The Commands of Christ-16
Commands of Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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The Commands of Christ - 16
A little over a year ago, in response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, our Wednesday Bible studies changed emphasis.
We have done many good studies in the Word of God over the years.
But last year I starting leading us to focus on the main way:
For us to become more like Jesus.
To reach those outside of a committed relationship with Christ.
That was is what Jesus told us in Matthew 28:20
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus does not tell us to teach disciples to memorize His commands.
He tells us to learn how to OBEY EVERYTHING He commanded.
This is no doubt a challenging command.
John wrote in
25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.
We can only be responsible for what has been recorded and given to us.
But as we have seen over the past year, doing that is still a huge task that is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit.
Not finding a single curriculum, I have been synthesizing many different resources into our study.
I have used Tom Blackaby’s book: The Commands of Christ: What It Really Means to Follow Jesus to catagorize the Commands of Christ.
In the past year we have looked at the commands that relate to our coming to Christ. Commands like:
Repent - Mark 1:14-15
Come to Jesus as a child Matthew 18:3
Love God with all our being - Matthew 22:37-40
Enter through the narrow Gate - Luke 13:24
Be born again - John 3:3
We looked at commands that deal with Jesus being our Lord, which is where we have been for several months and are now:
Deny yourself - Matthew 10:37-39; 16:24
Take up your yoke and learn from me - Matthew 11:29
Follow me - John 10:27
And then we arrived at where we have been and will be for quite some time:
The many commands that start with Jesus saying: “You have heard that it was said… ” and then concludes with, “But I tell you… ”
Most of those commands are found in the Sermon on the Mount.
A Sermon that begins in Matthew 5 with the Beatitudes.
Beatitudes that tell us commands that are so contrary to the way the world operates, the way our parents taught us, the way school taught us.
They are so different
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I say all this to get us to tonight’s lesson.
I will just lay out the framework for the lesson.
I encourage you to write down questions and comments for when we are again able to have in-person classes.
So, let me dive in:
Jesus gave commands concerning marriage, divorce and remarriage that are just as hard or harder today, than when He gave them 2000 years ago.
But Jesus gives these commands for a few reasons:
First, because He created us.
John 1:2–3 (NLT)
2 He [Jesus] existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.
16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
No no one knows us better than our Creator.
The Creator knows what’s best for His creation.
Second, Jesus gave us His commands because He LOVES us.
He wants to spare us agony, heartbreak and misery.
He wants to spare innocent children agony, heartbreak and misery.
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Why would Jesus, the Good Shepherd lay down His life for us?
Because He loves us.
Third, Jesus gave us these commands because He is Lord and has absolute authority to do so.
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Fourthly, Jesus gives us these commands as Someone who has walked in our shoes — Someone who knows the human condition.
15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Which is NOT to say that Jesus was married or divorced. But He was around and intimately acquainted with (walked and talked with) those who were married and those who were divorced.
A Christian's Righteousness: In Marriage
December 8, 2021
Purpose: To consider why we should be faithful in marriage.
Open: Why do you think divorce is such a problem today?
Divorce is a controversial and complex subject which touches people's emotions at a deep level. There is almost no unhappiness so painful as that of an unhappy marriage. And there is almost no tragedy so great as when a relationship God meant for love and fulfillment degenerates into a dysfunctional relationship of bitterness, discord and despair. Yet in spite of the painfulness of the subject, I am convinced that the teaching of Jesus on this and every subject is good—intrinsically good for individuals and for society. In this passage Jesus calls us to faithfulness in marriage.
Storms: So here’s the problem: How do I honor and esteem marriage without dishonoring and defaming those who have experienced divorce? And how do I encourage and affirm divorced people without appearing to minimize the importance of honoring one’s marital commitment and vows? If I magnify the value of marriage and stress the importance of faithfulness to one’s marital vows, divorced people will feel judged and rejected and unfit for ministry and service in the church. But if I express compassion and love for divorced people and remind them how much God really does love them, others will think I’m glossing over their failures and that I’m contributing to the very devaluation of marriage that I earlier denounced. How do I stress the permanence of marriage without condemning the divorced? And how do I love and affirm the divorced person without condoning sin and failure?
Storms, S. (2016). Biblical Studies: The Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:31–19:12). Edmond, OK: Sam Storms.
Why have any special concern over divorce and remarriage? Storms posits Four reasons:
Divorce invariably involves sin that is more destructive than many others.
What do you think Storms means by this?
Proverbs 4:23 (NASB95) Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
CM Ward notes that when Jesus answered the question from the Pharisees about divorce He talks about “the hardness of their hearts.”
How does marriage cause hardness of heart?
When we think about it wrongly.
Frivolously
Enter marriage thinking divorce is an option.
When we major on faults and forget the good things and good times shared.
When we let the “little foxes” ruin the vineyard.
Song of Solomon 2:15 (NASB95) “Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are in blossom.”
1 Corinthians 6:15–20 (NASB95) Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.” 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
As Chuck Swindoll points out:
First, our body is a physical extension of Christ in this world (6:15). Just as the church is the body of Christ (Eph. 4:12), and since each one is a member of that body (Rom. 12:5), the “body of Christ” cannot be regarded as only spiritual and invisible; rather, it is manifested through a physical presence, just as Christ was both spiritual and physical. Each member of Christ’s body is to represent the Lord on earth. Like ambassadors in a foreign land who act as their nation’s eyes, ears, hands, and mouth, we are Christ’s ambassadors in this world, carrying out His interests in His name. Only by consecrating our physical bodies to the service of God can we fulfill our calling to be not only Christ’s heart and mind in the world, but also His hands and feet.
Second, mē genoito [3361 + 1096], “May it never be!” . . . “God forbid!” . . . “Perish the thought!”
When we engage in the sin of sexual relations outside of marriage, we form an immoral union that mars our holy alliance with God through Christ. Why? Because the sexual union is a physical expression of the most intimate union two people can have. They become “one flesh” (6:16). Yet some of the Corinthians held the body in such low regard that they failed to see the spiritual implications of their physical actions. Those who joined themselves with the Lord, perhaps through the personal self-consecration pictured in the physical rite of baptism, became “one spirit with Him” (6:17). The physical act illustrated a spiritual reality. Therefore, by subsequently submitting their bodies to immorality, they contradicted their spiritual union with Christ.
Yet the Corinthians failed to understand the close relationship between the inner, spiritual reality and the outer expression. They held that whatever was done by or through the body was not immoral but amoral—that is, morally irrelevant. Paul refutes their claim, saying, “The immoral man sins against his own body” (6:18). Sex outside of marriage is wrong because it abuses the body with pleasures that don’t last and that, ultimately, are vulgar sources of regret. So Paul commands the Corinthians to “flee immorality” (6:18).
Third, our body is a living temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19). In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul likened the church in Corinth to a temple of God in which the Holy Spirit dwells (3:16). There the emphasis was on the corporate body of believers as the temple, with the Spirit dwelling among the gathered community in a unique way. In 1 Corinthians 6, however, Paul draws out another important type of indwelling of the Spirit—His presence in the body of each individual believer (6:19). Just as God manifested His presence in Solomon’s majestic temple, setting it apart from all other buildings for special use to glorify Him (2 Chr. 5:11–7:16), so the Spirit indwells each of us who has been bought with the priceless blood of Christ, setting us apart from all others for His glory alone (Rom. 8:9, 11; 1 Cor. 6:20).
God sent His Son to die in order to redeem us from sin. One day, God will raise us from the dead, as He did with Christ Jesus, so we can reign with Him forever (6:2-3). In the meantime, the Lord has called us to live according to His standards and by His indwelling power. He bought us at the highest price imaginable, His own life. He gave us the noblest vocation, representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. He prepared us for the most glorious end, eternal life in our resurrected, glorified bodies. How can we do less than honor Him through obedience, especially through our bodies? If we truly belong to Christ, how could we not consecrate our bodies to His service? How could we not flee from the slavery of immorality in all its forms and run back to the liberating arms of Jesus?
The devastation caused by the breakup of a marriage is so widespread and deeply painful that it needs to be addressed in a clear and forthright way.
Divorce is indescribably painful. It is emotionally wrenching, more so than the death of a spouse. It is often the culmination of years of anguish and pain and bitter words and hurt feelings.
The sense of guilt and shame and failure and rejection is more deeply felt in divorce than in perhaps any other human experience.
There are the accompanying feelings of loneliness, betrayal, abandonment, and hopelessness.
Court proceedings, financial settlements, custody battles, and the inescapable wounds that are inflicted on the children, all combine to make this issue one of extreme importance for the church to address.
2. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage involve the taking of sacred oaths and vows and entering into a sacred physical relationship, together with the breaking of those vows and the severing of that relationship.
3. Marriage is unique among all human relationships in that it is ordained by God to illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church.
Not parent/child, not friend/friend, not brother/sister, but husband/wife.
Therefore the preservation of this bond, or conversely, its breaking, is crucial to the message we send to each other and to the world.
4. The stability and growth of the church, as well as its witness to the world, is in large part dependent on both its commitment to the pre-eminence of marriage as well as how it responds to the divorced in its midst.
Read: Malachi 2:13-16; Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:3-9.Purpose: To consider why we should be faithful in marriage.
13 “This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 14 “Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. 15 “But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 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.”
Matthew 5:31–32 (NASB95)
31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of [sexual immorality], makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 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’? 6 “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 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. 9 “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
10 In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again. 11 And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
2. Rabbi Shammai taught that divorce was permitted only in extreme cases. Rabbi Hillel taught that it was permitted for any and every reason. How does this help us to understand the Pharisees' "test" question (Matthew 19:3)?
Question 2. The debate between Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel centered on the interpretation of Deut. 24:1-4, especially the phrase "he finds something indecent about her" ( Deut. 24:1).
Rabbi Shammai took a rigorist line and taught that something indecent referred to some grave matrimonial offense.
Rabbi Hillel, on the other hand, interpreted this phrase in the widest possible way to include a wife's most trivial offenses. If she proved to be an incompetent cook and burnt her husband's food, or if he lost interest in her because of her plain looks and because he became enamored with some other more beautiful woman, these things were "something indecent" and justified him in divorcing her.
The Pharisees seem to have been attracted by Rabbi Hillel's laxity, which explains the form of their question: "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?" In other words, they wanted to know whose side Jesus was on in the contemporary debate, and whether he belonged to the school of rigorism or of laxity.
It is thought this question was based on:
1 “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, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 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, 4 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.
I find it interesting that some denominations would say you have to remarry your original wife/husband in order to be “right” spiritually. And yet such a thing is strictly forbidden here in Deut.
3. How does Jesus' reply contrast with the Pharisees' question (Matthew 19:4-6)?
The questioners seem to be looking for license. Jesus is stating God’s intentions from the beginning.
The Pharisees were preoccupied with the grounds for divorce; Jesus with the institution of marriage. Notice that Jesus' reply was not a reply. He declined to answer their question. Instead, he asked a counterquestion about their reading of Scripture.
4. Jesus points back to the first marriage in Genesis. What does it teach us about God's original design for marriage (Matthew 19:4-6)?
Questions 3-4. He referred them back to Genesis, both to the creation of humanity as male and female (Genesis 1) and to the institution of marriage (Genesis 2) by which a man leaves his parents and cleaves to his wife and the two become one. This biblical definition implies that marriage is both exclusive ("a man . . . his wife") and permanent ("be united" to his wife). It is these two aspects of marriage which Jesus selects for emphasis in his comments which follow.
5. The Pharisees refer to Moses' instructions about divorce as a "command" (Matthew 19:7). What does Jesus' reply teach us about divorce (Matthew 19:8)?
In what ways might divorce reveal the hardness of our hearts?
Question 5. The Pharisees emphasized the giving of a divorce certificate, as if this were the most important part of the Mosaic provision, and then referred to both the certificate and the divorce as "commands" of Moses.
But a careful reading of Deut. 24:1-4 reveals something quite different. To begin with, the whole paragraph hinges on a long series of conditional clauses. This may be brought out in the following paraphrase: "After a man has married a wife, if he finds something indecent in her, and if he gives her a certificate of divorce and divorces her and she leaves, and if she marries again, and if her second husband gives her a certificate of divorce and divorces her, or if her second husband dies, then her first husband who divorced her is forbidden to remarry her."
The thrust of the passage is to prohibit remarriage to one's own divorced partner. The reason for this regulation is obscure. For our purposes here it is enough to observe that this prohibition is the only command in the whole passage; there is certainly no command to a husband to divorce his wife, nor even any encouragement to do so.
All there is, instead, is a reference to certain necessary procedures if a divorce takes place; and therefore at the very most a reluctant permission is implied and a current practice is tolerated. Yet even the divine concession was in principle inconsistent with the divine institution of marriage, as Jesus points out in Matthew 19:8.
If you are able to control discussion enough so that too much time is not taken up here, you might want to have the group turn to Deut. 24:1-4. But if your group is talkative, you might just want to summarize what is mentioned above if it would be helpful in your discussion.
An unwillingness or inability to forgive a marriage partner and be reconciled might reveal how hardened we are by sin to the grace and mercy of God.
6. What similarities and differences are there between Matthew 19:9 and Matthew 5:31-32?
How do these verses stress the seriousness of divorce?
Question 6. Jesus allows only one exception to the rule that remarriage after divorce results in adultery. That is the so-called exception clause in Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9: "except for marital unfaithfulness." Conservative scholars disagree about why it is omitted from the parallel passages in Mark and Luke. They also disagree about the meaning of "marital unfaithfulness" (porneia).
It seems likely that its absence from Mark and Luke is due not to their ignorance of it but to their acceptance of it as something taken for granted. After all, under the Mosaic law adultery was punishable by death (although the death penalty for this offense seems to have generally fallen into disuse by the time of Jesus), so nobody would have questioned that marital unfaithfulness was a just ground for divorce. Even the rival Rabbis Shammai and Hillel were agreed about this.
The Greek word for "marital unfaithfulness" is normally translated "fornication," denoting the immorality of the unmarried, and is often distinguished from adultery, the immorality of the married. For this reason some have argued that the exception clause permits divorce if some premarital sexual sin is later discovered. But the Greek word is not precise enough to be limited in this way. It is derived from porne, "prostitute," without specifying whether she (or her client) is married or unmarried. Further, it is used in the Septuagint for the unfaithfulness of Israel, Yahweh's bride, as exemplified in Hosea's wife, Gomer. It seems, therefore, that we must agree with R. V. G. Tasker's conclusion that porneia is "a comprehensive word, including adultery, fornication and unnatural vice" (The Gospel according to St. Matthew, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1961], p. 184).
7. How does Jesus' teaching contrast with today's views on marriage and divorce?
LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies - Sermon on the Mount.