A sermon by Rev. G.C. Lout, delivered at a recent service in the tent of Apostolic revival at Texas and Allen Avenues.
I will speak to you tonight from two Scriptures which will be found in Matt 5:31-32; 19:3-10; for the foundation of this subject.
One of the most important subjects that confront the people or the church of God today is the marriage and divorce question. Many things have been done and said in this matter which will have to be given account of before the throne of God. I have been forced to study this subject on account of being asked about it so much. There are many today who do not know how to answer and ministers as well, I have in times past been puzzled over some scriptures but God has helped me out of the tangle.
Jesus said to Nicodemus a man must be born again, and there is quite a difference in a man after he is born again: that means that he is a new creature, old things pass away and all things become new (II Cor. 5:17.) We must notice that things are different with a person after God saves him. We cannot find one passage of scripture in the New Testament where the apostles had the spirit-filled saints of God to separate and go back to their former companions. There was no doubt many of the Jews who had formerly been divorced and remarried, Matt 19:7-8. And the Gentiles without the law likewise did the same. In the Old Testament there is but one instance of those who had made a mistake in their marriage being compelled to separate (Ezra 10). This separation was not because of divorcing their former wives and remarrying, but because they had married heathens as wives. This scripture is misapplied when used to separate people who have been born again.
When Jesus spoke in Matt, 5:31-32; 19:4-9, etc., He had reference to the regulations of the church, and its dealings with the people after they had come into it. No man under the law could abide by the words spoken on the Mount, he did not say, whosoever hath put away his wife, and marrieth another is living in adultery, but whosever shall put away his wife, and marrieth another committeth adultry, From this we can see that when a man has been born again and made a new creature in Christ Jesus, God begins to reckon his life from that time on. From that time forward his life and conduct is judged by the Church. We judge them that are within (I. Cor. 5:12). In the church there is to be no divorcing and remarrying among the children of God. Our past life is forgotten, God remembers it no more. A crucifixion has taken place ( Gal. 2:19-20). And a new life has begun. Having been born again, God has forgiven us all our trespasses and started us off anew. If we all had to make right all the wrongs that we had done in the past, who then would be saved? If thou, Lord, whouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, Who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared (PSA. 130:3-4). The law permitted divorcing and remarrying (John 1:37; Mark 10:2-5; Deut. 24:1-5). But under grace these things are prohibited.
Law and Grace
The law is yet in force over every unsaved man and woman today. Christ is the end of the law only to them that believe or have believed (Rom 10:4). The law still grants divorces because of the hardness of hearts. There are many today who are trying to enforce the regulations of the church of God upon an unsaved world; you cannot put new wine in old bottles. Not everyone that professes Christianity has been born again. There is where our judgement has failed. The teaching in the fifth chapter of Mathew is for those who have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and not for the world. And no man is under grace until he has been born of the Spirit, if God accepts them; we have no right to reject them. He knows exactly what he is doing, when he saves them. God does not make any mistakes at all!
From Beginning Not So
When God created man in the beginning and gave him his wife, making them one flesh there was no occasion for divorcing, and for that cause Jesus said, from the beginning it was not so, it was not God’s will that such should be done, but after the fall and hearts became hardened, then it became necessary, even before the flood they were marrying and giving in marriages and the earth was filled with violence.
Was divorcing necessary in the day of Moses? According to the words of Jesus it was necessary because of the hardness of their hearts. Are hearts of this sinful world any different from the hearts of the people in the days of Moses? No, if anything they are worse (II Tim 3:13). This law (the divorce law) was made for the lawless hard hearted, unholy, ungodly, profane, murderers, etc., and not for the righteous. In the church the only grounds given for separation is that of fornication which occasionally sprang up among the saints of the early church, and even sometimes now we hear of a few cases being discovered. (See Matt. 5:32, 19:19, Acts 15:29; I. Cor. 5:1, 9, 11; 7:2-5 II. Cor. 12:21; I Thes. 4:3.)
Another Mistake
Some people to try and correct the errors of the past lives of those who have made a mistake in marrying more than once, have tried to get them to separate from their second companion and go back to the first one, but if we are going to follow the law, that would be wrong also. For a divorced woman is prohibited from returning to her former husband even in case of death of her second companion (Deut. 24:3-4). The more we try to straighten the former marriage and divorce tangle the worse we make it. If God has accepted them we should let them alone.
Restitution and Divorce
To class the divorce situation with restitution such as returning stolen goods, paying up back debts, etc., is impossible, can a virgin who has married a divorced man in her sinful life be restored to her maidenhood? Or, if she has borne children, can they be returned to her and her purity restored? No. Then to command such as one to separate, after God has purified their hearts by faith, bearing them witness by giving them the Holy Spirit only makes things worse. If he has accepted them, let them along. He has chosen them. They are his servants who are we that we should judge another man’s servants?
Bishops and Deacons
The Scriptures which say let the bishop or deacon be the husband of one wife (I Tim. 3:2) has caused considerable comments among Bible teachers. Adam Clark, the well-known commentator, says on this passage: he must be the husband of one wife. He should be a married man: but should be no polygamist, and have only one wife; ie.,one at a time. The apostle’s meaning appears to be this, that he should not be a man that has two wives at a time. The word of God teaches that when we come into the church, our records are started anew. The apostle was evidently referring to the practice of polygamy which was common among the Jews. (Gen. 31:17; I Cron. 4:5-7; 4:8-8; 14:3; I Kings 11:3); but was being eliminated from the church. Under the law it was lawful for a man to have more than one wife, but never was a woman allowed more than one husband at a time. The apostle settled the practice of polygamy in the church by saying: Let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband (I Cor. 7:2). I don’t think that the trouble that we have over this subject is caused by the lay members in the church of Jesus Christ at all, but the trouble generally is caused by the ministers who have been married more than once. Some of them are justifiable, and some are not. I have come to this conclusion, that all ministers who have been married and divorced should stay out of the ministry, that is if their divorcing and marrying has taken place since they have been filled with the Holy Spirit, that we may keep the ministry clear and clean. It makes no difference what their excuse may be, I am glad that I am a free man from any trouble of this kind. I want to help everybody that I can; who has been trapped by the enemy, for God expects more out of the minister than he does anyone else. If you are in trouble of this kind there is a way out, God so loved the world that he gave His son that all through him might be saved. His blood is sufficient for every sin, take your case up from a Bible standpoint, may His love flood every heart and keep you out of all errors, is my prayers. G. C. Lout.
The Times Shreveport, Louisiana (July 22nd 1923 Sunday)