 21.
- 38:46You have heard that it was said of old, you shall not murder, but whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.
- 38:53But I say to you.
- 38:56Then you go down to verse 27,
- 39:18Verse 33, again you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely but shall perform your oaths to the Lord, but I say to you.
- 39:28Verse 38, you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you.
- 39:36Verse 43, you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you.
- 39:46Jesus had a habit of correcting their understanding of the law and their abuses of the law.
- 39:55Their abuses that not only had they participated in, not only had they taught, but they had turned into their doctrines and traditions from their elders.
- 40:13over in Matthew chapter 15.
- 40:19You find verse 3, he answered and said, why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
- 40:29For God commanded saying, honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.
- 40:36But you say, whoever says to his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received from me, it is a gift to God.
- 40:44then he need not honor his father or mother.
- 40:47Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition."
- 41:00Jesus is pointing out not what the law said when he says you've heard of old, you have heard that it was said, but rather how they have abused what the law said.
- 41:16And when he says, I say unto you, what he's telling them is what they should have known from what the law said.
- 41:26Every time Jesus does that,
- 41:28He's correcting their understanding of the law.
- 41:32He's correcting them on what they should have been teaching instead of what they actually taught.
- 41:38So now go back to Matthew chapter 19.
- 41:41He says, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so, and I say to you,
- 41:52Whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery.
- 41:58And whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.
- 42:05Jesus said, here's what you should have known from what the law taught you.
- 42:14that the committing of fornication was the only standard the law recognized for God separating a husband and wife.
- 42:28And there was no other standard.
- 42:31There's only one.
- 42:33And there had only ever been one.
- 42:35Moses simply told them how to do what God allowed them to do based upon infidelity.
- 42:46He said, you got to give her a legal document.
- 42:50You can't just say, be gone.
- 42:54You have to give her a legal writing of divorce.
- 43:00but by the way, when you divorce that wife who's committed fornication against you, and then she goes and marries someone else, which by the way, Jesus said, the law also
- 43:10recognized that as adultery.
- 43:15Now that she's committed adultery twice, you can't take her back.
- 43:22No, God separated you and he's not rejoining you.
- 43:30That would be an abomination.
- 43:33You don't clean up a marriage by having an adulterous relationship.
- 43:39That's not how it works.
- 43:42And so when you find Mark's record, as we close, this whole scenario comes out of...
- 43:52They wanted to entrap Jesus.
- 43:55One of the most important lessons we need to get from this doesn't have anything significantly to do with marriage, divorce, or remarriage.
- 44:05It has to do with this.
- 44:07Culture never has and never will dictate the laws of God.
- 44:17not Jewish culture, not Jewish tradition, not a thousand years of traditions from the elders, not the writing of volumes by rabbis for generations, and not the way people have
- 44:35always done it.
- 44:38None of that changes the law of God.
- 44:42Jesus wiped every argument from everything that occurred from the time of Jesus to the time of Moses away by saying, what did God say?
- 44:57And now all the other equivocations, all the other quibbles, all the other statements about, wait a minute, you know, in Africa, Jesus said, don't care.
- 45:10But in this, don't care.
- 45:14Well, but what about not interested?
- 45:18What'd God say?
- 45:19Because it's the only question that matters.
- 45:22Why is it the only question that matters?
- 45:24Because He's the only one who binds two people in marriage.
- 45:33the disservice that individuals do, especially those within the body of Christ when they ignore God's law on marriage, divorce and remarriage.
- 45:45is that they have now opened an entire loophole for every other abomination the world wants to commit in regards to marriage.
- 45:57Because if you can't argue for God's standard for marriage for a man and a woman, you certainly can't argue for it for a man and a man.
- 46:07Or a woman and a woman.
- 46:10Or a human and a dog.
- 46:15Because once you get rid of the standard, you don't have anything else to argue.
- 46:22The fact of the matter is, according to the Scriptures, there's only one individual who joins two people in marriage.
- 46:31It's God.
- 46:33And there's also only one individual who disjoins them in divorce, and it's God.
- 46:42If you toss that out, you don't have anything left, except whatever culture decides.
- 46:51And that changes...
- 46:53almost weekly.
- 46:55So, thank you for your attention.