Christian Marriage Indissoluble: A Plain Sermon Preached at Archbishop Tenison's chapel, on the fifth Sunday after Trinity, 1857 — Edition Insights

e first and closest of human relationships. And fresh, and higher, and holier honours were bestowed on it, when Christ made it the glorious type of His own never-to-be-broken union with His Church; calling Himself the bridegroom, her the bride; giving Himself for her, and loving and cherishing her as His own flesh; and providing that she should be presented to Him a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; that her espousals should be celebrated by angels, and that she should be for ever with the Lord.

The history of the institution of marriage, and this exaltation of it into a type of Christ’s eternal union with the Church (so much dwelt on in some books of the Old Testament) would teach us clearly, that no divorce, _save by death_, was originally contemplated in the Divine mind; and this is further incontestibly proved by Christ in the language of the text—“Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning” (He, that is, who designed what they should be and do, and has an indisputable right to exercise His will) “made them male and female,” (male and female man, this means—imperfect parts of one being—“_man_,”) and joined them together, “and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

This, brethren, is CHRIST the WORD’S answer to the question of the Pharisees, “Whether it is lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause.” He refers His inquirers immediately to the original institution of marriage, as a sufficient answer, and, quoting the words then used by the Creator Himself, or dictated by His inspiration, expressive of the most entire and permanent union required between a man and his wife—words which He says make them no longer “twain, but one flesh”—He adds His own absolute, peremptory, and unqualified decree, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” In this sentence, observe He makes no exception; He allows neither adultery nor any other cause, as a justification of a breach of His prohibition. He positively forbids every human being to dissolve a union, which, as He shows, the Almighty designed to be indissoluble. {7}

His words were objected to by the Pharisees, as my interpretation of them will doubtless be by some, because in the Old Testament—in the Law given by Moses—there were distinct rules of divorce; not simply of putting away, but of marrying again. “They say unto Him, ‘Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away.’” It is to these words, contained in the 24th chapter of Deuteronomy, vv. 1, 2, that the Pharisees alluded:

“When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”