Hypocritical Giving

Matthew 6:1-4

 

You may recall that last week in our study of the Sermon on the Mount

We finished the first point of Jesus in this great sermon.

 

Point 1 – THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD EXPLAINED

 

It covered all of chapter 5

As Jesus began to explain to us what God’s righteousness looks like,

And how much higher it is than anything we have attained.

 

His righteousness is so high

He considers anger to be murder and lust to be adultery.

 

And obviously when we apply the standards of that righteousness to our own lives we are found deficient, in need of a Savior.

 

Well this morning we begin POINT 2 of Jesus sermon.

 

FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPOSED

 

A chapter in which we see:

Hypocritical Giving

Hypocritical Prayer

Hypocritical Fasting

Hypocritical Commitment

 

And this is a very fitting direction for this sermon to go.

 

Because as soon as Jesus revealed to us that we have major sin issues. (anger, lust, lack of integrity, revenge)

He knows that it is the natural inclination of man to try and even the score.

 

You might call it the Doctrine of Sin Exchange.

 

It is where we don’t necessarily justify the evil things we do,

But we do try to even the score by revealing the good things we do

 

For example:

My anger my prove that I am a murderer, and my revenge may prove that I am merciless, BUT I give to the poor and so I must not be all bad.

 

Or:

My lack of integrity may prove me a liar, and my lust may prove me an adulterer, BUT I pray continually and so I must not be all bad.

 

Or:

My propensity to break covenant, or the fact that I am not pure in heart may show that I am not righteous, BUT I do fast periodically so I must not be all bad.

We do that don’t we?

 

God’s word convicts us of sin in our life,

Maybe even to the point of revealing spiritual death and lostness;

And instead of accepting what Scripture says we are

We try and plead our own case by listing all of our good points.

 

And Jesus knows that we do it.

 

But I’m sorry to tell you, He is ready for you.

Because now comes the second point of the sermon:

FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS EXPOSED.

 

And what Jesus does here is reveal that maybe the good we do

Really isn’t all that good after all.

 

What if you found out that everything good about your life

Really wasn’t as good as you thought?

 

That is what chapter 6 of the Sermon on the Mount does to us,

And once again it pushes us to the Savior.

 

And so let’s look at this second point of Jesus.

 

It begins in verse 1 with really what is the point of the entire chapter,

Especially the first 24 verses.

 

(1) “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

 

I sincerely hope you noticed the first word.

“Beware”

 

Words like that are used when there is an inherent danger

You we would not ordinarily be aware of.

 

When I was a kid, every time we would go out playing in the pasture

My mom would say, “Watch out for snakes”.

 

That is the same type of warning Jesus gives here.

There is a danger that will creep up on you and catch you unaware.

You must be alert to it.

 

WHAT IS THE DANGER?

The temptation of “practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them;”

 

We as humans are those who enjoy recognition and praise.

We like to be recognized as those who do something well.

And many have learned that even good deeds

Can earn a certain type of recognition.

And that is a danger.

 

WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS?

Because if you do that “you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

 

To put it plainly, if you do a good deed on earth,

And you do it to be recognized on earth,

Then you can forget about getting any type of reward from God.

 

Other scriptures allude to this concept:

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

 

1 Corinthians 13:3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

 

You see it is clear that there is a very real possibility

Of doing the right things on earth and receiving absolutely nothing for it.

 

Imagine thinking you were saving your whole life for retirement,

Only to find out when you retired that there had been an error

And you had actually already spent your retirement.

 

And yet that is happening to people in an eternal sense all the time.

 

They leave this world after a lifetime of service,

Only to find that they have absolutely no treasure in heaven whatsoever.

Some even find that they don’t have a home there, let alone an inheritance

 

What a tragedy!

And yet is a real threat, so much so that Jesus says “Beware” of it.

 

When you practice your righteousness to be “noticed” by men

You will receive no reward for your effort.

 

WHY?

Because that is idolatry.

 

That is glorifying self over God.

 

• And while we know God’s mercies are new every morning.

• And while we know God’s grace is sufficient.

• And while we know God’s lover never fails.

 

We also know THAT GOD’S GLORY IS FOR HIM AND HIM ALONE.

 

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.”

 

Isaiah 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

 

And when you do deeds on this earth to receive the glory for it,

That is idolatry and God does not reward that.

 

In fact your fortunate He does not instantly crush you into a fine powder.

 

This is a real danger and one that must be avoided.

 

So before you start presenting to God

All the good things you do in the church or in the community,

We first have to find out why you did them.

 

And that is Jesus point here in the 6th chapter of Matthew.

 

This morning we see the first example, and that is GIVING.

And even more specific, giving to the poor.

 

And before we dive into the specifics of this text, might I remind you

That giving to the poor is an absolute command of God.

 

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 “If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. “Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘ The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. “You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”

 

In fact for all the talk we do about titheing has anyone ever noticed why God demanded the tithe?

Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

 

Giving is commanded by God,

 

We see this also in the New Testament.

Luke 14:12-14 “And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

Furthermore those who do give are promised a blessing from God.

Psalms 41:1-3 “How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The LORD will deliver him in a day of trouble. The LORD will protect him and keep him alive, And he shall be called blessed upon the earth; And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. The LORD will sustain him upon his sickbed; In his illness, You restore him to health.”

 

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

And on the flip side, those who do not give to the poor

Are condemned by God as wicked and evil people.

 

Psalms 109:6-16 “Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth; Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.”

 

1 John 3:16-18 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

 

You see giving to the poor is an absolute command.

And according to the passage here

We learn that it is something EVEN THE HYPOCRITES DO.

 

And so friend, if even the hypocrites give to the poor,

What does that say about you, if you don’t?

 

Jesus clearly says “So when you give to the poor”

Not “if” but “when”

 

Giving to the poor is an understood application of Christianity.

It is impossible to claim to be a Christian without it.

 

But the point Jesus makes here is that just because you do it,

That doesn’t guarantee that you are a Christian either.

 

Amy Carmichael said in that mission’s video.

“You can give without loving, you cannot love without giving.”

 

And that is precisely the point that Jesus will make here.

 

As giving is understood,

Jesus is going to let you see if your giving is legitimate or not.

 

There are two points to be made here.

#1 GIVING IN HYPOCRISY

Matthew 6:2

 

“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do”

 

And so it is obvious that we learn that there is a way to give to the poor

Which is hypocritical.

 

WHAT IS A HYPOCRITE?

 

My dictionary tells me that hypocrisy is “feigning to be what one is not”

 

The word “hypocrites” translates HUPOKRITES

Which was the word used for a Greek actor

Who wore a mask to better play a role.

 

And so when Jesus spoke of them,

He was essentially calling them mask wearers.

 

BUT THE INTERESTING THING IS THIS.

 

Everyone knew what a hypocrite was,

But very few realized who the hypocrites were.

 

That is what Jesus came to expose.

Luke 12:1 “Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”

 

Or you can read all of Matthew 23 in which

Jesus calls them hypocrites 7 different times.

 

And so it is obvious that these men gave,

But they did so in a way that was not pleasing to the Lord,

And in a way that Jesus specifically tells us to avoid.

 

And so let’s look at how hypocrites give.

1) THEY SOUND TRUMPETS

“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets”

 

And that is obviously a strong statement from Jesus.

 

It is probably not likely that they carried a literal trumpet with them

In which they blasted it every time they gave.

But what is extremely clear is that they “tooted their own horn”.

 

They might as well have blasted a trumpet,

Because they made sure everyone knew about it.

 

And if you think this type of thing

Is foreign to the church today you are mistaken.

 

Our churches are filled with the “anonymous giver”

Who is really good at leaking the information.

“Don’t tell anyone this, but I…”

 

Other churches don’t even try to hide it.

• How many churches still put plaques on their pews to forever commemorate who donated them?

 

• Did we ourselves not have a plaque that hung in the foyer commemorating the donations of people in the past?

 

How can you possibly read this passage

And think that something like that is ok?

 

God is not the least bit concerned with how much you give,

But He is concerned with HOW you give it.

 

Mark 12:41 “And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums.”

 

And those who gave with self serving motives

Were considered hypocrites by Christ.

 

They sound trumpets

2) THEY SEEK GLORY

“so that they may be honored by men.”

 

They give like they give because they want the recognition.

They love to have people praise them and honor them for their “sacrifice”.

 

Was that not the Pharisees?

Matthew 23:5-6 “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,”

 

They give so people will notice.

They give so they can have a certificate.

 

I just love every time we get a new president of the Southern Baptist Convention, some article will be written about how much his church gives to the Cooperative Program.

And you can’t help but wonder if this is why he led them to do it.

 

And it is not at all what God requires.

 

Which leads to the final aspect of hypocritical giving

3) THEY SUFFER LOSS

“Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

 

I remember one time when I was in high school.

I bought the hamburger – “You have your reward in full”

 

Today, I would rather have the treasure in heaven, but I already lost that.

 

“I hope it was worth it”

 

Don’t expect God to honor you for your “selfless” act.

Don’t expect God to reward you for stealing His glory.

 

You have gotten all the reward you will ever get.

That is hypocritical giving.

 

#2 GIVING IN HOLINESS

Matthew 6:3-4

 

Here Jesus speaks of just the opposite.

 

SO HOW DO THE HOLY GIVE?

 

1) THEY GIVE IN SECRET

“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

 

Again, just as the trumpets were an analogy so is this.

 

The idea being, that if you can give so secretly with your right hand

That your left hand is unaware of it, then you are giving secretly.

 

If you can give that secretly then obviously no one else will know about it.

 

You see, that is how the righteous give.

Matthew 25:34-40 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

 

Did you notice that the righteous didn’t even remember doing it?

 

You see at the time they weren’t even thinking about themselves,

They were only thinking about glorifying God.

 

That is how the righteous give.

That is why giving in holiness looks like.

It is to give so secretly that no one notices that it was you.

 

But to that the hypocrites say, “But if we give like that, no one will see.”

 

THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT

“so that your giving will be in secret;”

 

You are trying to keep from being glorified.

 

The righteous give in secret.

2) THEY GLORIFY GOD

 

Now this is not explicitly stated, but it is heavily implied.

 

If the wicked give publicly to glorify self,

Then obviously the righteous give secretly to glorify God.

 

If you give to the poor and the poor man doesn’t know who did it,

He has no other option but to thank God for it.

 

And by the way, regardless of what you think,

It really was God who gave it to him.

After all, who gave it to you?

 

And so we secretly pass along what God has given to us

So that God is the only possible One who can be glorified.

 

You see, that was the real point of shining your light.

Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

 

Jesus didn’t tell us to shine our light so people could glorify us,

He told us to do it in a way that glorifies God.

And to that, let me ask you.

WHO DOES YOUR LIGHT SHINE ON?

 

It seems more and more today, whether at funerals or wherever,

We hear this phrase. “He was a great man of God” or “She was a great woman of God”.

 

But understand me here.

My goal is not to be a great man of God.

My goal is to be a man of a great God.

 

My goal is for people to see me and say, “Man he must serve a great God! How else can you explain how such a sorry human can do what he does?”

 

The Righteous give in secret and they glorify God

 

3) THEY GAIN REWARD

“and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

 

You see, you do it in secret,

Because there is only One who can see what is done in secret,

And that is God.

 

And God does not let the righteous fail to receive reward.

Matthew 10:42 “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

 

And that is clear.

 

You could give a million dollars to Lottie Moon

And not receive a single reward.

Yet you could give one cup of water to some kid in Sunday School

And be rewarded for it.

 

THE DIFFERENCE IS WHY AND HOW YOU DID IT.

 

And so do you see Jesus point here?

 

I know after being beaten up in chapter 5 about how unrighteous you are,

You were eager to counter with all those good things you do.

But what if all those good things really aren’t as good as you thought?

 

What if you have already received

The only reward you will ever get for those actions?

 

THAT IS AGAIN WHY WE NEED JESUS!

 

Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

 

Loving Like God

Matthew 5:43-48

 

As you know, we have been studying through the Sermon on the Mount.

 

And if you are one of those people who really like structure and outlines,

Especially in regard to sermons, then let me give you some here.

 

With these verses Jesus is concluding

What would be considered His first point in this historic sermon.

 

Point #1 could be called: – GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS EXAMINED

 

And thus far as we have examined God’s righteousness

We have learned 4 things about it.

 

1) The Personality of God’s Righteousness

We saw this in the beatitudes (1-12) as we saw a detailed description of the character of God. All of those attitudes are the attitudes of Christ.

 

2) The Purpose of God’s Righteousness

We saw this in the analogy of light and salt (13-16). God is light to a dark world and taste to a flavorless world. The purpose of His righteousness is to lead sinners to salvation.

 

3) The Passion of God’s Righteousness

This of course was verses 17-19 in which we saw Jesus’ passion not to annul or remove even one small speck from the Law.

 

God is passionate about perfect righteousness, as outlined in His written Law, and He is not interested in lowering the standard one single bit.

 

4) The Picture of God’s Righteousness

This started in verse 20 and goes through 48, where Jesus told us that unless our righteousness “surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees” we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

Which then led into these 6 “You have heard…but I say” sermons,

Where Jesus shows us how God’s righteousness applies to everyday life.

 

Without a doubt it has been a difficult section,

Meant to show us that we are not like God.

 

And this morning this first point of His sermon comes to a close

With the most amazing aspect of God’s righteousness yet.

 

And of course that is LOVE

You simply cannot begin to talk about God without talking about love.

 

In fact John simply said:

1 John 4:8 “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

And again

1 John 4:16 “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

 

And of course we are all well aware of that all encompassing verse

That hinges upon the magnificent love of God.

 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

 

God’s love is truly a fascinating topic.

 

But many times (as is common with all His attributes)

God’s love gets reduced to a level that is not accurate at all.

 

Instead of patterning their own love after God’s love,

People pattern God’s love after their own

And needless to say, this is a grave mistake.

 

Many times we hear illustrations like:

“You know how much you love your children, well God loves you like that.”

 

WRONG!

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

 

Scripture is clear, we are evil, God is holy.

And therefore our love is NOTHING like His love and vice versa;

His love is nothing like our love.

 

His is infinitely greater.

The love you feel for your children is nothing

In comparison to the love God has for His children.

 

And so this morning, just by way of introduction

Into this final “You have heard” sermon,

Let me just remind you a little about the love of God.

 

Scripture actually gives us AN EXPLANATION OF GOD’S LOVE

 

TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 13.

This is a chapter dedicated to letting you see t

He actual descriptions of God’s love.

 

And we learn all sorts of truths about God’s Love.

1) IT’S VALUE (1-3)

So valuable that without it, nothing else has any value.

 

2) IT’S DESCRIPTION (4-7)

We learn how God’s love responds in various situations.

 

3) IT’S ENDURANCE (8)

“love never fails”

 

The explanation of God’s love is clearly seen in Scripture

And such an explanation helps us evaluate the love we claim to possess.

 

Scripture also gives AN ILLUSTRATION OF GOD’S LOVE.

 

Luke 10:25-29 “And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.” But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 

DO YOU REMEMBER THE ILLUSTRATION JESUS GIVES AS THE ANSWER?

– The Good Samaritan.

 

A man who looked past his own agenda…

A man who looked past his own race…

A man who looked past his own safety…

A man who looked past his own well being…

A man who gave his time, his money, and his plans to minister to a person that

would have hated him, had he not been in need.

 

That is the love of God illustrated.

 

Finally Scripture gives us A DEMONSTRATION OF GOD’S LOVE.

 

Far be it from God to simply talk about love or explain it,

God practices what He preaches and demonstrates His love.

 

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

And when we see those concepts of God’s love in Scripture

SOME SIMPLE AND OBVIOUS FACTS IMMERGE.

 

LOVE IS A CHOICE

It is not a response to the feelings of another, it is a deliberate decision to give love to another.

 

LOVE IS AN ACTION

If love stops only at words or sentiment it falls far short of the love of God, for God put His money where His mouth was.

LOVE IS SACRIFICIAL

Never do we find an incident of love in which it was doing what was best for itself, but always where it sacrificed self for the good of another.

 

This is the love of God, and therefore if we are to be like God,

This is the love that we must exhibit.

 

Now, at this point in the Sermon on the Mount,

I probably don’t have to tell you that this was yet another area

Where Israel was failing miserably.

 

• We’ve already seen they were murderers.

• We’ve already seen they were adulterers.

• We’ve already seen they were covenant breakers. (divorce)

• We’ve already seen they were liars.

• We’ve already seen they were spiteful. (eye for an eye)

 

And this morning we learn that their concept of love

Was way off the mark as well.

 

#1 THE OBSERVATION

Matthew 5:43

 

There again we see Jesus observation of the basis for Jewish theology.

 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”

 

While to some degree all of the commands Jesus has mentioned have been maligned, none have been maligned more than this one.

 

Not only did they ANNUL a great portion of this command,

But they also ADDED to it, something that was never there.

 

The command is actually given:

Leviticus 19:15-18 “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. ‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD. ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”

 

This passage is extremely clear.

 

IT SPEAKS OF ACTION

“You shall DO not injustice…”

 

IT SPEAKS OF JUST LOVE

“you shall not be partial to the poor, nor defer to the great.”

IT SPEAKS OF TOUGHT LOVE

“you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.”

 

IT SPEAKS OF THE DEGREE OF LOVE

“you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

IT SPEAKS OF THE AUTHOR OF LOVE

“I am the LORD.”

 

Now after reading that command

It is obvious how maligned this command actually was.

 

They had omitted the “as yourself” part.

They had added “and hate your enemy.”

 

And so whatever their concept of love actually was,

It is clear that it is a far cry from God-like love.

 

AND WE UNDERSTAND THIS TODAY.

 

We live in a world that thinks love is somewhere between

An emotional response and a heated attraction.

 

Today’s kind of love is best described on a Jr. High girl’s book cover.

Which today will say, “I Love so &so” and tomorrow the word love

Will be marked out and the statement will read “I hate so & so”

 

We are constantly plagued with people who fall in and out of love.

 

All the time forgetting that if you claim to no longer love a person,

All you are saying is that I am the most selfish person on the face of the planet.

 

And our world is plagued by that type of love.

But really love is not the proper name for it.

We have a more accurate name for that emotion: LUST

 

Lust is that tingly feeling you get when you want more of a person.

Lust is that self-serving emotion that wants what another person has.

 

And the second that person ceases to offer it, lust says, “Forget you”.

I’ll go on to someone else who can meet my needs.

 

Our world has a whole lot of lust, and very little love.

• Lust feels good, love seldom feels good.

• Lust gratifies self, love gratifies others.

• Lust devours, love builds up.

• Lust abandons, love never fails.

 

We know all about the type of “love” the Jews were offering.

Jewish love was a love that could turn to hate at the drop of a hat.

It was selfish and it was not God-like.

And that was Jesus’ observation.

 

#2 THE EXPLANATION

Matthew 5:44-47

 

Here Jesus explains to us what God-like love is.

 

It is again a test to evaluate ourselves to see if we love like God loves,

Or if our love is really just lust in disguise.

 

Let’s break our explanation down into three points

1) THE LOOK OF LOVE (44)

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

 

Now that is a turnaround isn’t it?

I know what it is to love my momma.

I know what it is to love my sweet thing.

But love my enemies?

 

That does not mean we condone the action of our enemies.

That does not mean we even desire the company of our enemies.

But it does mean that we sacrifice self for the good of our enemies.

• We do without, so our enemies can enjoy.

• We suffer, so our enemies don’t have too.

• We give so our enemies can receive.

 

It is us desiring blessing for our enemies

Even though they do not deserve it.

 

That is why Jesus said, “and pray for those who persecute you,”

 

I don’t have to remind you of the day our Lord passed this test.

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

 

Love comes when we sacrifice self for the good of another,

And Jesus says it extends even beyond your neighbor

All the way to your enemy.

 

That is what the Good Samaritan was exhibiting.

(Jews and Samaritans hated each other)

 

Today it would be you helping a muslim or a drug dealer

Or someone from Jayton.

 

He showed love to his enemy.

 

That is what true love looks like.

Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

 

John MacArthur shares a story of this type of love:

“In 1567 King Philip II of Spain appointed the Duke of Alba as governor of the lower part of the nation. The Duke was a bitter enemy of the newly-emerging Protestant Reformation. His rule was called the reign of terror, and his council was called the Bloody Council, because it had ordered the slaughter of so many Protestants. It is reported that one man who was sentenced to die for his biblical faith managed to escape during the dead of winter. As he was being pursued by a lone soldier, the man came to a lake whose ice was thin and cracking. Somehow he managed to get safely across the ice, but as soon as he reached the other side he heard his pursuer screaming. The soldier had fallen through the ice and was about to drown. At the risk of being captured, tortured, and eventually killed – or of being drowned himself – the man went back across the lake and rescued his enemy, because the love of Christ constrained him to do it. He knew he had no other choice if he was to be faithful to his Lord.” (cited in MacArthur, John “The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Matthew 1-7” Moody Press 1985, pg. 346)

 

That is what love looks like.

 

The Look of Love

2) THE LINEAGE OF LOVE (45)

“so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

 

Jesus says that we must love like this

Because this is what God-like love looks like.

 

God loves those who don’t deserve it.

Every morning He shares “His sun” even with the people who hate Him.

Periodically He “sends” rain even on those who live wicked lives.

 

And God never fails to do so.

He continually gives of what is His to those who hate Him.

 

And when we do the same,

It is obvious we are chip right off the old block.

 

1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

 

So Jesus tells us to love our enemies because that is what God would do.

 

In fact Scripture even says that love is an indicator of righteousness.

 

Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Romans 13:8-10 “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

 

God loves those who don’t deserve it.

We display God-likeness when we do the same,

And we show ourselves to be His children.

 

The Look of Love – The Lineage of Love

3) THE LOGIC OF LOVE (46-47)

“For if you love those who love you, what reward to you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”

 

And man, doesn’t Jesus cut to the heart here?

 

You see, He knows us very well.

 

He knows we all say, “I’ve got You on this one Jesus, I love all sorts of people. I’ve got a long list of the people I love.”

 

To which Jesus responds,

“Yes, but how many people are on that list who do not love you?”

 

The challenge is for you to make a list of all the people you love,

Then to mark off everyone on that list who loves you,

And then to see what is left of your list.

 

Jesus says loving people who love you is nothing special.

“Do not even tax collectors do the same?”

“Do not even Gentiles do the same?”

 

If you want to be like God,

Then show me the people you love who hate you.

This is what separates a godly man from a worldly man.

 

In Luke’s gospel Jesus spoke a similar truth.

Luke 14:12-14 “And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. “But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

 

(Similar in the sense that we reach out when it benefits us nothing)

 

If you claim to be like God, then you have to love those who hate you.

 

If God had only loved those who love Him,

Then He would have never loved anyone, because none loved God.

 

God didn’t love anyone because they first loved Him.

 

1 John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.”

 

It was God who looked down upon this sin infested world.

This world that at one point had grieved Him so much

That He actually sent a flood to destroy it.

 

This world that was filled with idolatry and sorcery…

This world that was filled with adultery and lust…

This world that was filled with murder and hatred…

This world that was filled with hypocrisy and false religion…

 

And God looked at this world which hated Him

And chose to demonstrate love

In the sending of His only Son to die in their stead.

 

God loved His enemies.

 

So before we start comparing ourselves to God

Simply because we love our momma,

You had better ask yourself how many of your enemies that you love.

 

(Mr. Schaupffner and “The Dirty Japs)

That is God’s love.

 

The Observation, The Explanation

#3 THE EXPECTATION

Matthew 5:48

 

And this is more than just the final point to this sermon.

This is the final statement of a point Jesus started back in verse 20.

 

Remember that eye-popping statement?

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

At the time that seemed like an unthinkable statement.

How could Jesus expect you to be better than those guys?

Because He expects you to be as good as God.

 

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 

And please let that sink in for a moment.

In a world that praises people who “Do their best”

Please understand that God does not grade based on effort.

 

He is a holy God who demands absolute perfection

If a person is to dwell with Him in eternity.

 

You do not enter His presence apart from absolute perfect righteousness.

 

And that has been Jesus’ point as He told us

You are a murderer.

You are an adulterer.

You are a covenant breakers.

You are a liar.

You are vindictive.

You don’t love people.

 

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU WILL BE GRANTED THE RIGHT

TO DWELL WITH HOLY GOD FOR ALL ETERNITY?

 

And so again we ask:

Are you ready to hear about Jesus?

 

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

If you are to be declared righteous as God is righteous,

Then you must accept the righteousness that Christ will give you.

 

He was perfect.

He never murdered, not even in His heart.

He never committed adultery, not even in His heart.

He never broke covenant.

He never deceived.

He never sought revenge, but remained meek.

No one ever showed greater love than He did

 

He was righteous, and He will share it with all who trust in Him.

 

So again this morning let me ask you to give your life to Jesus Christ,

You will never make it to the Father without Him.

 

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

 

Strength Under Control

Matthew 5:38-42

 

We live in a nation today that is very concerned with our rights.

We know that there are certain ways in which we have the right to live.

There are certain things that we have the right to do.

 

And if someone infringes upon those rights,

We only have to turn on the television and hear some lawyer say,

“You may be entitled too…”

 

Our system of government is even built upon certain unalienable rights.

We are all familiar with the constitution and the “Bill of Rights”

 

And don’t get me wrong, it is a tremendous blessing

To live in a nation that goes so far to guarantee the personal freedom

Of those who live in her.

Freedom is a good thing.

 

Even in Scripture freedom is a good thing.

Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

 

But as we studied last Sunday night, freedom can become CORRUPTED.

There are some who can take their freedom or their “personal rights”

To a level that God never intended.

 

For example, those same Galatians that Paul declared “free”

He turns right around and says this:

Galatians 5:13-15 “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”

 

While Paul did declare the Galatians free,

Paul immediately warned about the dangers of pushing freedom too far.

 

And freedom or “personal rights” are corrupted

When they become the chief concern and aim of a person.

 

In other words, if all a person is concerned with

Is making sure they are free and no one steals their rights from them,

Then that selfish mentality can actually turn freedom into a bad thing.

 

The end result is fighting, bickering, lawsuits, and wars.

 

In fact Paul likened corrupted freedom to a sort of cannibalism.

“But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”

Instead, freedom must be balanced with love.

“do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

 

In fact that is why Scripture also teaches that freedom

Must also work hand in hand with submission.

 

1 Corinthians 7:22 “For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave.”

 

And we are reminded, that as Christians we are free,

But that is something we willingly forsake for the glory of Christ.

 

Remember all the teachings about not eating meat sacrificed to idols?

1 Corinthians 8:9 “But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.”

 

Romans 14:19-21 “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.”

 

In fact, Paul was even a walking testimony of a man

Who sacrificed his own personal rights and freedoms.

 

First Paul listed the freedoms and “rights” that are his.

1 Corinthians 9:1-7 “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?”

 

But then listen as Paul speaks of willingly forsaking those “rights”

1 Corinthians 9:15 “But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one.”

 

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

 

AND WE COULD GO ON WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

 

So we quickly understand that while freedom is a good thing,

Freedom is not the only goal.

We are not those who are looking to make sure we never get cheated,

Or that we never lose our rights, or that someone infringes upon us.

 

Instead we are those who would willingly surrender our freedom

If it means glorifying God and building up another person.

 

That is exactly what this portion of the Sermon on the Mount is about.

 

I titled this sermon “Strength Under Control”

By now most of you know that this is the definition for “meekness”

 

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

 

To be meek does not mean to be weak.

In fact before you can be meek you first have to be strong.

 

Meekness is someone who willingly submits even though they have the power not to. (A horse is a great example of meekness)

 

And of course ultimately Jesus is the greatest example of meekness.

Hanging upon a cross, being taunted by men,

When all He had to do was call 10,000 angels.

 

And therefore we know that meekness is a Godly attribute,

And one that the truly righteous must live and walk in.

 

However, meekness is generally a lost attribute in most of our lives.

• Most of the time we are focused on our rights.

• Most of the time we want to make sure no one cheats us.

• Most of the time we are concerned that no one takes our freedom.

 

And most of the time there is heck to pay if anyone tries.

 

Well friend this morning that is the concept we deal with,

And our text not only reveals us to the wrong way of thinking,

But even offers us the benefit of a real simple true / false test.

 

So lets study this 5th “You have heard…but I say” sermon.

#1 THE OBSERVATION

Matthew 5:38

 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’”

 

Now before we do any digging as to what this command really meant,

Just take a moment and ask yourself what it sounds like it means.

 

It sounds like a Biblical mandate

To make sure no one ever gets the better of you doesn’t it?

It sounds like a biblical mandate to protect your freedom through revenge.

 

Now, before we even go to the Old Testament,

We know this is not the case don’t we.

 

WHY?

Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord.”

 

So we know that even though it sounds like a right to get even,

We know it isn’t, for revenge belongs strictly to God.

 

Furthermore Scripture doesn’t teach

That we do unto others as they have done unto us.

 

Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

 

So we know that this command doesn’t promote or even permit revenge.

 

However, because that is all of the command most Jews knew

That is exactly how they were interpreting it.

 

They saw it as a bonified right to call the nearest lawyer and make sure that “That Sucker Pays for what he did to me”.

 

And because that is all of the passage they knew

They thought it was important to protect your personal rights at all cost.

 

But lets look at the passage in the Old Testament that say this

And see if we can discern exactly what God originally meant.

 

Exodus 21:22-25 “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

 

There the command is given to the local civil judge,

In order to give him a guideline as how to punish an offender.

 

If someone wrongs another and you don’t know how to punish them,

Then deal out a judgment that fits the severity of the crime,

“life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

 

And we see it other places as well.

Leviticus 24:19-20 “If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.”

Deuteronomy 19:16-21 “If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

 

There is a similar command, only with a twist.

This time a person has not been wronged, but he was about to be,

And God intervened in order to dissuade men from being evil.

 

And so reading those three commands

We can easily deduce God’s point in the Law.

 

1) TO DETER EVIL

 

We just read in Deuteronomy “thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.”

And that is obviously understood.

 

If you think that you will have your hand cut off for cutting someone else’s hand off, you will think twice before you do it.

 

This command was meant to deter evil from taking place.

 

2) TO PROMOTE JUSTICE

 

In other words, to make sure the punishment fit the crime.

God did not want you killing a man for bruising someone.

 

God laid down an ordinance that made sure the punishment

Was only as severe as the crime that was committed.

 

And in all cases the judgment and sentence was carried out

Through the local civil authority, never by the hands of the victim.

 

And so we know that God was promoting justice.

 

However, by conveniently failing to read the entire command,

The Jews had come to read that command as a license

To get even and protect your own personal rights and freedoms.

 

The slogan of the day was:

“No one has the right to walk on me, or I’ll do the exact thing back to them. After all, ‘an eye for an eye’”

 

They had taken God’s commands about justice

And used them to promote their own selfish interests.

I think we can understand this concept in our society.

 

Our judicial system may have been invented

To interpret the law and punish offenders.

 

But today it is much more than that.

We have judges with television shows

And lawyers who chase ambulances.

 

We all are familiar with the phrase, “I’ll see you in court”

 

It is the slogan of a society that wants to make sure that above all

They do not get cheated, wronged, or anything else.

 

Some even use it as a means to get more than they deserve,

And so it has even promoted greed.

 

It sounds a lot like Corinth.

1 Corinthians 6:1-8 “Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.”

 

It was certainly how the Jews were living,

And they thought they were biblical in doing so.

 

After all, I have to protect my rights and my freedoms.

 

That was Jesus’ observation.

#2 THE EXPLANATION

Matthew 5:39a

 

“But I say to you, do not resist an evil person;”

 

That is really all the explanation that Christ gives

In regard to the command, and He says enough.

 

He commands the exact opposite of what was actually occurring.

 

But not only did Jesus say don’t go after them with revenge,

But He went further than that.

 

Don’t even resist them when they try to cheat you.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

 

It’s one thing to say I can’t get even and make them pay for harming me,

But You are actually saying I can’t even resist them when they try.

 

It is no doubt that Jesus here is

Speaking of a mindset that is foreign to ours.

 

• He is speaking of a person whose last concern is their own personal rights and freedoms.

 

• He is referring to a person who the last thing they think about is whether or not it is good for them.

 

• He is referring to a person who really doesn’t take self into the equation, and in fact may not even realize he is being cheated, because being cheated wasn’t even something he was concerned about.

 

WHAT KIND OF A PERSON ACTUALLY LIVES AND THINKS LIKE THAT?

Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

 

Or do you prefer this passage?

1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

 

Or do you prefer this passage?

Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.”

 

Or do you prefer this passage?

Matthew 26:39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

 

Or do you prefer this passage?

Luke 23:33-35 “When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”

 

• And should we continue about His willingness to live poor on the earth?

• Should we talk about His submission on the day He was arrested?

• Should we talk about the way He took the humiliation of Pilate & Herod?

 

We may find it hard to believe that anyone could ever live their life

With so little concern for their own personal rights and freedoms,

But we know one who did.

You see this mindset is foreign to us,

But that only reveals how unlike God we really are.

 

It is not just about not taking your own revenge,

But it is about having such a loving mindset that

When an evil person comes to take advantage of you,

Your last thought is to protect yourself.

 

That is meekness.

That is strength under control.

That is God-like-ness.

 

Now comes the third point.

Here comes the test.

 

If at this point, you think you are what Jesus just described,

Then let’s take this little four question true / false test.

 

#3 THE APPLICATION

Matthew 5:39b-42

 

Jesus gives you 4 scenarios, and you get to evaluate your life

By these four scenarios, and simply answer TRUE or FALSE.

 

Jesus allows you to come in contact with four types of people.

 

We know that because Jesus just told us not to “resist an evil person”

That all four types of these people are seen in an “evil” connotation.

 

So Jesus lets you on any given day come across one of these

Four evil people and asks you how you would respond to them.

 

So let’s take the test and look at these four scenarios

And see what true meekness looks like.

 

1) THE MOCKER (39b)

“but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

 

• We get up in the morning and go to Allsupps for caffeine.

• When we get out of our car, we see the mocker.

 

(Not physical violence, even apostles fled)

 

• This man humiliates us with a slap on the face (done in evil)

• They say something or do something that humiliates you in front of everyone.

 

HERE IS THE TEST, HOW DO YOU RESPOND?

I can tell you how your preacher too often responds – I fire right back.

(It is actually a curse to always know what to say, because too often I say it)

 

Instead of letting them get the last laugh,

I make sure that by the time we both get into Allsupps,

They are the one who is humiliated, not me.

 

Just like Jesus right?

Wrong – “when reviled He did not revile in return”

 

And so by defending my dignity, I tossed meekness out the window.

I was more concerned with what people thought of me

Than with what people thought of Christ, and I failed the test.

 

SO YOU MARK A “T” OR AN “F” ON YOUR PAPER

 

Now let’s move on in our day.

• You leave Allsupps a little annoyed at the scene.

• You get to work and in the parking lot a courier catches you to serve you papers.

 

2) THE GREEDY (40)

“If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat as well.”

 

This is something big.

 

Exodus 22:26-27 “If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.”

 

The coat was a serious thing to a Jew.

 

• So this guy is suing you for something important.

• Apparently he is allergic to pecans, and he wants all your pecan trees removed.

• Furthermore he wants emotional damages for all the sneezing in the sum of $5,000

 

Cleary he is exploiting you.

To which you respond “Over my dead body”

 

Just like Jesus would have right?

Wrong – He left His home in heaven and let men gamble for His tunic.

 

Jesus would offer the wood from those pecans

As free firewood for you neighbor.

 

SO YOU ANSWER “T” OR “F” ON YOUR TEST

So our day is going pretty rough.

I had a bad encounter and now I am being sued.

 

So now I finally make it to work.

3) THE FORCEFUL

“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”

• This is my boss (and remember in an evil connotation)

• This guy is a slave driver.

• Without asking, he demands that I work through lunch and stay late.

 

The Roman centurion could demand you to carry his load for one mile.

(Why Simon had to carry the cross of Jesus)

 

• Now like that centurion your boss is demanding you to work late.

 

To which you respond…

“No I’m not” or “You’re paying me extra” or “Why don’t you do something”

 

Just like Jesus right?

Wrong – He willingly walked the extra mile to the cross.

 

Jesus would actually volunteer tomorrow’s lunch hour too.

 

JUST MARK A “T” OR AN “F” ON YOUR PAPER

 

• But now I finally get off work.

• I’ve already had that encounter.

• I’m being sued.

• I’m tired from working late, and I make it to the grocery store just before they close.

 

4) THE LAZY (42)

“Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”

• I’ve worked hard for my pay.

• This guy sits at home all day watching The Dukes of Hazzard.

• He doesn’t work at all.

 

“Can I have $20 for some groceries?”

 

To which I say – “Get lost” or “I don’t have it”

 

Just like Jesus right?

Wrong – He gave His righteousness to sinners who didn’t earn it.

 

Jesus says give it to him anyway.

 

JUST MARK A “T” OR AN “F” ON YOUR PAPER.

NOW, HOW DID YOU SCORE?

 

We know how Jesus did.

How about you?

 

And you see once again the point is made to us,

That despite what we like to think about ourselves,

We are not like God.

 

We do not measure up.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

 

And therefore the only hope for us is to be forgiven

And made righteous through the credited righteousness

That Jesus provides.

 

Again we see our need to run to Him and be forgiven.

Again we see our need to run to Him and be made righteous.

 

That is the point.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

This morning I again encourage you to give your life to Jesus

And not only receive His forgiveness, but also His Holy Spirit,

That you may begin to be transformed into a Holy person.

 

Let Him begin to work in you.

 

 

If you are a Christian let me just remind you that

Selfishness and personal freedom were never part of the deal.

 

Walk like your savior and lay those “rights” down

So that you may look like Christ in a fallen sinful world.

 

And as you do, enjoy the blessings of a life of meekness.

 

Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

 

Liars Are Not Righteous

Matthew 5:33-37

 

As you know, we are studying the Sermon on the Mount.

And in this sermon Jesus is absolutely cutting to the heart of man.

 

He is preaching to the most self-righteous people who have ever lived

And His purpose is to confront, to convict,

And ultimately to lead them to Himself.

 

And thus far as we have heard Jesus expound God’s Law,

We have been overwhelmed with the fact

That we do not measure up to it.

 

• We have found that if we are angry then we are murderers.

• We have found that if we look at a woman and want her then we are adulterers.

• And we have found that we cannot reinterpret God’s Law to fit our desires.

 

This we learned last week while studying divorce.

The Jews thought divorce was OK so long as it was done legally,

Jesus said, NO.

Divorce causes adultery and we already settled where adulterers go.

 

Well this morning we get to our fourth “You have heard, but I say sermon”

 

And based on the title, and the text that we just read

You quickly realize that the topic is integrity.

Jesus is confronting and exposing the heart of lying.

 

And regardless of how relevant you found the first three,

None of us can deny the absolute relevance of this concept.

 

Our society is not one known for integrity.

WE HAVE BEEN FORCED TO BECOME SKEPTICS.

 

Especially during times like today,

In which ELECTIONS are just around the corner.

 

Someone once asked, “How can you tell if a politician is lying?”

To which another person replied, “His lips are moving.”

 

But in reality we know lying runs deeper than just campaign promises.

• Just wait until the next time you get pulled over by the highway patrol.

• Just wait until you do your taxes.

• Just wait (young person) until your next test.

• Just wait until you give a report on your latest fishing trip

 

Deception is everywhere today,

So much so that some have suggested that if everyone

Were forced to tell the truth for a day that our society would collapse.

We know what it is to be lied to.

 

Well rest assured they understood it in Bible times as well.

 

David said:

Psalms 116:11 “I said in my alarm, “All men are liars.”

 

Jeremiah noticed:

Jeremiah 9:1-9 “Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. “They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD. “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. “Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, I will refine them and assay them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? “Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. “Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?”

 

Jeremiah wept because of the abundance of deception,

And God promised punishment on all those who do so.

 

Does anyone remember Ananias and Sapphira?

Acts 5:3-6 “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? “While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.”

 

And if you think that is severe,

Wait until you understand the eternal fate of those who lie.

 

Revelation 21:8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

 

Revelation 22:14-15 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

 

And so even though deception is prevalent,

We never come to the conclusion that it is OK.

And while we are on the subject can we just say for a moment why lying is so loathsome to God?

 

BECAUSE IT IS AGAINST THE VERY NATURE OF GOD.

 

1 John 1:5 “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

 

Titus 1:2 “… God, who cannot lie…”

 

God knows nothing of deception.

And so when a person deceives

They are clearly displaying a character unlike God’s.

 

WHOSE CHARACTER ARE THEY DISPLAYING?

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

 

Adrian Rogers used to say,

“You are never more like the devil than when you tell a lie.”

 

Lying is the absolute opposite of Godliness

And God hates it so much

That men are condemned to hell who participate in it.

 

Yet even though we know these things,

It is amazing how prevalent lying remains.

 

And that is why Jesus confronts it here in the Sermon on the Mount.

 

And so lets look at the 4th “You have heard, but I say” sermon.

ALL ABOUT INTEGRITY.

 

#1 THE OBSERVATION

Matthew 5:33

 

Jesus again begins the section with the observation

About what they have been taught.

 

“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’”

 

And here Jesus is actually quoting

From two separate passages in the Old Testament.

 

Two passages which have been conveniently taken out of context

And put together to make a much more enabling command.

 

Leviticus 19:12 “You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD.”

 

Numbers 30:2 “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

 

Now first let me tell you what the command meant.

 

The commands are clear.

“You shall not swear falsely by My name”

“If a man makes a vow to the LORD…he shall not violate his word”

 

The clear understanding of those commands is that

YOU ARE TO BE REAL WITH GOD.

You are not to be a hypocrite, you are not to be disingenuous.

 

Remember the 3rd Commandment?

Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.”

 

And people are still getting that command wrong.

 

If I were to give a test in here this morning that asked, what does that commandment mean?

 

Don’t use the word “G-D”

Others would say “Don’t cuss”

 

I am certainly not advocating those behaviors,

But that is not at all what is meant by that commandment.

To take God’s name in vain was to falsely take His name upon yourself.

 

It was to claim to be God’s child

And then to live in such a way as to deny Him.

Isaiah 1:1-4 “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks, “Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. “An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.” Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”

 

Today it would be seen as someone who claims to be a Christian,

But then lives their life in such disobedience

That they actually do God more harm than good.

 

This is what John indicated:

1 John 2:4 “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;”

 

And all these commands in which God gave in regard to vows

Were meant to tell Israel to be real.

 

If you claim to be Mine, if you claim to obey Me,

If you say you will follow Me

THEN DO IT.

 

THEY DEMAND THE INTEGRITY IN ITS FINEST FORM

KEEP YOUR WORD TO ME

 

And this concept of integrity is seen throughout the Old Testament.

 

Numbers 30:2 “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

 

Deuteronomy 23:21-23 “When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you. “However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. “You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the LORD your God, what you have promised.”

 

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”

 

And again you can see that all of those commands

Again reiterate that you are to be people of integrity.

 

Don’t tell God you will do something and then fail to do it.

And it doesn’t matter if it is something big or something small.

KEEP YOUR VOW TO GOD.

 

And Jesus recognizes that they have been told those commands.

 

However, He also recognizes that they are getting them wrong.

So let’s look at the next part of this sermon.

 

First – The Observation

#2 THE EXPLANATION

Matthew 5:34-36

 

I told you what the commands meant,

But now let me show you how they were re-interpreting them.

 

Jesus alludes to their misconception here.

We know based on verse 34 that they were making oaths “by heaven”

We know based on verse 35 that they were making oaths “by the earth”

We know based on verse 35 that they were making oaths “by Jerusalem”

We know based on verse 36 that they were making oaths “by [their] head”

And so we know their society had become a system of oath taking,

And one that included much more than honest oaths to God.

 

What was actually occurring in Israel’s day

Was a complete perversion of God’s command not to break a vow to Him.

 

Israel had actually gotten part of the command right.

• They knew you could not break a vow to God. (at least an external one)

• And they knew if you swore by God’s name you had to keep it.

 

However, they filled in the blanks to say

That every other vow could be broken.

 

In other words.

If you swear in God’s name, you have to keep it.

If you swear in any other name, you don’t have to keep it.

 

It was actually a system instituted to allow for lying.

 

And we see it occurring even in the New Testament.

Matthew 23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘ Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’”

 

And so it actually was a system designed to make it quite legal to lie.

 

And so the only time you could believe someone

Was if they told you something and then said, “I swear to God”.

 

IS THAT NOT WHAT WE SEE TODAY?

 

There is absolutely not punishment for lying in our society,

Unless you do it under oath, and then that is perjury.

All other lying is fine.

 

And that was exactly the mindset in Israel.

 

They had completely missed the point that God expected integrity

And reduced that command to say you could lie to anyone

So long as you didn’t do it under oath.

 

And that is why Jesus gives this explanation.

“But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by earth, for it is the footstool of the His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.”

 

Now some have missed the point of this to say.

ALL OATHS ARE WRONG.

But that can’t be true.

• The Old Testament clearly taught making vows or taking oaths.

• God certainly recognizes the marriage oath.

• Jesus even made vows.

 

Matthew 26:63-64 “But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, ” You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

 

Beyond that every time He said, “Truly, Truly” it was a form of vow.

 

• God Himself made vows.

Hebrews 6:13 “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,”

 

Acts 2:30 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,”

 

• Paul made oaths or vows.

Romans 9:1 “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,”

 

And so it is far-fetched to assume that all oath taking is wrong.

 

What Jesus is confronting is a person with such little integrity

That they are forced to take them to be believed.

 

And Jesus is saying you think

The only vow you don’t have to break is one to God.

But you don’t even have the authority to break other vows.

 

You can’t vow on heaven – “for it is the throne of God”

You can’t vow on earth – “for it is the footstool of His feet”

You can’t vow on Jerusalem – “for it is the city of the great king.”

You can’t even vow on your own head – “for you cannot make one hair black or white”

 

None of those things belong to you either.

And so you don’t have the authority to vow on them.

 

The point is not that taking a vow is wrong,

The problem is that breaking a vow is wrong.

 

You say not to break a vow in God’s name.

I say don’t break any vow,

And don’t live with such a lack of integrity

That you have to make a vow for someone to believe you.

 

BECAUSE YOU SEE, NOT KEEPING YOUR WORD IS LYING.

Telling someone you will do something and then failing to do it is lying.

Entering an agreement and then backing out is lying.

 

And we have already determined where liars are headed.

 

The Observation The Explanation

#3 THE APPLICATION

Matthew 5:37

 

The simple command is this:

“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’”

 

What does that mean?

James 5:12 “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.”

 

James said be a man of integrity.

When you give a “yes” then live a “yes”.

When you give a “no” then live a “no”.

 

And James said to do it this way

“so that you may not fall under judgment.”

 

Point being, if you don’t live up to that standard,

Then you are a liar and liars are judged.

 

And that is what Jesus means as well when He says,

“anything beyond these is of evil.”

 

It is another way of saying,

Failing to keep your yes or failing to keep your no,

Is just like the devil who is the father of lies.

 

Proverbs 6:12-15 “A worthless person, a wicked man, Is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers; Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife. Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.”

 

And so this morning we simply ask,

HOW IS MY INTEGRITY?

 

Am I honest in all that I do?

(taxes, with the highway patrol, etc.)

 

The honest truth is that we are all guilty of a lack of integrity

And the fact remains that any and all deception

Is eternal guilt before God.

And the only answer for our guilt is to run to Jesus

Who can make us righteous in God’s sight.

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

But there again, let me tell you

That you have to be honest when you do it.

 

Don’t make some vow to follow Christ that you never intend to keep.

Don’t take the name Christian upon yourself if you never intend to live it.

 

Jesus said:

Luke 9:61-62 “Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

If you determine to confess Christ today,

Then you must determine to obey Him for the rest of your life.

 

You can lie to me and tell me you want to be a Christian,

And you can fool me.

But if you lie to Him, He will know it.

 

This was the problem with Israel.

Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”

 

Jesus said:

Matthew 15:7-9 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

 

You see there have been many people,

Who under the pressure of hell and judgment will tell God anything.

 

But God isn’t just trying to get you to scream mercy.

God wants you to fully give your life to Him in honesty in truth.

 

And so this morning if you know you are lost,

Then make a decision to give your whole life to Christ

And to never flinch on that commitment.

 

If today you have made that commitment, let me challenge you to keep it.

 

Don’t be a Sunday morning only Christian.

If you said your life belongs to Christ, then keep your vow.

Live your life for Christ.

Anything else is a lack of integrity,

And all liars will be destroyed in hell,

Even those who lied about having a relationship with Him.

 

 

So this morning get real and get honest with Jesus.

 

Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

 

Divorce According to Jesus

Matthew 5:31-32

 

Well as you know we are presently studying the Sermon on the Mount,

And by now it is clear to all of us, the purpose in which Jesus preached it.

 

This was not a sermon on church growth strategy.

This was not a sermon meant to comfort.

This was a sermon meant to expose and condemn.

 

Jesus is taking the Law and expositing it for us.

Jesus is taking the Law and explaining it to us.

 

And because He is the most accurate and greatest preacher ever,

The conviction of the Law has hit us full force.

 

Paul said:

Romans 3:19-20 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

 

Romans 5:20a “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase;”

 

Romans 7:9 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;”

 

The Law came to convict.

The Law came to expose.

The Law came to condemn.

 

And so it only stands to reason that as the greatest preacher ever

Explains the Law to us, that is exactly what it has done.

 

In particularly these last two weeks,

Where we all learned that if we truly understand the Law,

Then we are all murderers and we are all adulterers.

 

That has been the point of these “You have heard…but I say sermons”

 

• Jesus is taking a gross misconception of the Law and correcting it.

• Jesus is taking the Law and clarifying it.

• Jesus is taking the Law and enforcing it.

 

In fact this is what He said He would do.

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. “

 

And He proved that by taking the Law to a level

Many of us had never even considered.

 

They were the “You have heard, but I say” sermons.

 

In the first two, we saw Jesus take two of the 10 commandments,

And reveal they were only looking at them from an external perspective,

 

And not looking at the righteousness that was intended by them.

 

They were murderers in heart as revealed by their anger.

They were adulterers in heart as revealed by their lust.

 

So Jesus added the Internal concept to those commands.

 

Jesus continues to do that here,

Only here it wasn’t so much a failure to internalize the command

As it was the issue of misinterpreting it.

 

This morning Jesus brings up the concept of divorce,

While it was another area the Jews thought themselves to be righteous,

Jesus reveals that they had again missed the point.

 

They had missed the point.

They had twisted the Scripture.

 

The first two were issues of a failure to fully apply the command.

This is an issue of changing the command to fit their sin.

 

WE SEE THAT TODAY AS WELL

 

PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DRINK

“Even Jesus turned water in to wine”

 

PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GET RICH

Quote verses about prosperity

 

PEOPLE WHO JUST WANT TO SIN

“Judge not lest ye be judged”

 

Our world is full of people who pick and choose verses of Scripture

To support or defend almost any action.

 

Even Satan used Scripture to convince Jesus to jump off of the temple.

 

Misinterpreting Scripture to satisfy your desires is nothing new.

And that is the issue Jesus is dealing with.

 

And the topic Jesus uses is DIVORCE

• Partly because divorce ties right in with adultery.

• Partly because divorce was so common.

• Partly because divorce made His point so well.

 

THAT BEING SAID

I realize that there are many topics that can be preached on

That are offensive to people, and this one may be top of the list.

 

It is no secret that the long arm of divorce has reached deep

Into our society, and in many cases even into our churches.

 

And for those in this place who instantly feel singled out

Because of a divorce in your past,

I want to address you for a moment.

 

This sermon is not meant to come down only on you,

As a means to beat you up for something in the past.

Our desire is not to treat the divorced as second class citizens

Or as the chiefs of all sinners.

 

But at the same time, the truth about divorce must be preached,

In order that others may avoid it,

And in some cases those who have unwarranted divorces

Can repent of past sin.

 

So if you are divorced, I am not trying to pick on you this morning,

But we cannot overlook the problem of divorce

Even though we run the risk of making some uncomfortable.

 

So this morning we listen to Jesus’ 3rd

“You have heard…but I say” sermon.

 

#1 THE OBSERVATION

Matthew 5:31

 

“It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’;”

 

And just to make sure we are on the same page,

You know that Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 24:1

 

And it is interesting that in regard to divorce

That this is the passage Jesus selected.

 

The fact that this was the prominent passage about divorce

Indicates that the people were not concerned about whether or not divorces occurred, but rather that they occur in the proper manner.

 

The verse they taught said nothing about the negative aspect of divorce,

But merely how to do it right.

 

It indicates that the people had come to believe

That divorce was acceptable.

 

And we know this is true based on a conversation

Jesus has later with the Pharisees.

Matthew 19:3-9 “Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

 

There it was the Pharisees who truly thought divorce was fine,

So long as you did it the proper way and gave the woman the papers.

 

They viewed sending the woman away without papers as the sin,

But there was nothing wrong with the divorce.

 

THE SAD THING IS THAT THIS MINDSET IS QUICKLY PERMEATING OUR CULTURE AS WELL.

 

Divorce has really become no big deal.

Some wish to avoid because of the financial implications,

But not because of it’s offense to God.

 

In fact some have come to see divorce as so inevitable

That many in our day have chosen simply to live with someone unmarried

So that when the time comes to split there is no messy paperwork.

 

And this is tragic.

 

Allow me for just a moment to remind you of what God has to say

About marriage and divorce.

 

First of all: MARRIAGE WAS CREATED BY GOD

Genesis 2:18-24 “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

 

God created marriage and said that it was good.

 

Later in the New Testament

Paul even identified false prophets as those who forbid it.

1 Timothy 4:1-3 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”

 

God created marriage and said it was good.

 

And then, when God introduced His law,

Two of the 10 commandments actually served to protect marriages.

 

Exodus 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.”

 

Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

 

And as far as divorce bringing and end to a marriage,

God couldn’t have been clearer as to what He thought.

 

Malachi 2:16 “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the LORD of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

 

In the New Testament it was Jesus saying:

Matthew 19:6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

 

And so we get a pretty good understanding

About God’s view of marriage and divorce.

 

God by nature is a God of covenant.

God keeps His promises.

And so to give your word and then to break your vow,

Is the absolute opposite of Godliness.

 

BUT DESPITE THE CLEAR TEACHING ON DIVORCE,

GOD’S PEOPLE HAD MISSED THE POINT.

 

And that is what Jesus is confronting here.

“It was said, ‘WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE’;”

 

LET’S LOOK AT THE PASSAGE JESUS IS QUOTING FROM.

 

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.”

 

WHAT IS THE LAW OF GOD TEACHING HERE?

 

It basically says, that if a man and wife are married,

And he finds some indecency in her, and he gives her divorce papers,

And sends her away, and she goes and marries another man,

Who finds the same problem, and he sends her away,

Then the first husband can’t have her back, because she has been defiled.

 

That passage is not teaching about the act of divorce,

But rather it is teaching that divorce causes adultery.

 

However, the Jews had been reinterpreting that verse to fit their desires.

 

They read into that passage that God was only concerned

That in their divorce that they be sure and give a certificate.

 

In fact, they even took the statement about “finds indecency in her”

And found grounds for any and all divorces.

 

What does this indecency mean?

 

“Indecency” translates Er-vaw in the Hebrew.

It is the same word for when Noah’s son looked upon his nakedness.

 

It had to do with a promiscuous woman.

A woman who was embarrassing to her husband

Because of improper, shameful, or indecent behavior.

 

WE KNOW HOWEVER, THAT IT DIDN’T MEAN ADULTERY,

Because death was the penalty for adultery,

Even during the engagement period.

 

Leviticus 20:10 “If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

 

And so obviously we are talking about a woman who embarrasses you.

 

And in that passage, God was not saying

You could send a woman away for embarrassing you,

He was merely pointing out that that is why most women

Were being sent away, and this was causing adultery.

 

In fact in Jesus day men were divorcing their wives

For things as simple as burning the toast or not folding the socks right.

 

HOW RELEVANT IS THAT TODAY.

 

We live in a nation that has been plagued by divorce.

We all know about the 50% of all marriages end in divorce

 

NAMELY BECAUSE WE HAVE GROWN TO VIEW DIVORCE

LIKE THEY DID IN JESUS DAY.

 

Any reason at all is a good enough reason to get a divorce,

 

As long as we right a certificate of divorce,

Or in other words, make it legal.

 

And that was Jesus’ observation.

You think that divorce is ok for any reason, so long as you make it legal.

 

The Observation

#2 THE EXPLANATION

Matthew 5:32

 

Jesus here is teaching that very same truth that the Old Testament taught.

That Divorce causes adultery.

 

“but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

 

Notice Jesus simply spoke of two ways in which divorce causes adultery.

1) Divorcing your wife causes it

2) Marrying a divorced woman causes it

 

HOW?

It is NOT that if you are a woman and your husband divorces you,

Then you are instantly an adulteress.

 

However, you are now on the open market,

And the temptation is to go ahead and get remarried, and that is adultery.

 

WHY?

Because with God covenants are for life.

And just because the state of Texas may recognize your divorce,

That doesn’t mean that God does.

 

And in His eyes, even though you think you are free to remarry,

He sees what you are doing as adultery.

 

Let me give you an example.

TURN TO: GENESIS 20:1-7

Abraham almost caused adultery by sending his wife away.

 

And that is also true for the flip side.

 

A man sees a divorced woman and assumes she is now free to marry,

And because it is legal in our world, he does so.

 

And God sees it as him sleeping with another man’s wife.

 

It is adultery.

(And we learned last week the penalty for adultery)

 

Now we do want to be fair.

Jesus did say, “except for unchastity”

 

“unchastity” translatess “PORNEA”

It is where we get our term pornography.

It means, “illicit sexual intercourse”

 

That is the only reason Jesus gives that permits a person to get a divorce.

Why?

 

BECAUSE THE COVENANT HAS ALREADY BEEN BROKEN.

 

Marriage is a covenant in which God commanded two people

To honor it for the rest of their lives.

 

However, if one of the two breaks that covenant,

God does not hold the innocent part responsible, and He allows divorce.

 

BUT EVEN IN THAT, please know that adultery does not require divorce, you can forge a new covenant with them, it merely permits it.

 

I Corinthians 7:10-11 “But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.”

 

And in the mode of still being fair.

There is a second reason given in Scripture that permits a divorce.

 

I Corinthians 7:12-16 “But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?”

 

If that unbelieving spouse wants to leave, let them leave.

Why is this so?

 

An adulterer was allowed to leave,

Because the covenant had already been broken.

A NON-BELIEVER COULD LEAVE,

BECAUSE IN GOD’S EYES THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A COVENANT.

 

2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

 

There is not a covenant there between believers and non-believers.

There is nothing there to mix, just as you can’t join light and darkness.

 

This is one of the few times divorce was ever commanded in Scripture.

Ezra 10:1-4 “Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly. Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam , said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you; be courageous and act.”

 

Because of this verse,

One could argue it is commanded to divorce non-believers.

Paul teaches us otherwise.

 

There are two reasons Scripture permits a divorce to take place.

One is adultery.

The second is being unequally yoked.

 

Beyond that, God sees marriage as a covenant relationship,

And when a divorce takes place, we are encouraging adultery,

Because we are basically putting our spouse on the open market.

 

This is exactly what was going on in Israel in Jesus day.

 

And now even though Israel was filled with state recognized marriages, Jesus saw Israel full of adultery.

By reason of all the divorce and remarriage, Israel was an adulterous land.

DIVORCE CAUSES ADULTERY

 

Now, suppose I’m here and I’ve been divorced and remarried.

Suppose I married a divorced woman.

 

WHAT DO I DO?

 

Do I end this new marriage?

No – Paul’s command to the married is that they stay married.

 

(But repentance may indeed be in order, and forgiveness through Jesus)

 

YOU SEE, THAT IS JESUS POINT

 

You think that because you gave your wife a paper

When you sent her away, and because the state recognized it,

That you are fine.

 

YOU ARE NOT!

You offended God, and as a result you are not righteous.

No more so than the heart murderers

No more so than the heart adulterers

 

And you need the forgiveness that only Jesus can provide.

 

Just because society says something is ok,

Doesn’t mean God says it is ok.

And if you have offended Him, you must seek His forgiveness.

 

And this is a forgiveness found only in Jesus.

 

• So this morning, if you have never cried out to Jesus, I encourage you to do so. GIVE YOUR LIFE TO HIM.

 

• This morning, if you have submitted your life to Him, then by all means LIVE LIKE IT, and don’t do anything that would offend Him.

 

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

Christ died to make you righteous.

SO BE RIGHTEOUS