"You Are Who Your Heart Says You Are"

You Are Who Your Heart Says You Are

Scripture – Matthew 5:21-32 (NLT)

I remember the shock I felt as a teenager when the minister confessed to our small town church that he had broken all ten of the Ten Commandments. He had my complete attention when he told us he planned to use the morning sermon time to tell us how he had broken all of  the Ten Commandments.

My particular interest was how and when did he commit murder and adultery without any of us knowing anything about it? Yes, the minister was true to his word. He disclosed to us how he had broken all of the Ten Commandments. But it played out much different than I thought it would.

That is because of the verses we find here in Matthew 5:21-32. You do not have to kill to commit murder and you do not have to have an extra marital affair to commit adultery. That is because Jesus takes the commandments beyond external and makes them a matter of the heart.

Sermon Title – You Are Who Your Heart Says You Are

Followers of Jesus are under obligation to keep the teachings of the Old Testament. There are ceremonial and ritual laws that Jesus fulfilled, but there are timeless moral laws that all believers of Jesus must follow. What happens when a follower of Jesus breaks these laws? Do you lose your salvation? Do you forfeit your opportunity to go to heaven? No, but you lose your
position in God’s kingdom. Instead of being called great he will be called least.

Matthew 5:19 (NLT)

So, if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is of great importance to the follower of Jesus to obey God’s Word.

The Christian life must go beyond a list of do’s and don’ts. When this happens, the emphasis becomes external and this produces legalism. Christianity loses its influence when it is reduced to an external code. Jesus explains why this is inadequate. Six times Jesus used the expression you have heard it said. He then tells what the external law is in that case and then goes beyond the external to the matter of the heart. It was the religious who made the mistake of emphasis on the external. The more dedicated and faithful you are as a Christian, the more needed is the reminder that external emphasis is not enough, but there needs to be a transformation of the attitude of the heart.

Teaching About Murder/Anger

When God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, one of those was “Thou Shall not murder.” This is the 6th of the 10 commandments. Now most people breathe a sigh of relief and think aha, here is a command I have not broken. But Jesus took the outward command thou shall not kill and made it a matter of the heart. He went to the spirit of the law. Anyone who is angry with his brother is guilty of murder.

Matthew 5:21-22 (NLT)

“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’  22  But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

Being angry seems a far cry from cold blooded murder, but Jesus gets to the root of the problem, hate. If you call your brother an “empty head”, you are subject to court. If you call your brother a fool, you are in danger of the fire of hell.

Matthew 5:23-24 (NLT)

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you,  24  leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

If you worship God and come under conviction about a wrong relationship, then right the wrong relationship. Is that easy? No, but that is part of the higher standard of righteousness that Jesus calls us to. If there is some immediate action on the way to court, settle the matter before you get there. 

Matthew 5:25-26 (NLT)

  “When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison.  26  And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.

Jesus went a long way beyond the standard of the Pharisees. Not murdering someone may seem like a breeze, but not getting angry, not letting some unkind words, or even thoughts, bubble out of your heart. Wow! That is some very high standards. The point isn’t who is right or who is wrong, the point is reconciliation. As a follower of Jesus Christ you are called on to take
quick action to reconcile your differences. Grace is a higher calling than the law. Teaching About Adultery

Matthew 5:27-28 (NLT)

27  “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’  28  But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Jesus is referring to the 7th commandment. Jesus says, “Don’t even think it!”

Jesus demands more than the purity of the marriage bed, but He even calls for purity of the mind. Even thinking an impure thought is a sin and we need to go to God and ask forgiveness.

Teaching About Divorce

The Pharisees would approve of divorce as long as a man gave his wife a paper stating she was a free woman, a certificate of divorce. This practice was based on: 

Deuteronomy 24:1-3 (NLT)

 “Suppose a man marries a woman but she does not please him. Having discovered something wrong with her, he writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house.  2  When she leaves his house, she is free to marry another man.  3  But if the second husband also turns against her, writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away, or if he dies, 

 Something Wrong – This phrase indicates sexual impurity or some other impropriety. It does not
pertain to adultery, which would have required the death penalty

 A Document Of Divorce – This procedure was a concession; initiating a divorce in such cases was optional and not necessarily desirable

Moses wanted to discourage divorce. If a woman had no certificate of divorce she could not remarry. The divorced woman had no place to go. The law that Moses meant to protect women the Scribes and Pharisees turned to justify divorce.

Jesus goes to beyond the law again:

Matthew 5:31-32 (NLT)

“You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’ 32  But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.

 Notice Of Divorce – Document stating the legality of a divorce. Evidence suggests that such a document permitted remarriage

 The exception clause permits but does not demand divorce when one partner has been unfaithful

 Notably, Jesus does not demand death for the guilty party (ex. woman caught in adultery)

 Causes Her To Commit Adultery – The implication seems to be that by divorcing his wife for illegitimate reasons, the man wrongly put her in a compromising situation

 The underlying assumption in Jewish divorce law was simple: legitimate divorces permitted remarriage

Paul adds another cause to divorce

1 Corinthians 7:12-15 (NLT)

Now, I will speak to the rest of you, though I do not have a direct command from the Lord. If a fellow believer has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to continue living with him, he must not leave her.  13  And if a believing woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to continue living with her, she must not leave him.  14  For the believing wife brings holiness to her marriage, and the believing husband brings holiness to his marriage. Otherwise, your children would not be holy, but now they are holy.  15  (But if the husband or wife who isn’t a believer insists on leaving, let them go. In such cases the
believing husband or wife is no longer bound to the other, for God has called you to live in peace.)  (Abuse is another cause for divorce although not explicitly addressed)

Jesus held up a high standard for marriage. One man married to one woman for a lifelong commitment. His standard of marriage was rooted in creation back in Genesis 2:24 where it says, “the two become one flesh.” No dedicated follower of Christ can accept the Pharisees standards. The reasons for divorce in the Old Testament by Moses was because of the hardness of the people’s hearts.

Jesus takes us to the highest view of marriage, God’s ideal. The two become one flesh. Jesus makes marriage a matter of the heart. It is the hardness of hearts that leads to divorce. Jesus warns against divorce and remarriage. Instead, believers are to stay committed to their spouse.

Teaching About Lust

Jesus addresses lust that, attitude of the heart that leads to adultery. King David lusted after Bathsheba which led to adultery. When impure thoughts occur, it is the time to turn to God.

Matthew 5:29-30 (NLT)   

So if your eye—even your good eye [ i ] —causes you to lust, 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 hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, 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 be thrown into hell.

We must turn from lust, for the sake of the marriage relationship and for our relationship with God. Lust can affect both. We need the power of Jesus to be victorious in this important battle. Too many Christians have fallen in this area.

Close (Illustration) – Matter Of The Heart

A man is rushed to the ER after suffering a heart attack. The doctor tells him that he will not survive without a heart transplant right away. Another doctor runs into the room and says, “Good news—two hearts just became available, so you get to choose which one you want. One belongs to an attorney and the other to a social worker.” The patient immediately responds, “The attorney’s.” The doctor says, “Hang on. Don’t you want to know a little about them before you make your decision?” The patient says, “I already know enough. We all know that social workers are bleeding hearts and the attorney probably never used his, so I’ll take the attorney’s heart!” Heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as “the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity,” “the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding and will,” and “the center of a person. The place to which God turns.”

There is an extreme discipline necessary to preserve our spiritual life because “you are who your heart says you are.”