“What God Hath Not Condoned: A Covenant Refused by Culture, But Honored by Christ”
“What God Hath Not Condoned: The scriptural Witness of Christ’s Covenant Love”
From Fornication to Faithfulness, from Forsaking to Forever
I. Introduction – The Words of Christ Are Enough
“Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery…”
(Matthew 5:32)
Brethren, we have erred not in ignorance, but in convenience.
We have taken a holy ordinance and whittled it down to parchment and pain.
We have justified departures that God never joined, and joined again that which God never justified.
“From the beginning it was not so.”
(Matthew 19:8)
II. Rightly Dividing the Text: Fornication vs. Adultery
“Except it be for fornication…”
(Matthew 19:9)
- Fornication is not adultery.
- It is defilement before or at the threshold of covenant—fraud, deception, a Judas kiss.
- Adultery is a sin within covenant. It grieves the Lord, but it does not annul the bond.
If the bride be true, and the covenant real, no man hath authority to put her away—not even the husband.
For Christ, the true Husband, hath never put away His own.
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
(Hebrews 13:5)
III. A Warning to the Head: You Are Not the Judge of the Bride
“What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
(Matthew 19:6)
You are not her judge. You are her covering.
You are not her accuser. You are her intercessor.
You are not the Christ—but you are His shadow.
So act like Him. Stay. Wash her. Bear her. Love her.
Even when she is Peter by the fire… not Judas in the night.
IV. A Holy Plea – That Your Prayers Be Not Hindered
“Giving honour unto the wife… as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
(1 Peter 3:7)
If your covenant with her is light, your access to God will be silence.
If you lead her like Pharaoh, don’t be shocked when the heavens send plagues.
V. I Will Be the Illustration
“Lie upon thy side…”Man of God, Husband .. Say it!
(Ezekiel 4:4)
“Take unto thee a wife of whoredoms…”
(Hosea 1:2)
“Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep…”
(Ezekiel 24:16)
Let the world read no book but my covenant.
Let them see how Christ loves the Church by how I love the wife He hath joined to me.
Let them see His faithfulness in my refusal to forsake,
His omniscience in my patience,
His sacrifice in my silence,
His cross in my staying.
Listen to Jesus say it “ I will
Never leave thee more forsake thee..,”
Now You say it !
I will not leave her.
Even if she wounds me.
Even if others whisper.
Even if they say, divorce and “Just remarry.”
I will show them what Christ did for me.
Just imagine if Husbands had this testimony and said “I will beg Him to help me love her more—even as He hath so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son!”
VI. Invitation – Let the Church Return to Her First Love
Preacher, do not break what Christ has bound.
Do not give false counsel!
Husband, do not flee what Christ has forgiven.
Church, do not cheapen what Christ has made a picture of His eternal covenant.
“Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you…”
(Jeremiah 3:12)
Let Me Die Loving Her
And now, Christian man—husband, pastor, brother, shepherd—
I plead with thee. I charge thee. I beg thee in Christ’s stead—
Do. Not. Do it.
Do not sever what God hath joined.
Do not flee what Christ stayed to save.
Do not cast off what He clothed in grace.
The Holy Spirit whispers…
“I know she wounded you.
I know she cursed the name you prayed in.
I know she betrayed you and called your faith control.
I know your pillow is soaked, and your bed is empty even when she lies beside you.
But I say again—do not do it.”
“Though she be not faithful, He remaineth faithful: for He cannot deny Himself.”
(2 Timothy 2:13, paraphrased)
God knows the end from the beginning.
Christian, Hang On a Little Longer
Don’t go to the courthouse.
Don’t sign the papers.
Don’t let the serpent who whispered to Eve whisper to you.
If Christ loved the bride—so must you love yours!
And she can still love you!
If He washed her with the Word—you preach to her in silence and tears if you must!
He carried the cross for her alone—you can carry the covenant through the night.
Man of God, are you confused? Are you wounded? Tell it to Jesus!
It does not matter what the world thinks is right.
Let the world hate. Let the church whisper.
Let your so-called friends tell you to move on.
But you show the world how Christ loves the Church.
Beg Him to increase your faith. Present her glorious.
You may have to cover her shame.
Kiss her forehead when the holy brethren would stone her.
God joined you to her—not them!
And if she walks away like Judas—weep, and let her go.
But if there is breath—if there is time—then there is still a cross to carry and a crown to come.
Christian Husband: Are You Looking at Divorce the Way the World Does—or as Jesus?
Friend, say to yourself:
“Let Me Be the Last Fool Standing”
Let them mock me.
Let them say, “He could have remarried.”
Let them say, “She deserved it.”
Let them say, “He threw his life away.”
And I will say back—
Let me die loving her.
Let me fall asleep with the covenant unbroken.
Let me hear from the lips of the Savior:
“Well done… thou good and faithful husband.”
Not perfect. Not painless.
But faithful.
Let me show my children what Jesus looks like.
Let me prove to the sons of men that a vow is a vow.
Let me be an echo of Calvary—not a reflection of culture.
Love her.
And unless she walks away—present her glorious!
And to the Church: O Bride of Christ… Return.
You have played the harlot.
You have flirted with Rome and danced with Babylon.
You have traded your wedding garments for the world’s applause.
But your Husband still waits.
“Return, O backsliding daughter… and I will heal your backslidings.”
(Jeremiah 3:22)
O Church—run back into His arms.
O wife—fall back into the grace that never stopped covering you.
O husband—stand your ground in covenant and say with fire in your heart:
And not to mimic Patrick Henry, but let us say:
“Give me faithfulness or give me death.
Give me covenant or give me a cross.
But never again will I break what God has bound.
Not while I live. Not while He reigns.”
One Flesh: Drawn and Quartered
“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.”
(Mark 10:8–9)
This is not poetic.
This is anatomical.
This is covenantal anatomy—a body made from two, by the hand of God.
To separate one flesh is not tidy—it is bloody.
It is not civil—it is a crucifixion.
When man tears asunder what God hath joined, it is not a legal filing—
it is being drawn and quartered.
Each limb of trust and tenderness tied to a separate beast:
Love pulled north.
Memory pulled south.
Vows pulled east.
Flesh pulled west.
And the soul torn between them.
Even when justified—by fornication, or abandonment—
the pain is not erased.
The covenant still bleeds.
“He which is joined to an harlot is one body… for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.”
(1 Corinthians 6:16)
If even harlotry can create that scar,
how much more the tearing of a covenant forged in Christ’s name?
Let This Be the Final Cry:
“I will not be the one to sever what God hath made one.
Let me be torn limb from limb by circumstance,
But let no man say I raised the knife.”
I will not be the one to put asunder.
I will not be the one who rewrites what Eden established.
I will not call what is still breathing a corpse.
Let the world explain their divorces.
Let the culture redefine marriage.
Let them normalize leaving when it’s hard.
But I will be one flesh.
Even if I must limp the rest of my life.
Even if I must drag the wounded parts behind me.
Even if she walks away.
I will die whole in Christ—because He never drew and quartered me.
“Let me die loving her—because Christ died loving me!”