The Sermon on the Mount: (Rough Draft) Living Faithfully

James H. Cosentino II

The Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted 8 months ago • Presented 8 months ago

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Introduction

read Matt 5:31-37

Matthew 5:31–37 (ESV)

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

We have been looking at what it means to have a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and the scribes. We have examined that the righteousness Christ is calling us to does not seek retaliation but rather to love our enemies. It is a righteousness that not only displays external obedience but rather has an internal change of heart, where we do not simply refrain from killing and committing adultery, but rather we have hearts that fight agains anger and lust because those sins start in our hearts. The next area Jesus addresses is our faithfulness in our commitments, beginning with our spouses and then with those around us. Again our hearts want to know what is the minimum I must do to keep the law, how close to the line can I get before crossing over. But Jesus wants us to take our eyes off the line and place them upon His holiness and righteousness.

Now today’s topic can and will be very sensitive for many people, and I need to place this reminder of God’s grace before us. In all of these things we all stand guilty, whether it is anger and hatred, lust, the desire for vengeance and hating our enemies. And yet Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross has saved us and redeemed us from the penalty of our sins. So as we talk about the issues of marriage, divorce and the breaking of oaths, I want us to be reminded that these are not unforgivable sin, and yet Jesus wants to change our hearts once again to see these things in a new light and to fight for holiness moving forward regardless of our past mistakes and sins in these areas.

Be Faithful in the Commitment of Marriage

The Mosaic Command

Matthew 5:31 ESV

“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

What Moses said:

Deuteronomy 24:1 (ESV)

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then 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 of his house, and she departs out of his house,

Why He Said It

The Scribes and Pharisees interpreted this to mean that Moses is commanding divorce within the law

And they proceeded to interpret what “indecency” meant according to their own values.

Two Schools of Thought

Shammai -

Interpreted “indecency” as marital impropriety just short of adultery, mainly because anyone caught in adultery would have been executed. So the adultery would have caused the end of the marriage because of the death of the offender.

But the divorce would be allowed for things such as indecent exposure of oneself or perhaps having an unhealthy emotional relationship with someone other than their spouse, which as we saw in Jesus’ teaching last week, lust is the same as adultery.

Hillel -

This other school of thought, which was much more liberal, was the school that many of the scribes and pharisees subscribed to, taught that if your wife did anything unpleasant you had the right to divorce her.

If she burned your supper or spoke to you in a tone that displeased you, that would be “indecent” and grounds for divorce.

Marriage as Commitment, Not Feelings

This second school is the school of thought that has been most prominent for most of human history.

We are always trying to justify ways to get out of our commitments when things do not go the way we want.

Ronald Reagan, in 1969, introduced the nation’s first no-fault divorce law. This law allows the dissolution of the marriage union simply based upon irreconcilable differences between the husband and wife. Prior to this law, there had to be evidence that one of the parties broke the marriage agreement through adultery, abuse, or abandonment. But now, divorce is accessible to anyone who is simply not happy in their current context.

Not a Feeling (Falling in and out of love)

We have not really changed all that much in 3,500 years. We are still looking for ways to make ourselves seem justified in breaking our marriage covenant promises.

We say things like, “I’m not happy anymore,” “we have just fallen out of love.”

Somehow we have made marriage an emotional agreement. As long as I’m happy and have the romantic feelings, then I will remain committed to this agreement. Once those feelings go away, the relationship is done.

The Problem - Marriage is A sacred covenant, not feelings

Tim Keller - You don’t fall out of love… you fall out of like. Love is permanent, because it is a commitment even when the feelings aren’t there.

Happiness happens when situations are just right for your personal satisfaction. However, because we live in a fallen, sinful world, it is impossible to always be happy. If you are basing your commitment based upon how you are feeling, then there will be no such thing as commitment.

Commitment says, this is what I will do regardless of what happens. And a covenant is deeper than a contract, because a covenant says, regardless of what you do, I will be here for you and I will love you.

Love is not a feeling. It is a choice to serve and sacrifice for someone else. Which, even when we feel unloved and hurt, it is always possible to love because it is a commitment that leads to action.

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (ESV)

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends.

Love never ends. You cannot fall out of love. You can fall out of emotions, you can fall out of like.

However, the faithfulness to commitment can actually help fuel the emotions

And here is where love can actually then fuel the emotions. While there are times when the emotions of affection wane, the commitment to love can actually stir up the affections for your spouse.

Even though marriage is not dependent upon emotions, God has graciously given us ways to constantly stir up those affections within each other as we continue to pursue each other even and especially when its difficult.

What was Moses’ purpose in the law?

So why did Moses give this law, if this was not what God intended.

Hardness of Hearts

Matthew 19:8–9 ESV

He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Because of the people’s hardness of heart, Moses allowed the people to practice divorce. The sinfulness of our hearts has broken the way marriage was supposed to work.

Protection for Women

The other reason was for the protection of women. The divorce certificate would protect the woman from being treated as chattel. It would prevent a man from disposing of his wife to take on another wife and then disposing of her to take back his former wife.

The divorce certificate was meant to say, you could not take back your previous wife because you treated her so poorly.

It would also be a protection that as a woman who was no longer physically pure because of her marriage that it could be proven that she was married and not acting as a prostitute, and therefore, it would protect her from being killed for immorality.

The Bible shows that God is actually working very hard for the protection of the weak and vulnerable in society.

The One Allowance

So is divorce ever permitted?

Marital Unfaithfulness

Jesus tells us that it is permitted on the ground of sexual immorality. If your spouse has committed adultery with someone else, that is grounds to dissolve the union that God Himself has created.

And let me say that our spouse not “meeting our needs” whether they are physical or emotional is not grounds of immorality. Those are certainly worth talking about and working through and even finding a biblical counselor to help you, but those are not grounds for divorce.

Permissible, but not Commanded

But notice here, that even while sexual immorality is the grounds that Jesus provides to permit divorce, even here He does not command divorce.

God’s Plan is Restoration and Reconciliation

Regardless of Your Past, God wants you to have a high view of marriage and understand that it is a covenant not meant to be broken

Marriage is sacred and Belongs to God, not to us

Be Faithful in Your Words to Others

Why do we Swear and Take Oaths?

We find things of greater weight to try to prove our trustworthiness

The Jewish Practice of Oath taking

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

We try to find ways to get out of our promises

All Oaths, no matter what they swear upon are Equal

All things have been created by God

And are owned by God

Do not take the name of the Lord Your God in Vain

If you claim to belong to Christ, your words bring honor or shame upon the name of Christ.

Light of the World

Our words and actions should be showing the beauty and faithfulness of Christ in all our relationships