What is the most important lesson concerning the home? I do not know that I can answer that question. But certainly one of the most important concerns the permanence of the home. This lesson is especially needed in these times when there are so many failures. I believe they say one-third of present day marriages end in divorce. A very sad fact is that this happens to so many young people who are members of the church. I know many such young people who had been reared in Christian homes, who heard numerous sermons on making marriage permanent, and who should have heard much teaching at home. We preachers become discouraged and get the feeling that our "labor is vain" in such teaching. But we have the duty to "preach the word" on this subject as well as others. We can at least be "pure from the blood" of all who hear but do not heed (Acts 20:26,27). Of course, all the knots do not slip. Maybe our preaching contributes to something to those cases.

In a way it seems trite to tell again what the New Testament says about divorce and remarriage. Has not every reader heard it many times? I hope so; yet maybe some have not. Once when I had preached a lesson on the subject a sister called and wanted to talk with me. She said that she had attended services at a church of Christ to maturity. Her parents were members, and a respected preacher, whose name I heard a lot in that area, had preached for them for years. He performed her wedding ceremony, to a man who had a living wife - a divorced man. She declared that she had never heard a sermon preached on the subject and that she did not know what the Bible taught on it. Was she flippant as a girl and young woman, so paid no heed to what was being preached? Or, was the beloved preacher negligent in preaching this needed lesson? I do not know. If she had been a serious, studious young woman, she would have found the truth herself (2 Timothy 2:15). But so many members do not seriously study to show themselves approved unto God. Sad, but true.

When I was a boy we had monthly preaching. Our preacher was eloquent, and he never "lost a case" when he preached a funeral. But as I remember, his preaching consisted almost entirely of "first principle" sermons, selected from books of sermons. I do not recall ever hearing a word from him, or from any preacher holding a meeting there, on the subject of divorce and remarriage. Maybe they thought it was not needed; for, even though there was not much, if any public teaching on it, there was a stigma on the practice. I heard quite a bit about it in our home. When a separation occurred, which was extremely rare, there was much talk about it, and the parties involved were ashamed to face the community. But the preachers should have presented strong, Scriptural lessons on the sin of divorce and remarriage.

I believe the church in our time is more lax in discipline in this area than in any other. It perhaps is not that elders do not want a pure church; but it is so difficult to investigate many of the cases and be sure they have no right to each other. But outsiders often know of couples that should not live together, and knowing certain pertinent facts, the influence of the church may be hurt.

In future articles we hope to have more on this phase of the home. But for now we will quote what Jesus said. "And there came unto Him the Pharisees, trying Him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And He answered and said, Have ye not read, that He who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto Him, Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away? He said unto them, Moses for the hardness of your heart suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it hath not been so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultry: and he that marrieth her that is put away committeth adultry" (Matthew 19:3-9).

In Matthew 5:32 Jesus said, "But I say unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adultress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultry." One thing is plain and unmistakable: there is only one cause for divorce and remarriage – just ONE. Our state will grant a divorce for about eleven causes. They have no right to do so. God is the author of marriage. He has legislated concerning it, and man has no authority to meddle with this Divine institution. And, Christians should look to God’s law for guidance for their lives and not to men who have usurped authority that does not belong to them. (To be continued)

[EDITOR’S NOTE: I highly commend the article above from the pen of the late Gardner S. Hall. This article appeared in THE BULLETIN of the West Madison Street church of Christ in October of 1976, Volume 1, Number 2. Please read it in light of the scriptures cited and follow God’s teaching on this vital subject! Lord willing, there will be more articles written by this writer in issues to come!]