We are continuing our discussion of Matthew 19. In our last article we quoted the words of our Lord Jesus in response to the question of the Pharisees about the lawfulness of a man putting away his wife. His response was clear and in full harmony with scripture. He said, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh’. Wherefore they are no longer twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

The Savior clearly defined marriage and made it obvious that God’s intent was for marriage to last for a lifetime. Of course, the Pharisees did not come for truth, they came for trouble. They immediately brought up the passage in Deuteronomy 24 where Moses required that any man who put away his wife had to give her a written document. Some would suggest that Moses was instituting divorce as an acceptable practice for the people of Israel. Nothing could be further from the truth. As the Lord Jesus went on to state, the Writing of Divorcement was put in place because of the hard hearts of the people. It was intended to discourage divorce not encourage it. And it regulated a practice that was destroying Jewish women through harsh and unfair treatment by ungodly men.

In verse 9 of Matthew 19, the Lord Jesus took control of the discussion and established His own authority in stating a position on divorce. It turned out he would support neither of the current schools of thought and would broadly clarify the whole issue of marriage, divorce and remarriage. The Genesis passage was clear, but did not anticipate the divorce problem. The Deuteronomy passage was used to argue various points of view on marriage and divorce. The Savior, with Divine boldness said, “And I say unto you…” Let the skeptic take note that Jesus Christ did not hesitate to speak with absolute authority regarding the issue. He is not offering an interpretation of previously recorded scripture. Consider His words, for they are the Word of God.

“And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.”                                 

Next time we will take up the message of the verse. For now we will simply acknowledge that it certainly shook up the disciples who said in verse 10. “If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry” Wow! Maybe so.

    Not long ago someone told me about the Religious Heritage Bill offered in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was originally introduced a few years ago and was again offered this year on May 4, 2009.  The Bill is House Resolution 397 and states that it is “affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our nation’s founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week of May as “America’s Spiritual Heritage Week” for appreciation of and education on America’s history of religious faith”. The Bill was sponsored by Rep. Randy Forbes/ co-sponsored by about 20 other members of Congress.                                                                   I was stirred by reading the many historical references to our founding as a nation and the unashamed declarations of faith in the Lord by leaders of the past. I was also moved by how many of them pinned their hopes for America to worship of and reverence for our God. They also did not hesitate to refer to and quote the Holy Scriptures, leaving no doubt as to what God they worshipped.

We may explore this material in the future, because the trends of our nation and the trouble we are in are, at their root, spiritual. As families we must be aware of what is happening all around us and must take steps to teach our children about the times they are facing in the days ahead, should Jesus tarry.

Many of the quotes are taken from the earliest days of our Nation’s history, but one from more recent times caught my attention. One paragraph from H.R. 397 says, “Whereas President Franklin D. Roosevelt not only led the nation in a 6 minute prayer during D-Day on June 6, 1944, but he also declared that, ‘If we will not prepare to give all that we have and all that we are to preserve Christian civilization in our land, we shall go to destruction’.        President Roosevelt understood who we are as a nation and that the civilization of the United States is Christian. His, was a response to military attack and conflict. We have again been faced with military attack and conflict, but the war that will destroy our Christian civilization is a war being carried on within our national borders. It is political, cultural, educational, financial, ethical, moral and spiritual. Roosevelt’s words, spoken just a few months before I was born, have sparked a fire in my soul. I am seeking the Lord to know what to do. I intend to do something. How about you?

                                 Last time we concluded our article by challenging parents, whose children grew up in their Christian home but have not followed the Lord, to consider how they handled the authority God gave them over their children. We ask again, was there anger, temper, inconsistency, or harshness? Maybe we should add, was there favoritism? Were children caught in the middle of parental conflicts?

How we handle the authority God has given us as parents is critical to the process of training. Most of us are familiar with the cautions expressed in Ephesians 6:4. Paul writes, “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Why he says that is quite obvious. The parent can undermine the very task of training he is assigned to do. Kenneth Wuest addresses this text in his “Word Studies of the Greek New Testament.” Consider carefully Paul’s warnings to parents. Wuest defines “Provoke” as meaning “to rouse to wrath, to provoke, exasperate, anger” He then quotes from Expositors which says, “The parental duty is given first negatively, as avoidance of all calculated to irritate or exasperate the children – injustice, severity and the like, so as to make them indisposed to filial obedience and honor.”

Wuest points out, by defining words in the rest of the text, that provoking our children, greatly hinders the training process. Giving his own commentary as well as quoting others, his note coveys the following. “Bring up”, means to nourish to maturity, not just physically but “rearing in the various departments of its life”. “Nurture”, refers to the whole training and education of children – including cultivation of mind and morals, using commands, admonitions, reproof and punishment. “Admonition” is exhortation – training by word – set over against training by act and discipline, as seen in “Nuture”.

The point being made by the Apostle, as Wuest suggests is this: poorly exercised authority can build frustration and anger in a child. Such attitudes may be revealed more as the child matures. More on this next time.

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Before we can be that light, we need to be born again. Then, by our good works, others will be pointed to the Savior. Today, more than ever, we need to be a shining light for the Lord. We are living in scary times; the world is rapidly changing and we (those of us who have been born again) have peace and joy that we need to share with everyone we come in contact with. There is no peace until we become a child of God. It’s that most special time of the year again, when people’s hearts are more open than ever. We need to be ready to share, with those who surround us, the real reason we celebrate Christmas. The world steps farther and farther away from the truth of Christmas and we need to be diligent in proclaiming our Savior’s true reason for coming to earth as a babe; so he could die for our sins on the cross of Calvary. I pray this Christmas will be a very special time for you and your family. I pray that the family and friends we love will all know and love the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior; the one who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, if we accept His free gift of salvation.

Pray with us that many will come to the site to hear and consider their need of salvation. We have distributed over 5,000 promotional cards to invite people to the site. We have had almost 1,000 hits. Help us reach people for Christ. How many may we send to you? (there is No Charge for these).

BFM Itinerary:

Oct. 17-18 – Ashland, OH, Pastor Grover

Oct. 20 – Millersville Univ., John Caputo

Oct. 23-25 – Lebanon, PA, Pastor Griffith

Nov. 7-8 – Kendal Park, NJ, Pastor Brown

Nov. 13-14 – BFM Men’s Conference

It is hard to believe that we are finishing our 16th year with Biblical Family Ministries. We stepped out in faith with no promise of support to begin this ministry. The Lord has wonderfully provided and He has done so through your love, prayers and gracious giving. We pray that His amazing grace may be poured out upon you in abundance, as you celebrate Christmas 2009 and enter 2010 with faith and devotion to our blessed Lord.

If you can use any of our materials for Christmas gifts, please feel free to take 1/3 off all suggested donation figures. You will help BFM  recover invested funds and we hope it will help you.