You Have Head, But Jesus Says!
Notes
Transcript
Sermon on Mount
Sermon on Mount
We are continuing in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, and still looking at these phrases that Jesus shares, you have heard, as He teaches points from the law but expands on them.
We have seen how murder is more than an act; it is also when we have anger in our hearts for a brother or sister.
We also saw last week that there is more to adultery than the act, the lust of looking at a person, but we must also take sin seriously and remove temptations before we fall into that sin.
This morning we will look at three points that Jesus brings up. He states you have heard what was said. These are not from the Ten Commandments but from the rest of the Mosaic Law, and once again, Jesus expands on them.
We will look at Matthew 5:33-48 this morning as we look at these old sayings, “You Have Heard, but Jesus Says,” while we look at these three points Jesus makes in our text this morning.
We will do it differently this morning, look at each text group, and break it down before we move to the next group.
33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
34 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,
35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36 “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37 “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
Prayer
I. Yes or No
I. Yes or No
Here, Jesus again takes a saying from the Law and says it should be taken further than that.
We see it in the original Law in Leviticus.
12 ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
The original Law says you shall not make false vows, do not break an oath, or make an oath or a promise you cannot keep.
Jesus says, let’s take that a little further. Don’t even swear; make an oath, a promise by heaven, because that is where the throne of God the Father is.
Do not do it by the earth because that is the footstool of God, or even by Jerusalem as it is the city of the great King, Jesus Himself.
He even says by the hair on your head because you cannot make the hair on your head white or black, and that is without hair dye women.
He then says let your yes, yes, or no, no; anything beyond these is evil.
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.
We must be people of our word, especially when it comes to our communication with God. If we tell God we will do something, we better do it, as He will hold us accountable.
Even so, we need to be people of our word no matter whom we are talking to; if we say we will do something, we must do it.
II. Eye for Eye.
II. Eye for Eye.
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
39 “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
40 “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
41 “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
42 “Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
Here we see the next old saying, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth which comes from the Old Testament Law found in Exodus.
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.
21 “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
There we see some different places where the Jewish people had interpreted that specific Law, but it is all the same.
Once again, Jesus says let’s take it a bit further than just an eye for an eye; Jesus says, do not resist an evil person.
Hold up a minute; Jesus is telling us not to resist the evil person; whoever slaps you on the right cheek, also turn the other to him.
Now Jesus is saying do not resist this evil person that slaps you on the right cheek, but turn the other cheek to him, that is, do not bring vengeance or do not seek to return evil to him.
Now growing up, my father did not believe in fighting; I do not care what the reason was; he did not believe in it.
Man, I would have a hard time standing there with someone slapping me in the cheek, then turn and say here is the other one, and not retaliate.
At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 5:9
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Jesus continues in verse 40 there that if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let them take your coat also.
Whatever the person wants, give them more than they want.
7 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?
Paul is saying that if you are being sued, you are not very Christ-like anyways because you did not turn the other cheek; you did not give them the coat when they asked for the shirt.
Jesus then says if someone forces you to go a mile with them, go two miles, give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow.
11 “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.’
We are told throughout, not just in the Old or New Testament, to help those in need, and as Christ-followers, we are to be people helping those genuinely in need.
In Luke 6, what is considered Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain, a very similar sermon to that of the Sermon on the Mount found here in Matthew, Jesus speaks on a similar subject with a little more detail.
34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.
Jesus is saying that even sinners will help those they expect a return from; as Christians, we should not expect anything in return but help from the goodness of our hearts, out of the love of Christ in us.
III. Love Your Enemies.
III. Love Your Enemies.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
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.
46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 “If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
You have heard, love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.
Leviticus 19:18 (NASB95)
18 but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
Jesus says, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Now when Jesus takes it further, He does not make it easy, does He? He makes it difficult, doesn’t He?
I mean, who finds it easy to love their enemy, I do not mean talking to a friend and saying yea, that person, so and so that hurt me badly, I love them, but I mean showing them love.
20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
If you love those that love you, what reward is that to you? Jesus says even the tax collectors and the sinners do the same.
It is easy to love those that already love you, but God has called us to love all people, that includes our enemies.
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
We first must love God with all we are, and once we start to do that, we can begin to love our neighbors as ourselves, like Jesus has commanded us to do.
Our neighbors are not the people next door or across the street but those we meet daily.
Jesus closes this Sermon on the Mount section with a critical and pointed verse.
48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
There are multiple places throughout the Bible where we as Christians have been told that we are to be Holy, and Jesus uses the word perfect here means to come to completion or wholeness.
2 “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
13 “You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.
When I read this verse, it hit me hard; Monday night, some of us went to McBride church with the choir as they sang for their revival, the preacher preached on what happens when Jesus is in the house, and having the presence of God, Jesus in your life.
Tuesday night, I went to Little Horse Creek for the men’s Conference, and wow, they had some of the best BBQ brisket I have ever eaten, but the message Brother Russel preached was on Holiness and how we need to get back to holiness.
Through those two messages, God spoke to my heart and has spoken to me ever since.
Again, I read verse 48, and God reminded me that this country needs a cleansing; we need to examine our individual lives.
He is starting to work through this verse 48 and preparing for next week and the weeks ahead, I mentioned the last conference or the one before about a fall revival, and I have spoken briefly to some people about speakers for that.
God has shown me that if we are to have a God-ordained, God-anointed revival, we must seek Him and draw near to Him for holiness in our lives.
1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Will you begin to seek God for cleansing in your individual life? Will you ask God to examine your life so that He may reveal things that need to change as we begin a message series next week titled Returning to Holiness?