You Have Heard That It Was Said (Part 1) (Matthew 5:21-32, Deuteronomy 7:12-26)
Rev. William L. Barron, October 8, 2023Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
The Pharisees constructed their system of laws into a code that they could keep and claim righteousness before God. Regarding the 6th commandment, "You shall not murder," Jesus taught that this prohibition also covered angry, insulting epithets aimed at another person, such as fool or stupid. Psalm 14 uses the same Hebrew word for fool meaning one who denies the existence of God. Apart from God, no wisdom is possible. Foolish hearts are darkened. Biblically, a fool is the same as a heathen. Insulting someone is more serious than we think in God's eyes. Words can hurt and damage, although casting insults carry lesser consequences than killing someone. The 6th commandment is connected to the sanctity of human life created in the image of God, from conception through old age. The 7th commandment condemns adultery. Biblically, the only grounds for divorce are adultery or desertion. Jesus taught that lustful thoughts are a transgression against the 7th commandment. Although lust is not equal to adultery in its consequences of punishment, it still brings guilt upon the sinner. Jesus uses hyperbolic language to emphasize the seriousness of sexual sin. We must do whatever it takes to win the battle against sin. God knows our innermost thoughts, including lust. We must submit ourselves to God. Jesus came to give His life for us. We are to be ambassadors for Christ, living peaceably and being reconciled with each other. We must watch what we are doing to be pure in heart. The legalistic law-keeping of the Pharisees is dangerous, as is the self-worship we see in our own time. Salvation is only possible in Christ.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Jesus, The Law And The Christian | None | You Have Heard That It Was Said (Part 2) » |
Matthew 5:21–32 (Listen)
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
(ESV)
Deuteronomy 7:12–26 (Listen)
12 “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. 15 And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. 16 And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
17 “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, 19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. 21 You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. 22 The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. 23 But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them. 25 The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
(ESV)