In chapter 5 we have Jesus' first recorded
sermon.
We know it as the Sermon on the
Mount.
And the Mount was where Jesus left the
crowds to teach his disciples.
So this instruction is for followers of Jesus.
If you're a follower of Jesus, pay attention.
Now, in Judaism at the time of Christ,
the Jewish nation was run by the Pharisees
and the scribes and the Sadducees.
The Pharisees spent their whole lives trying to
keep the most minute portions of the law.
The law would refer to the law of
Moses, known to us in general as the
Ten Commandments.
But they had created literally hundreds of rules
to keep those commandments.
As a result, they were perfectionists in religious
law.
But there was a problem with their heart.
How many of you know you can be
religious but still have a problem in your
heart?
So Jesus is going to be dealing with
six issues of the law and show that
what the Pharisees were teaching was not what
God intended.
In verse 20, we read, For I say
to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
In verse 20, we read, For I say
to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will
by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
You see, the problem with the Pharisees is
their righteousness was all outward.
But their hearts and their attitudes were rotten.
How quickly they sought to kill Jesus because
of his popularity with the people.
So Jesus is going to be dealing with
what true righteousness is.
And it's not just outward show, but a
matter of your heart.
Now in those days, the common people did
not have the scriptures.
They basically learned the word from the Pharisees
and the scribes.
Realmente lo que hacían es que aprendían la
ley, las escrituras de los fariseos y de
los escribas.
Lo que Jesucristo va a hacer es que
les va a decir lo que escucharon, pero
después le va a decir lo que realmente
Dios trató.
Vimos tres de estos la semana pasada.
And I want to summarize the first couple
of them.
The first thing that they heard was that
you shall not murder and whoever murders will
be in danger of judgment.
And it's true, the law did teach that.
But Jesus said the problem is with the
heart.
Because he says, I say to you that
whoever is angry with his brother without a
cause shall be in danger of judgment.
It is anger towards a person that leads
to murder.
It starts in your heart.
So we should all understand that.
Be careful of anger.
If anger is brewing inside you, it's going
to lead to danger.
God calls us to forgive one another.
If you allow bitterness to stay in your
heart.
In God's eyes, it's the same as murder.
In God's eyes, it's the same as death.
And in verse 23 he says to them,
therefore, if you bring your offering to the
altar and you remember that your brother has
something against you.
What he says to them is that first
go and settle things with your brother and
then come and bring your offering to the
altar.
Jesus sees it more practical, in his estimation,
to settle the problems you have with your
brother than to bring your offering to the
altar.
Instead of saying, nope, I'm not going to
do anything until they come to me.
Because they were wrong.
So I'm not going to forgive them until
they say they're sorry.
No, Jesus says you take the initiative.
You make things right with your fellow man
and then you can make things right with
God.
Because if you allow bitterness to remain in
your heart, you're not going to get close
to God.
So go first.
Verse 25, he says, agree with your adversary
quickly while you are on the way with
him.
Lest your adversary deliver you to the judge,
the judge hand you over to the officer,
and you're thrown in prison.
Assuredly, I say to you, you'll by no
means get out of there until you have
paid the last penny.
Seek to make peace quickly and settle your
differences.
Learn to apologize quickly and do your best
to make things right.
Little issues tend to grow into huge crises
if not dealt with quickly.
And stubborn pride can so complicate and confuse
circumstances that you end up with no way
out.
So if you have a problem with someone,
go to them.
And go humbly.
And you initiate the restoration.
And you watch God bless.
Now the next issue.
And I'll let Roberto just read it in
Spanish for time's sake and we can follow
along in our Bibles in English.
Verses 27 and 28.
So, the Lord is saying, you shall not
commit adultery.
That's what the law says.
But I say to you, if you've got
lust in your heart, if you look at
a woman to lust, you've already committed adultery
with her.
Again, can you see that the issue isn't
only what you're doing outwardly.
The Pharisees were priding themselves in not committing
adultery physically.
However, we'll see in the next few verses
regarding their attitude towards divorce, that they looked
at divorce very shallow.
So if they got tired of their wife
for any reason and lusted after another woman,
they could just divorce her and go after
the other woman.
Lo que ellos hacían es que si tenían
a su esposa y se cansaban de ella,
o les gustaba alguna otra, la dejaban y
se iban con la que les gustaba.
Jesus calls that sin.
Now, since Jesus considers adultery in the heart
a sin.
We know what we think about and what
we allow our heart to rest on is
based on choice.
Lo que pensamos o lo que dejamos que
esté en nuestro corazón está basado en un...
Based on choice.
Well, let me rephrase it.
What you think about is a choice.
What you allow your mind to go over
and over is a choice you make.
Lo que tú permites que tu mente esté
pensando y pensando es una opción que tú
tienes.
Now, in that day, as well as today,
many believe that they have no choice and
therefore no responsibility for what they think about.
But this contradicts the clear teaching of Jesus
here.
We may not be able to control passing
thoughts and feelings, but we certainly do decide
where our heart and mind will rest.
So I may be tempted, but I have
the choice of whether to fix on that
temptation.
Therefore, I do have the power, through Jesus
in me, to fix my mind on Him
and not allow anything that would be embarrassing
Him.
Jesus takes this so seriously that He gives
them a radical example here.
On how serious sin is.
How devastating sin is.
He says in verse 29, I'm going to
read this in English.
If your right hand causes you to sin,
pluck it out and cast it from you.
And if your right hand causes you to
sin, cut it off and cast it from
you.
For it's more profitable for you that one
of your members perish than for your whole
body to be cast into hell.
What is Jesus saying here?
Is He telling us to poke out our
eyes and cut off our hands?
If I poke out my eye, my right
eye, I still got my left eye.
If I cut off my right hand, I
still have my left hand.
If I poke out both eyes and cut
off both hands, I still have my heart.
So what's Jesus saying?
Jesus is commanding us to deal drastically with
sin.
Jesus is telling us to remove from our
lives anything that would pamper wrong desires.
Jesus simply stresses the point that one must
be willing to sacrifice to be obedient.
If part of our life is given over
to sin, we must be convinced that it
is more profitable for that part of our
life to die rather than
to condemn our whole life.
We have to be willing to sacrifice to
be obedient.
As you grow in the Lord, you understand
sin.
As you read through God's Word and understand
God's heart, you realize what is pleasing to
God and what is not pleasing to God.
And we make a choice to please God
or to please ourselves.
Am I willing to sacrifice the things that
please me to honor God?
That's the bottom line.
Jesus said, if anyone comes after me, let
him deny himself.
Let him take up his cross and follow
me.
The cross is not just a piece of
jewelry.
It was an instrument of death.
So Jesus says, if you're going to follow
me, are you willing to die to those
things that would come between you and me?
And I want to say, yes, Lord.
I don't want anything to come between me
and the Lord.
Now, we can get caught up with just
looking at what we should not do and
not really have victory.
If I'm told, don't do this, don't do
that, then I think more about this and
that.
Amen?
But when I fix my mind on Jesus
and I direct my heart to be pleasing
to God, then the things of earth grow
dim.
That's very important to understand in this section.
It's not just what you don't do, but
it's what you do.
To resist the lusts of the flesh is
to choose to follow Jesus and to keep
our minds fixed on eternity.
This world is not our home.
We know that our time is short.
And in not too many months or years,
we're going to be out of here.
And then all eternity awaits, making our lifetime
here just like a...
I'm not going to do that.
So I want to be focusing the time
I have here on who I'm going to
be with for all eternity.
So love the Lord, your God, with all
your heart and soul and mind and strength.
Hunger and thirst after righteousness.
And then we can sing that old hymn
by Isaac Walker Love so amazing, so
divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.
Now he moves to the next issue.
In verse 31.
Furthermore, it's been said, whoever divorces his wife,
let him give her a certificate of divorce.
But I say to you that whoever divorces
his wife for any reason except sexual immorality
causes her to commit adultery.
And whoever marries a woman who is divorced
commits adultery.
Basically, the Pharisees were divided into two camps.
There were two rabbis that they followed.
One was named Shammai and the other was
Hillel.
Now those who followed Shammai were very conservative.
They said that on the basis of Deuteronomy,
Deuteronomy 24.
Divorce could be granted only in the case
of uncleanness.
Which they interpreted to be sexual immorality or
adultery.
The followers of Hillel were very liberal.
They said uncleanness is much broader than simply
adultery or immorality.
If a woman, for example, put too much
salt and pepper on her huevos rancheros.
And that made him lose his virginity.
Lose his temper.
She had made him sin and therefore was
unclean.
A legitimate reason for divorce.
They also said if a man saw a
woman who was more righteous or more virtuous
than his wife.
Then he had the right to divorce her
because she was now unclean by comparison.
The followers of Shammai said a written bill
of divorce must be given.
That took a little time.
Not everybody could write.
You had to seek out a scribe.
In other words, you had to give it
time.
However, the followers of Hillel said that all
that was required was for the husband to
look at his wife and say I divorce
you three times.
We laugh, but that's a lot like today.
Divorce was occurring for the most frivolous reasons.
So Jesus sides more with the school of
Shammai here.
And he said that fornication is the only
reason for divorce.
Notice he does not say those who remarry
following a divorce will live in constant adultery.
The wording in the Greek is very clear
on that.
The verse does not say or imply that
if a person divorces and remarries he or
she will live in adultery.
I like what John Corson had to say
on this.
He said if divorce and remarriage occur you
have missed the best.
God's best is that there is one man
for one woman until death separates them.
That was God's intent for marriage.
God's best is that marriage be redeemed and
restored.
And if that doesn't happen you miss the
best.
You miss the mark.
Now I have to ask you a question.
In the cases where divorce has occurred is
there redemption?
Is there forgiveness?
Yes there is.
God forbid that we should say all manner
of sin is forgiven you except for one,
divorce.
Is that what Jesus said?
No he didn't.
What Jesus said was all manner of sin
is forgiven you except the blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit.
Every kind of sin you can imagine can
be forgiven you except the blasphemy of the
Holy Spirit.
And what is the blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit?
Very simply the rejection of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit came to bear witness of
Jesus.
If you die without ever responding to the
witness of the Spirit of Jesus if you
die without having Jesus Christ without the Holy
Spirit bearing witness of Jesus Christ you go
into eternity without Christ.
It is very
sad to see how the Church today has
taken the role of making people feel bad
for the people who have divorced as if
they were lepers or alone.
The truth is we are all sinners.
We have all missed the mark.
Look around you and you will see a
murderer sitting next to you and a bunch
of adulterers in front and behind you.
We are all sinners and we all need
a Savior.
And Jesus Christ forgives us adulterers and murderers
and divorced people.
That is the good news.
Now does that mean we march merrily on
to greater sin?
If you do you are missing the whole
point.
If you are an unwise individual go ahead,
continue on in sin and keep hurting yourself
and your kids and your family.
Those who are wise know that sin hurts
and they learn to stay away from it.
Jesus also said here that divorce is not
permissible except for unfaithfulness.
Now this does not mean that divorce should
automatically occur when a spouse is unfaithful.
The word translated unfaithfulness implies a sexually immoral
lifestyle.
It does not speak about a confessed and
repented act of adultery.
Those who discover that their partner has been
unfaithful what should they do?
Should they say you are out of here?
Or should they make every effort to forgive
and reconcile and restore the relationship?
Most of us would probably say you are
out of here.
How dare you?
You made a commitment to me and you
broke it.
And I hereby break my commitment to you.
Is that the way of Jesus?
Jesus forgave me of all my sins.
34 years ago 34 years ago I asked
Jesus to forgive me, come into my life
make me a new person.
And he said muy bien, ok.
He said ok.
He forgave me.
Now a few days later I sinned.
I can't tell you exactly what it was
but I know I did.
And Jesus didn't come to me and say
you are out of here.
No more.
But rather he continued to forgive me.
And he continued to love me.
And I didn't mess up just once.
Many many times.
And the Lord was faithful to forgive and
to cleanse.
And I am so grateful to this day
that he didn't kick me out of his
kingdom.
Unfaithfulness is horrible.
It just breaks the heart and we broke
the Lord's heart.
And so we depend upon his grace and
his love to forgive.
That's the way of the cross.
We are always to look for reasons to
restore the marriage relationship rather than for excuses
to leave it.
We have people calling us from time to
time who have experienced this.
And they are very angry and deeply hurt.
And humanly it's very hard to say you
need to forgive them.
But we know that God is not finished
in any relationship.
And we want to keep the door open
for God to work.
And that's where we need to lead people.
So just because someone may have the grounds
for divorce that doesn't mean that you divorce
them.
Now that may happen and if it does
happen because of uncleanliness, because of fornication, because
of adultery, it's legal.
God recognizes it.
And the other person is free to remarry.
But we have to ask is it God's
best way?
Or is there something more that God might
do miraculously in that situation?
And frankly the fact that I would be
forgiven of my sin is a miracle.
And that God would still love me and
tell me that I'm his own.
It's beyond me.
And so I want to be a vessel
of love.
And I know all of the pastors here
want to continually encourage people to love.
That will always be our counsel.
Exercise every option possible.
Seek as much help as you can to
restore what was broken.
And thereby glorify God.
Again, this is a matter of the heart.
The Pharisees just let anything cause a divorce.
And Jesus says that's not the intent of
the law.
Now he moves to another issue if we
can move on.
By the way, we'll deal with this more
in depth when we get to chapter 19.
Okay?
So just don't hold your breath, but we
will be there.
The fourth issue that he deals with has
to do with what you say.
Now he says, you've heard that it was
said to those of old you shall not
swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths
to the Lord.
But Jesus says, don't swear at all.
Don't swear by heaven or by Jerusalem.
Nor shall you swear by your head because
you can't make one hair white or black.
But let your si be si and your
no be no.
For whatever is more than that is of
the evil one.
What's he saying here?
You shouldn't have to take an oath to
affirm what you are saying is true.
Quiere decir que no tenemos que entrar en
un juramento para decir que lo que, para
asegurar o afirmar lo que estamos diciendo es
pecado.
Que tu seas conocido como una persona que
da su palabra.
Que mantienes tu palabra.
Solamente aquellos que no guardan su palabra son
los que tienen que dar juramentos todo el
tiempo.
Te juro.
I swear on a stack of bibles.
If we tell the truth all the time
we will have less pressure to back up
our words with an oath or a promise.
When somebody always says, I promise, I promise.
It usually means they are always breaking their
promise.
And they are trying to impress you with
their enthusiasm.
Let your words be yes or no.
In other words, your words should always carry
accountability.
You should be able to back up with
truth any fact that you give.
One of the things that I've noticed in
church life and Pastor Roberto has noticed this
and so has Mark and Richard that sometimes
people don't agree with you.
Or they don't agree with how the church
is being run.
And so we'll get little notes sent to
us without a signature usually criticizing something that's
going on in the church.
Now let me say criticism is acceptable.
We want to be open for criticism.
But if you are going to criticize do
so with open discourse and accountability.
Not hit and run.
Sign your letters because when you put your
name on it now we have accountability.
Because what we do with unsigned letters lo
rompemos y lo tiramos a la basura.
So if you want a response, put your
name on it.
And we're not going to kick you out
of the church because you dared to question
God's anointed.
But we want to resolve issues.
And frankly there's a lot that we can
learn.
But we want to talk about it with
mutual accountability.
You understand?
Please.
Por favor.
I don't know if I have time for
this.
I want to give just a short example.
A couple months ago after the tsunami hit
I was sharing a message in Revelation on
judgment and at the end of the message
I made a comment about relief efforts in
Southeast Asia.
And I said that it was mostly Christian
agencies that were responding to the needs there.
Because the religious system of the area is
not intent on meeting needs.
In other words if something bad happens to
you I said it's bad karma.
And you can't change karma.
Now I made that comment it was about
30 seconds of my message.
Some guy from down in San Diego was
watching the broadcast that night.
He never watched it before.
And he tuned in right about that time
where I was saying that.
And he had friends in Indonesia who were
Buddhists and Hare Krishnas.
And so he wrote me a letter and
said you Christians always judging.
You're just like all the rest of them.
I know for a fact.
All of this.
And then he signed his name and left
his email address.
So I felt obligated to contact him.
And I let him know that I didn't
want any reproach to be made on the
name of Jesus.
And that I would review that particular message
and if necessary to make a correction or
to apologize I would do so.
Now at the time I didn't know what
he was talking about.
I listened to the whole message and it
was 30 seconds at the end of it.
But sure enough I was at home listening
to it and then I called Joyce in
and said listen to this.
And Joyce said you said that?
Yeah listen to it slow.
And she said I know why he would
say that.
So I wrote him back.
And I apologized.
And I said I didn't really research this
out.
And furthermore I'm pulling that tape from further
media distribution.
And I apologize.
He wrote me back.
And he said Pastor I'm the one that
needs to apologize.
I wasn't raised this way to criticize as
I did.
Please forgive me.
Perhaps we both learned from this incident.
Now I don't know about you but I
had a warm fuzzy at the end of
that encounter.
Because I learned something and because he put
his name on it we had the opportunity
for discourse.
And the guy wasn't a Christian.
But we left the discussion with a much
different view of what an individual Christian does.
And I prayed for the brother.
I pray he comes to know the Lord.
So sign your name sign your letters.
But your yes be yes your no be
no.
Now the next issue, the fifth issue you've
heard it said an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth.
You knock out my tooth I knock your
tooth out.
You hit me in the head I hit
you in the head.
And under the civic law at that time
that's the way it was.
But they were teaching that this was an
obligation you had to do it.
They were teaching there was no room for
mercy.
But Jesus said blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are the merciful.
The law was never meant to be a
guide for personal revenge.
It was given to limit vengeance.
So he says to them I tell you
not to resist an evil person.
Whoever smacks you on your right cheek turn
the other one to him also.
Does that go against our grain?
Our initial reaction somebody insults me, smacks me
there's something about my flesh that goes Muy
malo.
Very bad.
If anyone wants to sue you and take
away your tunic let him have your cloak
also.
Now in those days the land of Israel
was under Roman rule.
And so if a Roman soldier said I
want you to carry my spear and my
shield he could conscript you to do that
right there and you had to do it.
So if he says I want you to
carry this for a mile and you get
to the end of the mile and you
turn to him and say could I carry
another one?
It doesn't say this in the Greek but
it's implied you'll blow his mind.
So give to him who asks you and
from him who wants to borrow from you
do not turn away.
What a wise, potent and practical insight this
is about life.
You control the situation when you don't fight
back.
Somebody hits you in anger you hit them
back in anger you both have sinned.
You control the situation when you don't fight
back.
I said that already, don't repeat that.
It opens the door for God to work
in the situation.
When you respond in a wise way it
opens the door for God to work in
that situation.
Our desire should be to love and forgive
not to keep score.
This takes a dependency and trust and surrender
to God so that my actions and words
and thoughts would be pleasing to him.
And it takes supernatural strength that only God
can give.
In myself in my own emotions I can't
love that way.
My buttons can get pushed and my limit
of love with my own ability is passed.
So I need supernatural love to get passed
that.
And that supernatural love is given me through
Jesus Christ.
Jesus is also dealing with our attitude towards
our possessions.
Many are very possessive.
They are bound by their possessions and they
can't let go of anything.
Are you entangled by your material possessions to
the point that it destroys you?
To the point that it destroys you if
you lose something?
God has blessed us with many things.
He wants us to be sure that those
things don't possess us though.
We are a blessed people.
We have so many material goods.
Jesus is not saying don't have any material
goods.
Just don't let the material goods possess you.
Just don't let the material possessions possess you.
Because all that you have is a gift.
Everything you own is on loan to you
from God.
And you can't take it with you when
you die anyway.
You gotta leave it to your kids and
Lord knows what they're gonna do with it.
So have a light hold on things.
If God has blessed you bless others.
If you see someone in need and you
have something that can help them go ahead
and help them.
And we have people in need around us
all the time.
This is just simple sound counsel from the
Lord.
The last issue before the carne asada verse
43 you have heard that it was said
you shall love your neighbor and hate your
enemy.
The problem is it doesn't say that in
the scripture anywhere.
Back in Deuteronomy 23 Moses was dealing with
the Ammonites and the Moabites and they were
enemies of Israel but he simply said they
shall not enter the congregation of the Lord
even unto the tenth generation but he didn't
tell them to hate them you see the
people of Jesus' day were being taught to
love every neighbor that was a Jew but
hate every non-Jew sometimes we see that
in the church we love the Christians but
we hate the heathen where is that in
the bible?
we are called to love and let our
light shine that many more would come to
Christ so Jesus said I say to you
love your enemies bless those who curse you
do good to those who hate you and
pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you John Corson said always love and
forgive your enemies nothing will annoy them quite
so much that you may be sons of
your father in heaven and he makes his
son rise on the evil and the good
and sends rain on the just and the
unjust you know there is a secret here
if you pray for your enemies for the
people who bug you the most you will
experience power in your life and an ability
to love them that will blow you away
because when you pray for your enemies two
things happen they change and you change it
might take some time but slowly yet surely
you will see a change if I am
praying for Roberto and you are not my
enemy but if I pray for Roberto every
day something happens I become involved with him
and interested in him as I pray for
him there is a linkage established through prayer
as you pray for your enemy guess what
happens he won't be your enemy for very
long because you will find yourself interested in
how he is doing and curious about how
your prayers are being answered this is practical
advice you keep the situation in control when
you don't lose your temper and you make
the way for God to be glorified when
you pray for God's blessing on your enemy
so when the person who bugs you the
most comes down on you look at him
and say the Lord bless you the Lord
be with you the Lord make his face
to shine upon you and give you peace
and that will blow his mind but God
says pronounce blessing upon him do good to
him, pray for him and what a radical
difference that makes now please not just your
enemies your enemies outside but this applies to
those that are closest to you your spouse
your parents your children are you praying for
them or are you just complaining about them
my husband never does this my wife always
does that those kids it's easy to complain
it takes faith to pray make us a
people of faith so if you love those
who love you what reward do you have
don't even the tax collectors do the same
and if you greet your brethren only what
do you do more than others what's Jesus
saying he wants us to go higher he
wants us to reach out to those who
are unlovely who we're not comfortable with the
church is not meant to be a bless
me club we're to be a light in
our community and go out but that means
we have to mix with people who are
different than us but that's the way of
the cross Jesus who is perfect mixed with
me and you and how many of your
lives have been changed because of that glory
of God let's keep on with it and
he says therefore you shall be perfect just
as your father in heaven is perfect we
all need the strength and help of God
to be what God wants us to be
amen none of us can be perfect as
he is but we must not lose sight
of God's standard and continually be dependent upon
the Lord may our inner attitudes may the
matters of our heart look more like Jesus
every day in the sermon on the mount
you have practical counsel that can bless you
every day let's have the worship team come
on back out if you need prayer this
morning if you know your heart is not
right before God if you've been dealing with
issues of anger or impurity or
hatred God wants to minister to you his
healing and he wants to restore you and
the pastors will be down here in the
front after the service to pray with any
of you that have need if you need
to open your heart to Christ today Christ
is knocking on the door of your heart
and you can open that door today and
his light will shine in the darkness and
you'll never be the same are we grateful
for Jesus' counsel?
we will get even more into it in
chapter 6 next week read ahead and ask
God to show you where your heart needs
to change where you need to be more
like Jesus amen?
let's stand together