 HARD HEARTS; THE REAL CAUSE OF DIVORCE Matthew 19:6-8

 Matthew 19:6-8 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?“ He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

 Deut. 24:1 When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house… “The word is used of human excrement (Deut. 23:12-14; so Moses was referring to something filthy or vile - a very serious matter!” Haddon Robinson

 Laws Protecting Women Exodus 21:7-11 Leviticus 15:19 Deuteronomy 21:11–14

 Malachi 2: NLT You cry out, “Why doesn’t the L ORD accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the L ORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows…So guard your heart; remain loyal to the wife of your youth. “For I hate divorce!” says the L ORD, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the L ORD of Heaven’s Armies. “So guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”

 Matthew 19:3 Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

 Vs. 6 “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.” ( Genesis 2:18-24)

 Mark 7:20-23 And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

 Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

 James 4:1-2 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

 1 John 1:7-10 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

 Matthew 22:36-40 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “’You must love the L ORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

“the only other ground for divorce the Puritans considered seriously was desertion. The departing spouse was considered an unbeliever because the Puritans concluded that a believer would not desert the spouse God had given them.” Warner Smith

 Hosea 10:12-13 “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way…”

 2 Timothy 3:1-2 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

We have so much divorce because we are selfish and self centered and we believe that marriage is supposed to make us happy and fulfill our needs – but God has designed marriage for safety and security and to work on both husband and wife to mature them and make a platform where they can learn to lay down their lives for each other. “Marriage is not designed to make you happy it’s designed to make you HOLY!” Gary Thomas “Sacred Marriage”

 Romans 8:13 “For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

 Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord…”

 Ezekiel 36:26-27 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

 “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate”