Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Anger
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Analytical
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Anger
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*ousness Works in Daily Life (Matt.
5:21–48)*
Jesus took six important Old Testament laws and interpreted them for His people in the light of the new life He came to give.
He made a fundamental change without altering God’s standards: He dealt with the attitudes and intents of the heart and not simply with the external action.
The Pharisees said that righteousness consisted of performing certain actions, but Jesus said it centered in the attitudes of the heart.
Likewise, with sin: The Pharisees had a list of external actions that were sinful, but Jesus explained that sin came from the attitudes of the heart.
Anger is murder in the heart; lust is adultery in the heart.
The person who says that he “lives by the Sermon on the Mount” may not realize that the Sermon on the Mount is /more difficult/ to keep than the original Ten Commandments!
*/Murder (vv.
21–26; Ex. 20:13)./*
I have read that one out of every thirty-five deaths in Chicago is a murder, and that most of these murders are “crimes of passion” caused by anger among friends or relatives.
Jesus did not say that anger leads to murder; He said that anger /is/ murder.
There is a holy anger against sin (Eph.
4:26), but Jesus talked about an unholy anger against people.
The word He used in Matthew 5:22 means “a settled anger, malice that is nursed inwardly.”
Jesus described a sinful experience that involved several stages.
First there was /causeless anger./
This anger then exploded into /words:/ “Raca—empty-headed person!”
These words added fuel to the fire so that the person said, “You fool—rebel!”
Anger is such a foolish thing.
It makes us destroyers instead of builders.
It robs us of freedom and makes us prisoners.
To hate someone is to commit murder in our hearts (1 John 3:15).
This does not mean that we should go ahead and murder someone we hate, since we have already sinned inwardly.
Obviously, sinful feelings are not excuses for sinful deeds.
Sinful anger robs us of fellowship with God as well as with our brothers, but it does not put us into jail as murderers.
However, more than one person has become a murderer because he failed to control sinful anger.
Sinful anger must be faced honestly and must be confessed to God as sin.
We must go to our brother and get the matter settled, and we must do it quickly.
The longer we wait, the worse the bondage becomes!
We put ourselves into a terrible prison when we refuse to be reconciled.
(See Matt.
18:15–20 for additional counsel.)
It has well been said that the person who refuses to forgive his brother destroys the very bridge over which he himself must walk.
*/Adultery (vv.
27–30; Ex. 20:14)./*
Jesus affirmed God’s law of purity, and then explained that the intent of this law was to reveal the sanctity of sex and the sinfulness of the human heart.
God created sex, and God protects sex.
He has the authority to regulate it and to punish those who rebel against His laws.
He does not regulate sex because He wants to rob us, but rather, because He wants to bless us.
Whenever God says, “No” it is that He might say “Yes.”
Sexual impurity begins in the desires of the heart.
Again, Jesus is not saying that lustful desires are identical to lustful deeds, and therefore a person might just as well go ahead and commit adultery.
The desire and the deed are not identical, but, spiritually speaking, they are equivalent.
The “look” that Jesus mentioned was not a casual glance, but a constant stare /with the purpose of lusting./
It is possible for a man to glance at a beautiful woman and know that she is beautiful, but not lust after her.
The man Jesus described looked at the woman /for the purpose of feeding his inner sensual appetites/ as a substitute for the act.
It was not accidental; it was planned.
How do we get victory?
By purifying the desires of the heart (appetite leads to action) and disciplining the actions of the body.
Obviously, our Lord is not talking about literal surgery; for this would not solve the problem in the heart.
The eye and the hand are usually the two “culprits” when it comes to sexual sins, so they must be disciplined.
Jesus said, “Deal immediately and decisively with sin! Don’t taper off—cut off!” Spiritual surgery is more important than physical surgery, for the sins of the body can lead to eternal judgment.
We think of passages like Colossians 3:5 and Romans 6:13; 12:1–2; 13:14.
*/Divorce (vv.
31–32)./*
Our Lord dealt with this in greater detail in Matthew 19:1–12, and we shall consider it there.
*/Swearing (vv.
33–37; Lev.
19:12; Deut.
23:23)./*
This is not the sin of “cursing,” but the sin of using oaths to affirm that what is said is true.
The Pharisees used all kinds of tricks to sidestep the truth, and oaths were among them.
They would avoid using the holy name of God, but they would come close by using the city of Jerusalem, heaven, earth, or some part of the body.
Jesus taught that our conversation should be so honest, and our character so true, that we would not need “crutches” to get people to believe us.
Words depend on character, and oaths cannot compensate for a poor character.
“In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin; but he that refraineth his lips is wise” (Prov.
10:19).
The more words a man uses to convince us, the more suspicious we should be.
*/Retaliation (vv.
38–42; Lev.
24:19–22)./*
The original law was a fair one; it kept people from forcing the offender to pay a greater price than the offense deserved.
It also prevented people from taking personal revenge.
Jesus replaced a law with an attitude: be willing to suffer loss yourself rather than cause another to suffer.
Of course, He applied this to /personal insults,/ not to groups or nations.
The person who retaliates only makes himself and the offender feel worse; and the result is a settled war and not peace.
In order to “turn the other cheek,” we must stay where we are and not run away.
This demands both faith and love.
It also means that /we/ will be hurt, but it is better to be hurt on the outside than to be harmed on the inside.
But it further means that /we should try to help the sinner./
We are vulnerable, because he may attack us anew; but we are also victorious, because Jesus is on our side, helping us and building our characters.
Psychologists tell us that violence is born of weakness, not strength.
It is the strong man who can love and suffer hurt; it is the weak man who thinks only of himself and hurts others to protect himself.
He hurts others then runs away to protect himself.
*/Love of enemies (vv.
43–48; Lev.
19:17–18)./*
Nowhere did the Law teach hatred for one’s enemies.
Passages like Exodus 23:4–5 indicate just the opposite!
Jesus defined our enemies as those who curse us, hate us, and exploit us selfishly.
Since Christian love is an act of the will, and not simply an emotion, He has the right to command us to love our enemies.
After all, He loved us when we were His enemies (Rom.
5:10).
We may show this love by blessing those who curse us, doing good to them, and praying for them.
When we pray for our enemies, we find it easier to love them.
It takes the “poison” out of our attitudes.
Jesus gave several reasons for this admonition.
(1) This love is a mark of maturity, proving that we are /sons/ of the Father, and not just little children.
(2) It is Godlike.
The Father shares His good things with those who oppose Him.
Matthew 5:45 suggests that our love “creates a climate” of blessings that makes it easy to win our enemies and make them our friends.
Love is like the sunshine and rain that the Father sends so graciously.
(3) It is a testimony to others.
“What do ye more than others?” is a good question.
God expects us to live on a much higher plane than the lost people of the world who return good for good and evil for evil.
As Christians, we must return good for evil as an investment of love.
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