Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to Matthew chapter 19. Last week, I talked to you about
these several passages in here, which were very controversial
issues. And as I began to study and look
at these things, I thought it might be best to break these
things up in their three parts. and deal each week on those things. And last week, we looked at marriage
and divorce and what that's all about. And then here in verses
10 and 11 and 12, there's a statement
made. After he finished his teaching
on divorce, here in verse 10, his disciples say unto him, If
the case of a man be sold with his wife, it's no good to marry. It's not good. If he takes to himself a wife
for a lifetime, and there's no way out of this divorce except for fornication. then
you might be better off not to marry." That was their summation
of what they understood by his teaching. But he said unto them,
verse 11, all men cannot receive this saying save they to whom
it is given. And he uses the example of something
they knew very well, a eunuch. For there are some eunuchs which
were so born from their mother's womb, and there are some eunuchs
which were made eunuchs of men, and there be eunuchs which have
made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He
that is able to receive it, let him receive it." Now, this discourse,
as I said, began with a question about divorce. And the enemies
of Christ presented this question. It wasn't even a question in
their minds until these enemies of Christ came in and projected
that question. And religious men tend to do
that. They don't want you to preach
on Christ. They want you to preach something
else. They want to get you off of that
to something else. And so they came up with this
question about divorce. And how do I know that they were
doing that? How do I know it was an evil
thing for them to do that and that they were enemies? It said
they came tempting him. and ask him this question. Now, when these disciples heard this
discourse about marriage, it was a common thing then that
a woman could be put away for a number of reasons. For a number
of reasons. Now, you remember they're under
this old Roman heathenistic rule. some of the most immoral people
ever born. And they had been influenced
by that. And these things had been adopted
by them. And I'll just give you a few
things that I read by different commentators. They said if she
was not a good keeper at home, in other words, if she just wouldn't
do housework, period, she just wouldn't do it. Let the clothes
lay until they're molded. She's not going to wash them. If she wasn't a good keeper at
home, you could get rid of her. And if she was a flirt, always
flirting around with the men and always kind of a flirtatious
woman, get rid of her. If she was no good or unfaithful
in her household duties, if she was disagreeable with him, disagreed
with everything he said. Don't you smile at me. No matter what it is, out the
door. If she refused to obey him, or
if she was a drunk, if she was no good with children, if she
refused him due benevolence, for any of these reasons, she
could be put away. But the Lord comes along and
He said, no, only for fornication. And the only reason that she
can be put away because of fornication is because of your hard hearts. Because there actually isn't
any reason. There just isn't a reason. So what the disciples heard,
that there was no reason apart from adultery to justify divorce. So in their minds, they reasoned
that rather than be bound to a contentious woman for life,
might be better off not to marry at all. And in that light, I
agree with it. Might be better. Might be better. But what I want you to understand
is that they said this under the influence of a carnal heart.
This is how they actually said it. They surmised this by natural
reason and philosophy. They made their observations
without even considering what the Lord just told them about
marriage. Marriage was of God. God ordained
this union. Would God ordain something that's
not good? Would God ordain something that's
hurtful to you? God ordained this union. And
this union stood for something. It stood as a picture of Christ
and his church. Well, I know from the book of
Hosea that Christ loved a woman, his church, who was a prostitute. His church prostituted herself
in other religions. And yet, because of the hardness
of their hearts, he allowed Moses to put in the law this thing
of divorce. God made the man a man and the
woman a woman. He made the woman for the man,
the Scripture says, and gave him a preeminence over her because
of what this union stood for. Because of what this picture
was about. Man in this picture represents
Christ. He's the federal head of the
whole race. Everything stands or falls based
on him, not his wife. Eve was first to sin, the scripture
tells us, but sin didn't enter into the world through Eve. Sin
didn't enter into the world, according to Romans chapter 5,
until Adam sinned. By one man, sin entered into
the world, and death by sin. He sinned first, but it didn't
enter into the world. And because Adam could not bear
to be separated from his beloved bride, he willingly and openly
ate of the fruit. It was he sinned in full knowledge
of what he was doing. Adam did. The holy union of a
man and woman in marriage is ordained of God, and they're
not so ordained to be divided and separated and pulled apart. In fact, in Genesis 2, verse
18, the Lord God said, it's not good that a man should be alone.
The disciples have just said, well, it might be better off
for him to be alone. But God said it's not good for
him to be alone. Not good for him to be alone.
He said, I'll make him a helpmate for him. Marriage was not ordained
as some problematic union, but as a helpful and loving union.
Sin is what has made this glorious union problematic. Our sins. But we're all sinners. So all
marriages are going to have issues and problems. So then, would
it be better off just not to marry? Wouldn't it be better
off just to be single? That's the question now put before
the Lord. Living a celibate life. Is this
a better way? Is this the answer to marriage
and divorce? Will this better enable us somehow
to serve in the kingdom of God? And these are just some of the
things that I want to deal with this morning in this lesson.
And our Lord chooses to answer this question with an example
of something they knew a little bit about, something they could
identify with, and that was a eunuch. In this thing of the eunuch,
the Lord sets this thing of celibacy in its proper light. And he does
this by using an example of a eunuch in three different lights, in
three different situations. First of all, and I read this
to you just a few moments ago, he tells us that some men are
born eunuchs. Now, I don't think that he's
talking here about a man born with such a temper and willpower
that he could easily abstain from marriage. I don't think
that's what he's talking about in this passage. But I agree
with John Gill on this passage. I believe he's describing here
a man with a deformity of nature that's left him impotent. It's
left him impotent. And he's born a eunuch by this
physical deformity. And he has no interest in marriage. He has no interest in those things.
And then secondly, he tells us that there are some eunuchs which
are made eunuchs by men. Now there were in that day certain
men assigned to such tasks. They were slaves. They were captives,
taken captive when the Romans come in to rule. And these slaves
were put in and assigned such tasks that they felt required
to make them eunuchs. And I won't go into detail about
that, but the dictionary calls them bed watchers. They were
assigned to their heralds. They were men who were assigned
to work and live in their houses and care for their wives and
care for their daughters. And they felt it best to just
eliminate the temptation by making it a physical impossibility.
And they were made eunuchs by these men. Not willingly, but
by force. But I believe the Lord's example
here goes beyond those heathen traditions of slaves. He's also
talking about celibacy as it was taught by the Jews as offering
some kind of spiritual advantage to this man. to certain offices
or certain titles, and then in time, even to women,
even to women. Now, I'm told by those who have
a greater knowledge of these things than I do that this is
one of those passages which the Catholic Church and others, they're
not the only one who practice it, This is why their priests
and their nuns and other people in that church who hold certain
offices, who attend certain ministries in that church, are forced to
live a celibate life. They're not constrained by force
to do it, but it's demanded of them if they want to hold this
office that they have to live a celibate life. These are made
eunuchs by men. It's the same thing. It's the
same thing. They're made eunuchs by men to
suit their own evil ends and wicked imaginations, and they're
made eunuchs by men to manifest a personal righteousness, gain
something in value, gain something in closeness to God. They believe
if a man could abstain from marriage and live a single life before
God, then he's more holy than the other guy who couldn't. They're
made eunuchs by men to give the appearance of holiness and godliness. They're made eunuchs by men to
be better received by this evil world. Made eunuchs by men. And then
thirdly, our Lord puts this thing of celibacy in one last example. He said, there are some eunuchs
which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake.
And these are they to whom the Lord referred back in verse 11
when He said, they to whom it is given. Not all men can receive
this save those to whom it is given. Turn with me to I Corinthians
chapter 7. The Apostle Paul, who wrote nearly
half the New Testament, is just such a man. He never married. He was a spiritual unit. He felt as though he could do
a greater service to Christ as a single man than he could being
married. Why? Why did he feel like that? Because of what the Lord had
separated him to do, and what he'd be exposed to, and where
he must go to carry out the will of God. Now listen to this, here
in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 1. Now concerning the things whereof
you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication,
let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her
own husband. Let the husband render unto the
wife due benevolence, And likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power over
her own body, but the husband. And likewise also the husband
hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not
one the other, except it be with consent for a time that you may
give yourselves to fasting and prayer. and come together again
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak
this by permission and not of commandment. For I would that all men were
even as myself. But every man hath his proper
gift of God, one after this manner, another after that. I say, therefore, to the unmarried
and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let
them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn." Now,
he's not talking here about burning in hell. He's talking here about
burning with desire. It's better to marry than to
live a life where you constantly burn with desire. The Apostle
Paul would be the greatest missionary who ever lived. He would establish
churches all over that part of the world. He'd suffer persecution
like no other man. He'd be imprisoned, beaten, forsaken
by all. What kind of life could a woman
expect to have with him? You see what he said? He would
not ask any woman to sacrifice so much as he was required and
willingly able to sacrifice. And then think about this. How
could he have possibly accomplished his calling with a wife? This
man wrote half the New Testament. He wouldn't have had time to
do anything with his wife. He was gone for years at a time.
He was in prison for long periods of time. He was shipwrecked out
at sea. Lost at sea. And then most of
the rest of his life was devoted completely to the churches established
under his ministry. He went church to church to church
to church. And then he'd start over. And
he'd go back again. What kind of life would this
man have had? And I see why he even recommended it to those
in the church because they were living in the beginning of this
age, of this gospel age. And it was a hard age. We'll
get into that here in just a little bit. But over in 1 Corinthians
15, he talks about people being baptized for the dead. And if
you're, in other words, they're baptized, And as surely as they
went out there and publicly confessed Christ in baptism, they marked
themselves out for martyrdom. So what kind of marriage would
a man have under this fierce persecution of these Jews? But today is another matter.
And I have to agree with Don on this, with homosexuality rapid
in the world, I don't see how a single man could escape suspicion. With all that's gone on and all
the things being revealed in these celibate men and women,
I don't see how a single man could escape suspicion in this
day. In this day, I'd say it's better
for him to marry than to remain single. But like Paul, I'll say this.
It's my opinion and not the commandment of God. So I leave this thing
of celibacy right where the Lord left it. He said, all men cannot
receive the same, save those to whom it was given. That's
the best place to leave it. Now let me address one more thing
and I'll quit. In 1 Timothy 4, verse 1, Paul
warns us that in the latter times, some would depart from the faith. giving heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of devils. And they give heed to these things
that appeal to the flesh. They give heed to these things
that appeal to natural reason. And he said they would speak
lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared as with a hot
iron. Now watch this, verse 3. I Timothy
4, verse 3. What did they teach? Forbidding
to marry. That's the first thing. That's
the first example he gives. Forbidding to marry and commanding
to abstain from meats. Next week we are going to get
into this thing of children and the Kingdom of God. These children,
children of God, how are they to be looked at? How does this
thing of children coming to Christ, how is this to be looked at in
the Kingdom of God? In what light is that to be taken?
Are we to forbid them until a certain age? Suppose one of our young ladies
or young men come up to me and said, I believe what you're preaching.
Should I baptize him? How should I look on this thing
of children? A young child dies. How am I
to preach that funeral? How am I to look on this thing?
You see what I'm saying? How children? It's a very controversial
issue. It's been discussed for hundreds
and hundreds of years. Not just children in general,
but children as they are to be seen in the light of the Kingdom
of God. And so we'll get into that next
week. Thank you.