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Topical Sermons - Executable Outlines

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What God Has Joined<br />

Mark A. Copeland<br />

INTRODUCTION<br />

1. There has been much news about redefining marriage...<br />

a. State courts in America are considering whether it’s unconstitutional to deprive gays and<br />

lesbians of the right to marry<br />

b. Courts in Canadian provinces have already approved marriage rights for same-sex couples<br />

c. Some legal scholars are proposing a ‘delegalization’ of marriage altogether<br />

2. The definition of marriage has been undergoing change for quite a while...<br />

a. Most states allow no-fault divorces, permitting remarriage under any circumstance<br />

b. Many churches have followed suit; in some denominations the divorce rate is higher than among<br />

atheists and agnostics!<br />

[There has never been a greater need to return to what the Bible teaches regarding the institution of<br />

marriage. When we do so, we learn that it involves two people that...]<br />

I. ONLY GOD CAN JOIN TOGETHER<br />

A. MARRIAGE IS AN INSTITUTION OF GOD...<br />

1. Ordained by God ‘at the beginning’ - Mt 19:4-5; Mk 10:6-8; cf. Gen 2:21-24<br />

2. God, not government, joins a man and a women in holy matrimony - Mt 19:6<br />

a. The wedding ceremony may vary according to local custom<br />

b. Whatever the custom, it is God that does the joining<br />

3. God, not man, defines the marriage relationship<br />

a. Who has a right to marry<br />

b. Who has a right to terminate a marriage<br />

B. MARRIAGE IS A PRIVILEGE FROM GOD...<br />

1. For the single man and woman - Gen 2:21-24; Mt 19:4-5<br />

a. Male and female<br />

b. Created for union together as one flesh<br />

c. Thus biological design reveals that God created the male and female for heterosexual<br />

union, not homosexual union<br />

d. A person with a reproductive organ cannot say that God made them for union with a<br />

person of the same sex!<br />

2. For the widowed - Ro 7:1-3; 1 Co 7:39<br />

a. God joins a man and a woman for life<br />

b. Death releases the surviving spouse from the marriage bond<br />

c. “Till death do us part” is a vow to be taken seriously<br />

3. For the scripturally divorced - Mt 19:9<br />

a. Only one exception is given in scripture for divorce and remarriage<br />

b. A person may put away their spouse for fornication, and only then remarry without<br />

committing adultery<br />

<strong>Topical</strong> <strong>Sermons</strong> 371

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