Just as last week we saw that anger is the root of murder in the heart, this week we see that lust is the act of adultery in the heart. Lust and adultery are fleeting pleasures that ultimately lead to guilt, shame, and death. Jesus is not being prudish, He is continuing to cast a vision of the Kingdom of God and where hope, freedom, and human flourishing can be found.

https://canopy.us/

https://www.covenanteyes.com/

https://bit.ly/3WRCB4i (Finally Free)

https://amzn.to/3wN9Gnr (Death of Porn)

Matthew 5:27-30

Today’s culture has wrongly accepted lust as a normal, acceptable, inconsequential act, failing to properly understand the destructiveness of this heart sin. Jesus rightly raises the bar on the Old Testament commandment to not commit adultery to include even lust of the heart. It is for our good that we avoid such heart sins, since left unchecked and unrepented of, they can lead to an eternity in hell.

Matthew 5:27-30

In the sermon on the mount Jesus is raising the standard in regard to morality and the law. He knows the ramifications of when sin goes unchecked and the devastation that unfolds. In our focus passage this is the sin of lust and adultery. Jesus wants us to know that this is a problem that is rooted in our hearts. But through a repentant and changed heart, we can experience forgiveness, grace, and freedom from our sins because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. 

Matthew 5:21-26

Are you an angry person?

Some of us will immediately recognize “yes, I’m an angry person, I know I have issues in this department… and you’d better not start pocking around if you know what’s best for you!”

There are some of us who would not consider ourselves “an angry person”, but surrounded by stupid people, who do stupid things, who make us angry… “but we don’t have a problem with anger…”

Or perhaps there’s even someone in our midst whose baggage is very light and who goes through life as if that person was walking on clouds, and yes, there are things that ignite you at times, but you wouldn’t truly qualify as an angry person.

Regardless of where you are in the angry-meter from eyeballing someone to killing someone, I believe the passage we are going to study this morning will open our eyes to a different dimension of the kingdom of God and the Gospel trait of true worship that permeates the core of our hearts.

Matthew 5:21-26

Jesus elevates the Old Testament law of murder to the judgemental, verbal assassination of a person’s character. Murder is not merely a matter of the hands, but of the heart. Destroying someone in this way destroys the image of God, revealing the depth of our spiritually poverty and the need to be reconciled with both them and God.

Matthew 5:21-26

When Jesus begins to describe how the Old Testament laws apply to Christians, he begins by showing how the prohibition against murder was always about more than just the action.  It extends to our heart before God.  How do we view other people made in God’s image?  Jesus calls his disciples not only to treat others well, but to think of them well and work towards reconciliation.

The arrival of Jesus inaugurates God’s plan to restore all that is good and beautiful. In this sermon Jesus shows us how those inside His kingdom go beyond not murdering and seek to overcome anger itself. When we see God putting away His anger with us, we are compelled to forgive and pursue reconciliation with others.

Matthew 5:17-20

The Old Testament can seem like an antiquated document to Christians, however, Jesus affirms its necessity and confidently asserts that he’s come to fulfill the Law. What does that mean? How does Christ’s fulfillment of the Law impact our morality? Does the Law have a deeper goal than superficial, external actions?

Matthew 5:17-20

Do we need to read the Old Testament?  Isn’t that “old” and therefore irrelevant?  Jesus doesn’t think so, and not only calls his disciples to read it but genuinely keep it.  The problem is no one can.  We need a saviour!

Matthew 5:17-20

To help us realize the depths of our spiritually poverty, and just how desperately we need a Savior, Jesus tells us that we not only need to uphold and keep God’s laws better than the scribes and Pharisees (law keepers), but that we need to be perfect. This, of course, is impossible, so the only possible way that we can be made right with God is by trusting the only one who is perfect, and who did keep & fulfill all the laws of God – Jesus.