Sermon on the Mount Part 4 – Guarding My Heart

Sermon on the Mount

Part 4 – Guarding My Heart

Matthew 5:27-37

3 Vital Ways Jesus Helps Us Guard Our Hearts

1. Jesus broadened the prohibition of adultery to include a and an active .

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28

• It is ok to look at your with an .

How beautiful you are, my darling!

    Oh, how beautiful!

    Your eyes behind your veil are doves.

Your hair is like a flock of goats

    descending from the hills of Gilead. Song of Songs 4:1

• Jesus’ is alluding not just to the act of adultery, but to forms of .
• Jesus teaches the importance of .
• in what you look at, what you do and where you go.

29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30

“Deeds of shame are preceded by fantasies of shame, and the inflaming of the imagination by the indiscipline of the eyes.” — John Stott

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5

2. Jesus emphasized the importance of in .

31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Matthew 5:31-32

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Matthew 19:3-9

• Marriage is a commitment, ordained and created by , between and a and a .

5 …’For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:5-6

Seven Biblical Practices for Reviving a Failing Marriage

• Go to and let the Holy Spirit go to !
• to the marriage.
• Take off the table.
• Apply the to your marriage.
• Act in ways toward one another.
• Seek wise, counsel.
• .

3. Jesus valued in speech.

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:33-37

12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:12

21 If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. Deuteronomy 23:21

16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ Matthew 23:16.

We must keep our and be people of our .

37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37

12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” James 5:12