Author: Scott Chafee

Scott serves on staff at King’s Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.

How to Test Your Motives

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This lesson is all about our motivation in ministry. Why do we do the things we do for God? Do we serve him because of what we get out of it? Or because he deserves it and it is the right thing to do?

How to Test your Ministry Motives: (Matthew 6:1-18)

What is a Motive? According to Webster, it is something that prompts a person to act in a certain way or that demonstrates volition; the goal or the object of one’s action; inner hunger that promotes a person to action.

As you read the Bible you notice that God is always concerns about our motives. (Proverbs 16:2, 20:27, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 26:2, 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 1 Corinthians 15:32, Philippians 1:15-18).

  • The Competition Test (James 2:4)
  • The Promotion Test (1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 2:17)

God stresses that every leader to regularly ask the WHY question; this addresses the leader’s heart and motives. Our passage today answers three WHY questions… why do we practice spiritual disciplines, why do we share resources, why do we serve others?

1. The Alertness Test (Matthew 6:1) BEWARE, be on your guard against the possibility.

2. The Oscar Test (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16, Luke 12:1-3) HYPOCRITES, actors wear a mask an pretend to be something different.

3. The Secret Test (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18)

  • GIVING (Matthew 6:4) – Jesus affirms the importance of anonymous giving. Historically, synagogues had an out of the way room where people would leave their offering in a secret box, called the “secret chamber of silence.” Anyone could leave a gift to help needy people. This embarrassed neither the giver nor the receiver, but the Pharisees didn’t use it because they wanted to be noticed.
  • PRAYING (Matthew 6:6) – Prayer is not to be made into a big public deal with fancy formulas, archaic words, and lofty thoughts.
  • FASTING (Matthew 6:16-18) – God doesn’t require attention-getting actions. When you go into training inwardly, act normally outwardly.

4. The Left-handed Test (Matthew 6:3) DO NOT LET the left know what the right is doing.

5. The Applause Test (Matthew 6:1, 2, 5, 16, 23:5) NOTICED and HONORED and SEEN by men, then God won’t be applauding. You might become a small town celebrity, but God is not impressed. You’ll get rewards here and now but not in heaven. The Pharisees knew that Jesus was attacking them (phylacteries and tassels) for their hypocritical and sinful motives.

Do you lose your reward if people notice what you do? Nope (Matthew 5:16). The goal is God getting the glory, the issue for today is your motivation. Only a fool would grab the rewards of time and let the rewards of eternity go free.

Consider This:

Does the success in others motivate you? If so, Why? Is it that you want God to use you like that? Or is it out of envy or jealousy of their accomplishments?

Are your the same person when no one is looking? Most of the time, part of the time, not much at all?

How do you handle doing work or ministry in the church and no one notices?

Questions:

1. What are hypocrites? (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16) Here, “hypocrites” likely refers to the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus criticizes the hypocrites for intentionally drawing attention to their giving. Those who follow Christ should not mimic the scribes and Pharisees; instead, they should give discreetly. This phrase also occurs in Matthew 6:2, 5, 16. The hypocrites, who have received their reward in the form of praise from others, will only receive condemnation from God.

Matthew is fond of the term “hypocrite” (he uses it thirteen times to Luke’s three and Mark’s one), which is derived from the theater and means “play-actor.” To be a hypocrite is to pretend to be someone you are not. It is easier to pose as a righteous person than to actually be one. One second-century rabbi declared that nine-tenths of all the hypocrisy in the world was to be found in Jerusalem.

2. Are you a different person in public than you are in private?

3. What will happen to hypocrites? (Matthew 24:51, Job 15:34a)

4. How does Isaiah describe the root problem behind Israel’s hypocrisy? (Mark 7:6-7, Isaiah 29:13)

5. Why does Jesus say, “Beware of hypocrisy?” (Matthew 6:1, 2, 5, 16, Luke 12:1)

6. Name three spiritual disciplines that reveal spiritual hypocrisy. (Matthew 6:2-6, 16-18)

7. What motivates a hypocrite? (Matthew 6:1, 2, 5, 16, Mark 12:40)

8. Are you motivated to practice righteousness when someone else is watching?

9. To what degree is your desire to live righteously dependent upon receiving recognition by those around you? Would you still live for God if people stopped stroking you?

10. What is almsgiving? (Matthew 6:2-4)

11. What word implies that giving to the poor is an assumed fact if you are a Christian? (Matthew 6:2, 1 John 3:17, James 2:15-17)

12. Why was it so important to give, according to the OT? (Leviticus 25:35, Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Psalm 41:1, Proverbs 19:17, 21:13, 29:7)

13. What command did Jesus give to safeguard against hypocritical giving? (Matthew 6:3) This is a symbolic saying that captures the extreme measures that should be taken to avoid public acclaim for generosity.

14. Is it hypocritical to practice a spiritual discipline even when you don’t feel like it?

15. Why did Jesus use a different word for “streets” in Matthew 6:5 and Matthew 6:2?

16. What commands did Jesus give for those who wanted to properly practice the spiritual discipline of prayer? (Matthew 6:6)

17. Is it wrong to pray in public? (Matthew 6:5, 1 Timothy 2:8)

18. List several reasons for fasting. (Ezra 8:21-23, Nehemiah 1:3-4, Jonah 3:5-10, Acts 13:2, Isaiah 58:6-8, Mark 2:18-20)

19. What commands must be observed if our fasting is to be without hypocrisy? (Matthew 6:16-17)

20. What is the result of practicing our spiritual disciplines in secret? (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18)

Believer’s Bible Commentary:

Give with Sincerity (Matthew 6:1–4)

Matthew 6:1 In the first half of this chapter, Jesus deals with three specific areas of practical righteousness in an individual’s life: charitable deeds (Matthew 6:1–4), prayer (Matthew 6:5–15), and fasting (Matthew 6:16–18). The name Father is found ten times in these eighteen verses and is the key to understanding them. Practical deeds of righteousness should be done for His approval, not for people’s.

He begins this portion of His sermon with a warning against the temptation to parade our piety by performing charitable deeds for the purpose of being seen by others. It is not the deed that He condemns, but the motive. If public notice is the motivating factor then it is the only reward, for God will not reward hypocrisy.

Matthew 6:2 It seems incredible that hypocrites would noisily attract attention to themselves as they gave offerings in the synagogues or handouts to beggars in the streets. The Lord dismissed their conduct with the terse comment: “They have their reward” (i.e., their only reward is the reputation they gain while on earth).

Matthew 6:3, 4 When a follower of Christ does a charitable deed, it is to be done in secret. It should be so secret that Jesus told His disciples: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” Jesus uses this graphic figure of speech to show that our charitable deeds should be for the Father, and not to gain notoriety for the giver.

This passage should not be pressed to prohibit any gift that might be seen by others, since it is virtually impossible to make all one’s contributions strictly anonymous. It simply condemns the blatant display of giving.

Pray with Sincerity (Matthew 6:5–8)

Matthew 6:5 Next Jesus warns His disciples against hypocrisy when they pray. They should not purposely position themselves in public areas so that others will see them praying and be impressed by their piety. If the love for prominence is the only motive in prayer, then, Jesus declares, the prominence gained is the only reward.

Matthew 6:6 In Matthew 6:5, 7, the Greek pronoun translated “you” is plural. But in Matthew 6:6, in order to emphasize private communion with God, you switches to singular. The key to answered prayer is to do it in secret (i.e., go into your room and shut your door). If our real motive is to get through to God, He will hear and answer.

It is reading too much into the passage to use it to prohibit public prayer. The early church met together for collective prayer (Acts 2:42; 12:12; 13:3; 14:23; 20:36). The point is not where we pray. At issue here is, why we pray—to be seen by people or to be heard by God.

Matthew 6:7 Prayer should not consist of vain repetitions, i.e., stock sentences or empty phrases. Unsaved people pray like that, but God is not impressed by the mere multiplication of many words. He wants to hear the sincere expressions of the heart.

Matthew 6:8 Since our Father knows the things we have need of, even before we ask Him, then it is reasonable to ask, “Why pray at all?” The reason is that, in prayer, we acknowledge our need and dependence on Him. It is the basis of our communicating with God. Also God does things in answer to prayer that He would not have done otherwise (James 4:2).

Jesus Teaches the Model Prayer (Matthew 6:9–15)

6:9 In Matthew 6:9–13 we have what is generally called “The Lord’s Prayer.” In using this title we should remember that Jesus never prayed it Himself. It was given to His disciples as a model after which they could pattern their prayers. It was not given as the exact words they were to use (Matthew 6:7 seems to rule this out), because many words repeated by rote memory can become empty phrases.

Our Father in heaven. Prayer should be addressed to God the Father in acknowledgment of His sovereignty over the universe. (Matthew 6:9)

Hallowed be Your name. We should begin our prayers with worship, ascribing praise and honor to Him who is so worthy of it.

Your kingdom come. After worship, we should pray for the advancement of God’s cause, putting His interests first. Specifically, we should pray for the day when our Savior-God, the Lord Jesus Christ, will set up His kingdom on earth and reign in righteousness. (Matthew 6:10)

Your will be done. In this petition we acknowledge that God knows what is best and that we surrender our will to His. It also expresses a longing to see His will acknowledged throughout the world.

On earth as it is in heaven. This phrase modifies all three preceding petitions. The worship of God, the sovereign rule by God, and the performance of His will are all a reality of heaven. The prayer is that these conditions might exist on earth as they do in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. After putting God’s interests first, we are permitted to present our own needs. This petition acknowledges our dependence on God for daily food, both spiritual and physical. (Matthew 6:11)

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. This does not refer to judicial forgiveness from the penalty of sin (that forgiveness is obtained by faith in the Son of God). Rather this refers to the parental forgiveness that is necessary if fellowship with our Father is to be maintained. If believers are unwilling to forgive those who wrong them, how can they expect to be in fellowship with their Father who has freely forgiven them for their wrongdoings? (Matthew 6:12)

And do not lead us into temptation. This request may appear to contradict James 1:13, which states that God would never tempt anyone. However, God does allow His people to be tested and tried. This petition expresses a healthy distrust of one’s own ability to resist temptations or to stand up under trial. It acknowledges complete dependence on the Lord for preservation. (Matthew 6:13)

But deliver us from the evil one. This is the prayer of all who desperately desire to be kept from sin by the power of God. It is the heart’s cry for daily salvation from the power of sin and Satan in one’s life.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. The last sentence of the prayer is omitted in the Roman Catholic and most modern Protestant Bibles since it is lacking in many ancient manuscripts. However, such a doxology is the perfect ending to the prayer and is in the majority of manuscripts. 8 It should, as John Calvin writes, “not only warm our hearts to press toward the glory of God … but also to tell us that all our prayers … have no other foundation than God alone.”

Matthew 6:14-15 This serves as an explanatory footnote to Matthew 6:12. It is not part of the prayer, but added to emphasize that the parental forgiveness mentioned in Matthew 6:12 is conditional.

Jesus Teaches How to Fast (Matthew 6:16–18)

Matthew 6:16 The third form of religious hypocrisy that Jesus denounced was the deliberate attempt to create an appearance of fasting. The hypocrites disfigured their faces when they fasted in order to look gaunt, haggard, and doleful. But Jesus says it is ridiculous to attempt to appear holy.

Matthew 6:17, 18 True believers should fast in secret, giving no outward appearance of it. To anoint your head and wash your face was a means of appearing in one’s normal manner. It is enough that the Father knows; His reward will be better than people’s approval.

MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.) (1223–1225). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[Based on my classes with Richard D. Leineweber, Jr. c. 2000]

The Law of Non-Retaliation

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How to respond to those who hate you (Matthew 5:38-48)

One of the oldest laws in the world was based on the principle of equal retaliation. It was called lex talionis and dates back as far as Hammurabi (eighteenth-century B.C.). It is found three times in the Old Testament (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21). The original intention was to restrict unlimited revenge. It was understood as (only) an eye for eye and (only) a tooth for a tooth. Further, it was never intended as an excuse for individual retaliation; it belonged in the law court and was allowed by a judge.

Jesus now changes limited retaliation to non-retaliation. Members of Christ’s kingdom do not resist an evil person (someone who may wrong them). Like their Master, his disciples accept unjust abuse (1 Peter 2:21–23). Three examples of non-retaliation for personal abuse are offered.

  1. If someone should insult you with a backhanded slap to the right cheek, you are to turn to him the other also for an additional blow (Matthew 5:39). Rabbis taught that such a blow was doubly insulting and carried twice the fine as an open-handed slap.
  2. If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic (a long, close-fitting undergarment made of cotton or linen), give that person your cloak (an outer garment that served as a blanket at night) as well. Jewish law required that a neighbor not be deprived of his or her cloak (Exodus 22:26–27) at night, otherwise, there would be no covering under which to sleep. Jesus counsels giving the aggressor not only the undergarment but the outer robe as well. Obviously this is not to be taken in a woodenly literal fashion. Jesus is not recommending that believers leave the courtroom naked!
  3. If a soldier from an occupying force wants to conscript a peasant to carry their gear (the Greek verb means “to force”) the disciple would go beyond what was require to that which was unexpected. Simon of Cyrene was “forced” by the Roman soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross (Matthew 27:32).

The section closes with the counsel to give to those who ask and lend to those who wish to borrow. Jesus’ followers are not to be caught up in anxious concern about the things they possess. They are to enjoy the same freedom that led the believers mentioned in Hebrews 10:34 to endure gladly the looting of all their possessions.

Mounce, R. H. (2011). Matthew. Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (48–49). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS:

1. Can you identify with the bumper sticker, “I don’t get mad, I could even”?

2. Is Matthew 5:38 and exact quote of the Old Testament? (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21).

3. What was the purpose for this Old Testament command? (Deuteronomy 19:20-21) 1) as a deterrent: The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you; 2) as a protection against excess, don’t go overboard.

4. How was Jesus contrasting his teaching with the rabbis of his day? (Matthew 5:39) Jesus does not deny the law of retaliation as a valid principle of legal justice. While insisting upon adequate punishment, this law safeguarded justice by not permitting excessive punishment. Jesus advocates a desired response more characteristic of a regenerate citizen of the kingdom.

5. How was Moses legislation on civil justice misused?

6. Does this command to prohibit retribution on a government level? (Romans 12:17-21, 13:1-4, 1 Peter 2:13-14) Like Matthew 5:38, this deals only with matters of personal retaliation, not criminal offenses or acts of military aggression. (See # 9 below)

7. Who alone can personally execute vengeance righteously? (Deuteronomy 32:35) Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.

8. What did Jesus mean when he commanded his disciples, “do not resist him who is able”? (Matthew 5:39) This passage deals with disciples of Jesus giving up personal rights.

9. To which four basic areas of human rights does Jesus supply this command of non-retaliation? (Matthew 5:39-42) Jesus applied this principle of non-retaliation to affronts against one’s 1) dignity (Matthew 5:39), 2) security, lawsuits to gain one’s personal assets (Matthew 5:40), 3) infringements on one’s liberty (Matthew 5:41), and 4) violations of property rights (Matthew 5:42). He was calling for a full surrender of all personal rights.

10. How does Jesus instructs his followers to act instead of react when these basic rights are challenged? (Matthew 5:39-42)

11. What did the rabbinic tradition add to and omit from Leviticus 19:18 to justify hatred for their enemies? (Matthew 5:43) The rabbis corrupted Leviticus 19:18, which sums up the Law of Israel, by adding “and hate your enemy.” By tampering with Scripture, they intended to define their neighbors to include only Jews and to exclude Samaritans and Gentiles. Kingdom citizens must practice self-denying, self-giving, non-discriminating love toward all men, even their enemies, for God does the same (Matthew 5:45).

12. Did the Old Testament law permit retaliation against an enemy? (Deuteronomy 22:1-4, Exodus 23:4-5, proverbs 24:17-18, Proverbs 25:21-22)

13. What old testament characters are good examples of refusing to return evil for evil?

14. How do the imprecatory psalms fit with the concept of non-retaliation? (Psalm 69:22-24, Psalm 74:1-23)

15. How are we commanded to act toward our enemies? (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, 28, 35)

16. What three purposes did Jesus give for obeying this command? (Matthew 5:45-47) (See three practical reasons, below).

17. What kind of growth does Jesus command in this area? (Matthew 5:48)

TEACHING:

1. Act Instead of React (Matthew 5:39-42) This passage is taken directly from the Old Testament (Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19:21). What it required was that the punishment exactly match the crime. In the Pentateuch the phrase, “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” is part about larger list that includes “hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

The principle of “the punishment must fit the crime” has two basic purposes.

A. To curtail future crime. When a person is punished for wrongdoing, the rest will here and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.

B. To prevent excessive punishment based on personal vengeance and retaliation.

You have heard it said “I don’t get mad, I get even,” but Jesus taught just the opposite.

Jesus uses the phrase, “you have heard” but where had the disciples heard that saying? The rabbinical teaching interpreted it as a license for revenge. They were teaching that Jewish tradition permitted each man to become his own judge, jury, and executioner. Civil justice was perverted to personal revenge. In no case to the Old Testament allow an individual to take the law into his own hands and apply it personally.

Jesus in this section prohibits retribution on a personal level, but not on the government to level. The principle of non-retaliation doesn’t apply to governmental authorities. Check out Romans 13:4. When we take revenge, we get in the way of God ordained minister that is supposed to deal with the evildoers (Romans 12:9).

We live in a day where the vigilante is glorified. That sort of thing feeds our old nature. That’s what happens when we take personal vengeance. This doesn’t leave room for God to work and to bring pressure upon the individual that is done evil to you (1 Peter 2:13-14).

When Jesus says that we are not resistant evil person, he says “don’t take resist him personally.” He is referring to the harm that is caused to us by someone who is evil. Paul taught the same thing by saying, “never pay back evil for evil to anyone.” We are called to “overcome evil by doing good” (Romans 12:21).

After establishing the basic principle of non-retaliation and Matthew 5:39, Jesus speaks of four basic human rights in Matthew 5:39-42 – dignity, security, liberty, and property. What Jesus is laying down here in these examples is a pattern of acting instead of reacting. If you ever are going to act rather than react, you have to plan your response.

To illustrate, we could compare a thermostat and a thermometer. These are two different instruments used in relation to temperature. Thermometer type people are controlled by their environment. If their climate gets hotter, so do they. The thermostat type person controls their environment. That is the Christian, the disciple. He determines whether things will calm down or not. They let their vertical relationship with God affect their horizontal relationships with people.

Act Instead of React

A. Turn – The word cheek literally means “the jaw.” The blow intended is not a mere slap but a heavy blow, and act of violence rather than contempt. To slap someone in the face was among the most demeaning actions that could take place. It was attack on ones honor. It was to treat someone as being far less than a human being and it would often lead far beyond the slap into a punch and then a fight. We are commanded to control our attitude regardless of our environment.

Jesus illustrated this when he was before the Sanhedrin when they abused him and mocked him and slapped him in the face (Matthew 26:67). It is interesting that the most aggressive act that you could perform after being slapped is to turn the other cheek. This is a sign of great strength. To retaliate is to be conquered, to be overcome by evil (Romans 12:21).

B. Let him have – The shirt that is mentioned here is the type of tunic worn as an undergarment. It had short sleeves and it only reached to about the knees. The outer garment or coat was used as a covering for the night, it was a blanket, and it was forbidden by Mosaic law to keep someone’s coat overnight (Leviticus 22:26-27). Being willing to yield this up implies a higher degree of concession.

Jesus is not speaking of robbery here, but rather a legitimate claim someone might have against you in a court of law. When a person had no money or other possessions, the court would often require payment by clothing. One who was truly righteous would be willing to surrender even his coat, his extremely valued over garment, even though the court could not demand, to meet the required debt.

If someone takes you to court and a fair legal judgment has been made, a reaction should not be one of bitterness and resentment. If possible we should be willing to offer more to show that we don’t harbor ill feelings toward the person. Think about it divorce which requires alimony. If you have to give $250, then give $350 to deal with your heart attitude.

C. Go with him – God’s original intent was that everyone was created in his image should live in freedom. Human bondage and slavery were consequences of the fall. In this passage Jesus is referring to a law which set a Roman soldier could force a civilian to carry his backpack for one Roman mile. For example, if some Jewish boy was running an errand for his dad in a Roman soldier stop to him, he would have to carry us pack for one mile. Inside he may be thinking, I’ve got better things to do. I have the right to finish this task for my dad. These laws are taking away our freedom. So bitterly he grabs the pack and put it on his shoulder to complete the task. Perhaps he is kicking the dust in resentment. This would be the attitude of someone who is not a disciple. Price says to go the extra mile. We shouldn’t stand on our legal rights and stop when the law has been satisfied. If we go that second on required mile, we may spark the other persons interest. Go the extra mile and make a friend. We should willingly surrender our liberty rather than retaliate.

D. Give – the last basic human right is that of property. Possessiveness is another characteristic of fallen human nature. We just don’t like giving up, even temporarily, that which belongs to us. We believe that we have the right to use or dispose of our possessions as we see fit. Take a look at Luke 6:34, The word lend has more the idea of letting someone use something for a while. Jewish law said that if you owed something you had borrowed, every seventh year of the debt would be forgiven. So a Jew who was charitable would lend something with no expectation of seeing it again. Luke 6:30 tells us not to demand something back. We should loan things that belong to us to those with genuine needs with an attitude of, “if I don’t get it back there is no retaliation.”

We should not obey this command grudgingly when faced with someone with a real need that we can meet. We should have a willing, generous, sharing, and loving desire to help others. God isn’t interested in tokenism that wants to buy off one don’t conscience.

2. Use the Weapons of Love (Matthew 5:43-47, Luke 6:27-28)

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” The foundation of Jewish ethics was Leviticus 19:18; “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.” It is often mentioned that nowhere in the Old Testament will you find an explicit demand to hate your enemies. In fact, some verses seem to point in quite the other direction (Proverbs 25:21, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink”).

Yet many other verses call for Israel actively to oppose its national enemies…

  1. Deuteronomy 7:2, “Show them [the Hittites, Girgashites, etc.] no mercy”
  2. Deuteronomy 20:16, “Do not leave alive anything that breathes” [among the cities that God gives Israel as an inheritance]
  3. Deuteronomy 23:6, “Do not seek a treaty or friendship with them [Ammonites and Moabites] as long as you live”).

The attitude reflects God’s own “hatred” of evil. David can say, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?” (Psalm 139:21).

Followers of Jesus are to love their enemies as well as their friends. In this way they show themselves to be children of their heavenly Father. Without partiality, he causes his sun to rise (Matthew 5:45) on both sinner and saint and his rain to fall on the honest and dishonest alike. His favor extends to all.

Mounce, R. H. (2011). Matthew. Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (49–51). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Misinterpretation: (Matthew 5:43, Leviticus 19:18, Deuteronomy 23:3-6)

There is a contrast between the Pharisees teaching, “you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” and what Christ was teaching. The audience was only familiar with the teaching of the scribes in the Pharisees, which was based on rabbinic teaching and tradition, which wasn’t true to the proper interpretation of the Old Testament text. Jesus points out that the phrase was only part of the tradition that actually came from the old testament text. Leviticus 19:18 says, “you shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord.” (Matthew 19:19, 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27, Romans 13:9, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8).

This is a marked difference between Islam and Christianity, we love our enemies rather than try to destroy them. What about the crusades? Popes and kings were godless people, they were not saved. The crusades was not the church in action. Jesus’ point is that we must treat our enemies the same we would as our friends (Exodus 23:4-5).

There are Three Practical Ways we can Demonstrate our Love for our Enemies:

A. Pray (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:28). It is Warren Wiersbe who says that when we pray for our enemies, we find it easier to love them. It takes the poison out of our attitudes.

B. Do good (Luke 6:27). If you have someone who is antagonistic toward you, think of practical ways that you can meet his basic needs. That’s how you demonstrate your love to him, when you do good to him (Romans 12:19-20).

When you return good for evil, you will bring a burning sense of shame because of your kindness toward them. As a historical possibility, this phrase was used to describe how someone helped someone else who’s fire going out on a cold night. The enemy of yours is banging on the door late one winters night. Your enemy is freezing and it’s finally gotten up the nerve to come to you and ask for help. The natural reaction is to say “forget it, don’t you know how you hurt me in the past? Suffer! That’s what you get.” But that is not how a Christian response. Even though you were warm in your bed, he would rise and meet your enemy’s need. The coals would be put in a container of brass or copper and then placed upon your enemy’s head as he would return home.

C. Bless (Luke 6:28). The third weapon of love is to bless our enemy. What does it mean to bless someone? The word bless (eulogeo) means to speak well of. At a funeral we know it as a eulogy. People say nice things about the deceased person.

Four reasons for using these weapons of love: (Matthew 5:45-47)

A. It Proves that You are Sons of Your Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:45a). To act instead of react is proving that we are sons of our heavenly father. A life of self-giving love gives evidence that we are God’s children. The phrase “in order that” is a Greek purpose clause. It says “in order that you may be sons of your father.” This sounds as though you can get saved if you obey the command, but this purpose clause would literally be translated “in order that you may show yourselves to be sons of your father in heaven.”

B. It is Godlike to do so (Matthew 5:45b). The father shares good things with those who oppose him. God has an impartial indiscriminate love. Christ died and demonstrated love for us while we were yet sinners. He died for the whole world. Theologians call this common grace.

C. It Determines Future Reward (Matthew 5:46)

D. It is a Testimony to Others (Matthew 5:47) Jesus asked his disciples, what do you do more than others? He has higher expectations for his disciples and expected them to live in a higher level than the unsaved world. We must do more than just return good for good. The world will take notice if we return good for evil.

3. Be Mature in Your Response (Matthew 5:48)

Therefore you are to be perfect (future imperative) as your heavenly father is perfect. The word “perfect” suggest maturity as sons of God.

To be children of God requires that we meet moral conditions. To be like God we must show our favor not simply to those who are ready to love in return. There is no reward for loving those who love us. Even the despised tax collectors do that. And if we show courtesy only to our friends, there is nothing out of the ordinary in that. What God requires is that his children be perfect, therefore, just as he is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

This last statement in Matthew 5:48 has often been misinterpreted. It has served as a basic text for the doctrine of Christian perfectionism, which requires of the Christian absolute moral impeccability, but it often ends up reclassifying sin as something less serious than it is. The perfection to which Jesus calls his followers has just been defined by the context. Perfect love is an active concern for all people everywhere, regardless of whether or not they receive it. To do this is to imitate God and demonstrate that we are his children (Matthew 5:45). It is to display a family likeness. The Greek word for “perfect” means “having attained the end/purpose.” Since human beings were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), they are “perfect” when they demonstrate in their lives those characteristics that reflect the nature of God.

Mounce, R. H. (2011). Matthew. Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (49–51). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

“You shall be perfect” translates two Greek words: a future imperative (esesthe) expressing a command, and the word teleioi, denoting “end,” “goal,” “outcome.” The idea of gaining maturity does not fully interpret this quotation from Leviticus 19:2. Perfection is attainable only when evil is vanquished and the kingdom citizen is glorified. His present life ought to exhibit maturity and progress toward that ultimate goal of perfection. Whatever the interpretation, the demand for perfection is not to be weakened. Rather, Matthew magnifies the fact that the righteousness demanded of kingdom citizens cannot be attained on the basis of merit, but must be given through mercy. This statement summarizes Matthew 5:17–48.

[Based on my classes with Richard D. Leineweber, Jr. c. 2000]

Making Realistic Commitments

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The Key Passage (Matthew 5:33-37) – You shall not make false vows, but fulfill your vows to the Lord. LET YOUR STATEMENT BE (present imperative) yes or no, anything beyond that is evil.

Jesus Condemns Oaths (Matthew 5:33–37)

Some have understood Jesus’ prohibition of oaths to be universal, but Jesus Himself submitted to oath (Matthew 26:63), and Paul invoked God as his witness in Romans 1:9. God Himself takes an oath so that we might be encouraged (Hebrews 6:17). Jesus is addressing a narrow and misleading legalism that required a specific oath to make spoken words binding. The implication of such an approach to honesty is that we do not need to be truthful except under oath. Jesus demands an integrity of speech as though everything were under oath. He also prohibited the implicit idolatry of swearing by anything less than God.

The Mosaic Law contained several prohibitions against swearing falsely by the name of God (Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21). To swear by God’s Name meant that He was your witness that you were telling the truth. The Jews sought to avoid the impropriety of swearing falsely by God’s Name by substituting heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or their head as that by which they swore.

Jesus condemns the seeking of loopholes in the law as sheer hypocrisy and forbids any form of swearing or oaths in ordinary conversation. Not only was it hypocritical, it was useless to try to avoid swearing by God’s Name by merely substituting another noun for His Name. To swear by heaven is to swear by God’s throne. To swear by the earth is to swear by His footstool. To swear by Jerusalem is to swear by the royal capital. Even to swear by one’s own head involves God because He is the Creator of all (see the chart below).

For the Christian, an oath is unnecessary. His Yes should mean Yes, and his No should mean No. To use stronger language is to admit that Satan—the evil one—rules our lives. There are no circumstances under which it is proper for a Christian to lie.

This passage also forbids any shading of the truth or deception. However, it does not forbid taking an oath in a court of law. Jesus Himself testified under oath before the High Priest (Matthew 26:63). Paul also used an oath to call God as his witness that what he was writing was true (2 Corinthians 1:23; Galatians 1:20).

The key point in Jesus’ teaching is that a disciple’s word is to be absolutely trustworthy, just as trustworthy as a signed document. Josephus writes of the Essenes, “Any word of theirs has more force than an oath; swearing they avoid, regarding it as worse than perjury” (The NIV Application Commentary, Matthew, pp. 246-247). The Essenes (as a Jewish sect) were less popular than Pharisees and Sadducees, living in cities but gathering in communal life dedicated to asceticism (some groups practiced celibacy), voluntary poverty, and daily immersion. Many separate but related religious groups of that era shared similar mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs. Paul invoked an oath (2 Corinthians 1:18, 23) when people did not know him well.

Group Questions:

1. Are you good at making realistic commitments?

2. How can Proverbs 20:25 help us make realistic commitments?

3. What is the difference between lifelong commitments and limited time commitments?

4. What does God think of backing out of commitments? (Ecclesiastes 5:4-6, Psalm 15:4, Numbers 30:3-15)

5. Is backing out of commitments been a pattern in your life?

6. What are some enemies of commitments?

7. What is the significance of swearing an oath? (Hebrews 6:16)

8. What does the word vow mean? (Matthew 5:33)

9. What was wrong with the rabbinical tradition that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 5:33?

10. What are some of the hypocritical oaths that the Pharisees used to give the impression they were making a commitment that could be trusted? (Matthew 5:34-36, 23:16-22)

11. How does Jesus explain that their subtle distinctions to escape the binding obligations were not valid? (Matthew 5:34-36, 23:16-20)

12. The Pharisees’ attempt to subvert the truth with these formulas was evidence of what? (Mark 7:22, John 8:44)

13. What does Jesus command us to continually do in Matthew 5:37?

14. What does the phrase “and anything beyond these is of evil” mean? (Matthew 5:37)

15. Does James 5:12 rule out the use of all oaths?

16. Would it be wrong for a Christian to be put under oath in a court room? (Genesis 14:22-23, Matthew 26:63-64)

Teaching Notes on Making Commitments:

1. Make commitments that you intend to keep. (Matthew 5:33)

There are two words that are interconnected in Scripture: a vow (swearing an oath) and cursing. The word vow is primarily equivalent to being a fence, an enclosure, that which restrains a person, hence a promise. The idea is that when someone makes a promise, he fences himself in or locks himself in to keep his word.

The swearing of an oath is an appeal to God (or to something held sacred) to support the truthfulness of the statement, a promise or vow in order to remove any shadow of doubt. Hebrews 6:16 says, “For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.” So most vows involved a curse that a man would place on himself if his words were not true or his promises were not fulfilled (Numbers 5:21, Mark 14:71, Matthew 26:74, Acts 23:21).

A vow is not to be made rashly, so don’t make commitments impulsively, emotionally, or with insufficient information (Proverbs 20:25, Ecclesiastes 5:2-5).

Fathers and husbands can release their daughters and wives from limited-time commitments (Numbers 30:3-16).

Periodic reevaluation is not only desirable, but also imperative. Don’t make commitments lightly, since breaking a commitment can be painful and embarrassing, and sometimes not a biblical option. The Psalmist teaches that a person who will dwell on God’s holy hill despises a reprobate, honors those who fear the Lord, and swears to his own hurt and does not change (Psalm 15:4).

It is important that leaders speak the truth and guard their heart from deception. Jesus says, from within and out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness (Mark 7:21-22, John 8:44).

False vows are promises that are made with no intention of fulfilling them.

2. Make commitments that are free from deception. (Matthew 5:34-36)

The primary problem was a miss placed emphasis. It’s limited honest Bowers to the Lord, to vows made directly to him or in his name. The keeping of those valves was mandatory, whereas keeping other valves was made optional. Leviticus 19:12 was conveniently interpreted to mean that swearing falsely by any other name was allowed.

Complete honesty should be typical of the kingdom citizen, so that no oath is necessary to guarantee trustworthiness for one’s “yes” or “no.” The law regarding oaths was based upon the third Commandment. False testimony resulted in severe consequences, since it consisted of taking God’s name in vain (Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:11-12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 19:16–20). The rabbis taught that oaths which omitted God’s name could be broken and were not binding. Jesus maintains that God is involved in heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and all things. Hence, all oaths are binding, and any attempt to avoid an oath while pretending to keep it profanes the divine name. The reference is neither to taking oaths in court nor to profanity.

OathsThis chart is by my friend Rick.

Jewish tradition held that oaths using God’s name were binding, whereas those avoiding God’s name were not. Jesus now teaches that any such practice is misguided, because God is necessarily involved in all transactions—heaven is his throne, earth is his footstool, Jerusalem is his city, and even the color of a person’s hair is beyond human control (Barclay, vol. 1, pp. 159–60). What the followers of Christ are to do is simply answer Yes or No and stand by their word. To be under the rule of God (that is, in his kingdom) is to be absolutely trustworthy and transparently honest. To depart from this is to fall under the influence of the evil one.

William Berkeley writes, “Here is a great eternal truth. Life cannot be divided into compartments in some of which God is involved and in others of which he is not. There cannot be one type of language in the church and another kind of language in the shipyard or the factory for the office. There cannot be one kind of conduct in the church and another kind of conduct in the business world. The fact is that God does not need to be invited into certain departments of life and kept out of others. He is everywhere, all through life and in every activity of life. He hears not only the words which are spoken in his name, he hears all words, and there cannot be any such thing as a form of word which evades bringing God into a transaction. We will regard all promises as sacred if we remember that all promises are made in the presence of God.” (Barclay, TDSB, vol. 1, p.160).

The rabbinical teaching of the past (Matthew 5:33) had misinterpreted Scripture (Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2, Deuteronomy 23:21:23) and a dichotomy was created. The word dichotomy is from the Greek word meaning “to cut in two.” It refers to dividing into two parts, or two mutually exclusive groups or sections. Things that were closely tied to the religious and spiritual life had to reflect the character of God, but their deals in the secular marketplace were done by a different set of rules. Jesus’ profound point is that you cannot separate the two. Everything we do is spiritual and connected to God. Jesus in emphatically dismisses the notion that some areas of life are unrelated to God.

Jesus condemned the Jewish leaders for making these hairsplitting distinctions between binding and non binding oaths. Matthew 23:16. James 5:12 does not rule out taking an oath of every kind. “Other” oaths means of the same kind (allon). If James wanted to prohibit every kind of oath, he would have used a different Greek word, meaning “another of a different kind” (heteron).

3. Say yes or no when asked to make a commitment. Matthew 5:37. Jesus commanded his disciples to let your statements be yes yes or no no. Some words have double meaning and some words can be interpreted into different ways, but there is only one possible way of interpreting yes.

Jesus is not prohibiting a Christian from being put under oath in a court room, Genesis 14:22-23, Matthew 26:63-64, but it should be unnecessary if the words of Christ were obeyed. Clement of Alexandria held that a Christian should “maintain a life calculated to inspire confidence toward those without, so that an oath may not even be asked.”

In order to accommodate the week fate of man, God would swear by himself when making a promise, Genesis 22:16 Jeremiah 22:5, Amos 4:2, Amos 6:8. Since his promise already was unbreakable, his pledge did not make his promise any more secure, but he nonetheless gave it as further assurance to those who are slow to believe.

Jesus even allowed himself to be put under an oath, Matthew 26:63-64. The High Priest’s phrase, “I adjure you by the living God,” is literally in the Greek, “I put you under oath by the living God.” This was when he was being tried before the Pharisees. Although Jesus was willing to swear an old his words are always trustworthy. His words are a reflection of his character (Titus 1:2, Numbers 23:19).

And second Corinthians 1, Paul concludes that one should not vacillate and wander in and out of commitments every time circumstances change or the pressure gets too great. Paul says to vacillate in a commitment is an active carnality. Paul here points out that he postponed his trip because he wanted to give the Corinthian’s time to repent but he would eventually show up as promised. Paul assured the Corinthian’s that his promise to come was as trustworthy as the message that he preached (2 Corinthians 1:15-22).

4. Recognized the hierarchy of commitments before saying yes or no.

Lifelong Commitments: lifelong commitment should not be terminated or reduced, only deepened. God takes our vows seriously.

Lifelong commitment must be for you, and very significant, and deeply rooted in Scripture. These commitments TO BE are issues of mind and heart that result in deep character traits. For instance: being a faithful spouse, parent, and employee; being a person of integrity and personal holiness.

The lifelong commitment TO DO must only include activities that are essential, and are usually not highly restrictive as to the specifics. For instance: a lifelong commitment to regularly do Bible study, attend a Bible believing church, to make disciples who can make disciples, to steward my time, talent, and treasure.

These lifelong commitments are not necessarily time consumers, but should form the very fiber of your life, the way you think and live. How they are translated into specific activities it’s more under limited time commitments.

Now comes the crucial question. How does one practically make lifelong commitment? I have found four predominant settings in which a deep commitment tend to be made:

  1. Conferences of more than one day.
  2. In the process of in-depth Bible study.
  3. In the midst of personal crisis.
  4. Through small groups or person-to-person discipling.

Note the absence of church services or single meetings. They often are too short to focus on deep commitment. Certainly decisions are made in such meetings, but they generally result from a third setting, a personal crisis.

Limited-Time Commitments: how do lifelong commitment interact with limited time commitments?

  1. Most of our time and energy is consumed by our limited time commitments. Yet they are necessary to put practical meaning into deep lifelong commitments.
  2. These Don permanent commitment should rarely extend more than 6 to 12 months. At that point we can choose to extend them, but we are not obligated to do so.
  3. These commitments, although short term, are made to be kept, not dodged.
  4. As an example, I may have a lifelong commitment to Bible study, but would only said goals or make commitments to a group on a 6 to 12 month basis.
  5. Most people are reluctant to add a regular or biweekly activity on an open ended basis. They need a termination point to evaluate effectiveness and their own need or contribution. On the other hand, a commitment to a one time activities such as a conference is much easier to make since it is an event. But even those events pile up and need evaluation in light of our personal need, vision or calling. One problem is that many people do not have lifelong commitment to vision and calling against which to evaluate the short-term commitment. Most people make decisions impulsively, depending on how they feel or how much time they have.

Finally, short-term activity commitments must be realistic and reasonable: Two hours a day in prayer, 10 hours so we can Bible study, or four group meeting room per week maybe commendable, but unrealistic for any length of time. It’s better to make more reasonable, attainable goals and exceed them than to set a pattern of burden some commitments.

[Based on my classes with Richard D. Leineweber, Jr. c. 2000]

How to Maintain Sexual Purity

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We have now come to the fourth command in this Adult Stage or Equip Level of disciplemaking, on how to avoid sexual indiscretion and maintain sexual purity. Our passage comes from Matthew 5:27-32. We will find these commands: TEAR it out, THROW it (Matthew 5:29), CUT it off, THROW it (Matthew 5:30), CUT it off, THROW it (Matthew 18:8), PLUCK it out, THROW it (Matthew 18:9), CUT it off (Mark 9:43, 45), CAST it out (Mark 9:47).

It is illustrated in the book of Acts (Acts 15:20, 29, 21:25) and amplified in the epistles (LUST = Romans 1:24, 6:12, 7:7-8, 13:14, Galatians 4:16, 24, Ephesians 2:3, 4:22, Colossians 3:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:5, 2 Timothy 2:22).

Group Questions:

1. Have you ever struggled with impure thoughts? If so, how did you get victory over it?

2. Have you ever had a friend who committed adultery? What were the consequences?

3. What was the penalty for adultery in the Old Testament? (Exodus 20:14, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 5:18, 22:22)

4. Are we to take Jesus’ example in John 8:1-11 to mean that the God of the New Testament does not condemn adultery?

5. What is the technical definition of adultery?

6. How did the Pharisees interpret breaking the seventh commandment? (Matthew 5:27) The Mosaic Law clearly prohibited adultery (Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18). A person might be proud that he had never broken this commandment, and yet have his “eyes full of adultery” (2 Peter 2:14). While outwardly respectable, his mind might be constantly wandering down labyrinths of impurity. So Jesus reminded His disciples that mere abstinence from the physical act was not enough—there must be inward purity.

7. Does Jesus condemn the inadvertent, accidental glance at a woman? (Matthew 5:28) The law forbade the act of adultery; Jesus forbids the desire: Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. E. Stanley Jones caught the import of this verse when he wrote: “If you think or act adultery, you do not satisfy the sex urge; you pour oil on a fire to quench it.” Sin begins in the mind, and if we nourish it, we eventually commit the act.

“Whoever” includes both men and women, married and unmarried. Jesus condemns fornication as well as “adultery,” which involves voluntary extramarital sexual intimacies (Matthew 5:32).

Regarding Matthew 5:32 (divorce and causing her to commit adultery): “Sexual immorality” translates the Greek porneia. Various meanings are exhibited in the N.T. for porneia, the context making the significance clear:

  1. It may refer to voluntary sexual intercourse of an unmarried person with anyone of the opposite sex (1 Corinthians 7:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:3).
  2. It may refer to all forms of unchastity (John 8:41; Acts 15:20, 29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:13, 18; Ephesians 5:3).
  3. It may refer to prostitution (Revelation 2:14, 20, 21).

Here the exception clause may refer to a situation in which those married are already closely related and whose marriage, according to Jewish law, would technically be sexual immorality (cf. Leviticus 18:6–18; Acts 15:20; 1 Corinthians 5:1). The word moicheuthenai (Gk.), “causes her to commit adultery” (Matthew 19:3–9), described adultery, extramarital sexual infidelity. Porneia and moicheuthenai later came to be used interchangeably.

8. Is it a sin to be tempted? If not, when does it become sin? (James 1:13-15)

9. Although a woman does not lust in the same way as a man, how might she participate in its guilt? (2 Kings 9:30, 1 Timothy 2:9, 1 Thessalonians 4:4, 6)

10. When does the man commit adultery? (Matthew 5:28)

11. Give an example of how an adulterous heart can manifest itself by seeking out an object that can fulfill its fantasy.

12. It Jesus saying there is a physical remedy for a heart problem? (Matthew 5:29-30) – The two examples Jesus gives call for radical action to prevent and eradicate sin. However, they are merely hyperbolic and shouldn’t be taken literally. He maintains that we should be cautious concerning the avoidance of sin, making every effort to remain pure. The severity of the demand illustrates the radical nature of Jesus’ ethic and our radical need. Jesus is not advocating self-mutilation; not the eyes or hands cause lust, but the heart and mind. Christians must not only avoid the act of adultery (“hand”), but also those things that would lead to a lustful attitude (“eye”).

13. What does Jesus command us to do in this passage?

14. What sort of steps can we take to perform this radical surgery in our lives?

15. Describe the consequences of committing adultery: (Proverbs 2:1-22, 5:1-23, 6, 20-35, 7:1-27, Hebrews 13:4b, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 2 Peter 2:14, 1 Corinthians 5:1-12, Revelation 2:21-23, 22:15, Psalm 32:1-7, 57).

16. What are the things in your life that are nurturing adulterous thoughts?

Avoiding Sexual indiscretion: (Proverbs 22:3 – the prudent sees evil and hides himself, Proverbs 2:11 – Discretion will guard you).

“Sexual affairs don’t hit out of the blue. They are the end result of underlying problems. And usually there are sign of trouble long before the affair occurs, although they aren’t recognized as danger signals.” Doctors Minerth and Meier

There are steps that lead to adultery, usually by not developing behavioral guidelines. Discretion is personal judgment in setting personal boundaries in the way we behave with the opposite gender. When we are in denial, we are close to falling and tend to underestimate the need for boundaries.

Personal Boundaries:

  1. I will not counsel a woman behind closed doors.
  2. I will not drive somewhere with a woman not my wife.
  3. I will not take a woman out to eat.
  4. I will not hire a secretary that my wife hasn’t interviewed.
  5. I will not allow my secretary to do something personal for me.
  6. I will not use a computer behind closed doors or late at night.

People who lack discretion ignore warning flags and move ahead despite the warnings of the Holy Spirit.

Here are some steps toward indiscretion:

  1. Emotional Delight: There are some people that we just naturally like to be around, it’s called chemistry. This is a yellow flag if the person is a woman.
  2. Extra Time Together: Spending extra time with that person brings emotional delight. There is nothing improper, just spending a little time together after the meeting or volunteering to work on a project together. While this may be legitimate, this is feeding step number one and needs to be a warning sign and check you motives.
  3. Excessive Touching: The red flag is now up. It’s a hug rather than a handshake. A lingering hug or touching the arm during a conversation. Touching leads to more touching.
  4. Secret Meetings: Maybe it’s getting together for breakfast or taking a walk together during lunch break to talk about personal problems, hold hands, or comfort one another.
  5. Infatuation: Now we are past the red flags and into addictive craziness. If someone should see what’s happening and intervene, it is met with “get off my back, there’s nothing going on.” These two are committed to each other. Unless God intervenes, adultery is almost inevitable. There is never a good excuse for an affair. At this point, he will not listen to reason or logical arguments. The bottom line: adultery is stupid (proverbs 6:32-34).

Steps that Jesus Prescribes to Avoid Sexual Indiscretion:

1. Keep the Seventh Commandment (Matthew 5:27, Exodus 20:14, Proverbs 6:32-34). Remember the punishment for adultery (Leviticus 20:10). We live in a flirtatious culture where this behavior is acceptable but we are to show discretion with the opposite gender (Proverbs 2:10, 16).

The Pharisees were concerned only with the outward act while Jesus gets to the heart of the matter. They quoted the OT correctly but missed the point of the law.

2. Make a Covenant with Your Eyes (Matthew 5:28a, Psalm 119:37, 101:2b-3, Job 31:1). “Look” refers to the continuous process of looking (present tense) referring to “intentional and repeated gazing with the intention of lusting.” Both genders struggle with moral purity, it is not just a male thing.

One way a woman struggle with moral purity is by the way she dresses so that men will look at her, by dressing immodestly. While temptation is not a sin, when a man sees a woman dressed provocatively, Satan will tempt the man with lustful thoughts. There is no sin if the temptation is resisted. David was not at fault for seeing Bathsheba bathing (2 Samuel 11:1-4), his sin was the second glance and the plotting to have her.

We must take thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and turn our eyes away (Psalm 119:37, 101:2b-3). Sex starts in the mind.

3. Guard Your Heart (Matthew 5:28b, 15:19-20, Proverbs 4:23, 23:7, Psalm 24:3-4, 66:18). Some Pharisees recognized they could not control their thought life so they would close their eyes when a woman walked by, and proceeded to walk into walls (the blind leading the blind).

4. Take Radical Steps to Keep Yourself Pure (Matthew 5:29-30, Romans 13:13-14). “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out [aorist imperative] and throw it [aorist imperative] from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off [aorist imperative] and throw it [aorist imperative] from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

5. Keep Your Marriage Covenant/Vows (Matthew 5:31-32, 1 Corinthians 7:1-3, Proverbs 2:16-17, Malachi 2:14, Ecclesiastes 5:1-5).

  • Adultery and Frequency of Sex in Marriage: when sex in marriage increases, divorce from adultery decreases.
  • Possible Causes: when a man gets sex at home he is not looking for it elsewhere, his needs are satisfied at home.
  • Statistics: 92% of the cases studied when divorce stemmed from adultery occurred when there was abstinence at home.

How to Affair-Proof Your Marriage:

  1. Don’t compare the incomparable (2 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV) comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
  2. Choose your friends carefully (Leviticus 20:10 – adultery with his friend’s wife…) and Deuteronomy 13:6-9).
  3. Protect yourself on the job (Genesis 39:1-15) REFUSE, REBUKE, RUN).
  4. Avoid entertainment that lowers inhibitions (Jude 1:8 – dreamers defile the flesh, Romans 13:13-14 – make no provision for the flesh).
  5. Meet your partner’s sexual needs (1 Corinthians 7:1-5) stop depriving one another.
  6. Make a covenant with your eyes (Matthew 5:27-28, Job 31:1).

[Based on my classes with Richard D. Leineweber, Jr. c. 2000]

Supernatural Church

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Here are my notes for the final session of The Forgotten God, by Francis Chan, which includes questions for my Poster-TheForgottenGodsmall group, quotes from the book, and other observations. Remember these are notes, and not a complete article on the topic. Please purchase the book to support the author.

One of the most striking similarities that most churchgoers share with the non-Christian world is their ability to complain about the way the church operates.

If you could create the perfect church, what would it look like? If you joined a perfect church, would that church still be perfect?

Could that perfect church be accomplished through human talent and strength? Or would it require the power of the Holy Spirit?

We could duplicate most of our successful churches by assembling the right group of talented, winsome people. If a church has the right worship leader, an exciting children’s program, and entertaining speaker, it will grow. But is that really the secret to life-changing ministry? Is that how God designed the church to operate? Where does the Holy Spirit fit in that model? “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Zachariah 4:6

I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for him to come through. That I am ruined if he does not come through.

Consider your involvement with church life. In what ways do you tend to rely on natural talent as we strive to fulfill the church’s mission?

The tractor illustration from the video segment: We get excited about the tractor, and then we wear ourselves out by pushing it inch by inch through the field. At the end of the harvest, we barely managed to finish the job and end up with just enough food to go around. Tragically, this is how many churches operate; they are built on the sweat and efforts of a few talented but exhausted leaders. When we consult the owner’s manual, however, we find that the tractor is actually designed to run and plow the field on its own. When we discover that the church was designed to function through the power of the Holy Spirit, it changes everything.

Do you see yourself and/or our church pushing and pulling the tractor an inch at a time?

Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-2:5 – Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth to address the factions that were dividing the church. Groups were forming around attractive personalities.

How does Paul describe human effort as compared to the power of God?

According to this passage, why is it so important to rely on the power of the Spirit?

Think about the way you minister to the people around you. Can you say, “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)?

There ought to be a real difference between a spirit-filled person and everyone else. As Christians, we have the source of both joy and peace living inside of us. Sometimes the difference isn’t apparent until tragedy strikes.

Have you ever witnessed a person manifesting the Fruit of the Spirit to a supernatural degree?

The Spirit wants to do more than just help us out a bit. He wants to transform us, patiently but steadily, into people who transform the dark corners of our world. Sometimes we get so caught up in everything God wants us to do that we lose sight of who God wants us to be.

We won’t be transformed by simply trying harder. Remember, it’s never about you doing it on your own. It’s about the power of the Spirit in your life.

What would it look like for you to cultivate a relationship with the Spirit, allowing him to transform you, rather than simply trying harder on your own?

Perhaps we don’t recognize the Spirit’s power in our lives because we’re not stepping out in faith and doing anything where we desperately need God to show up. Talk to hurting people around you, digging deeper to learn how you can love and serve them, that’s when you need the Holy Spirit, and that’s precisely when he shows up. God works in the most desperate situations so that no one can make it for anything other than by his power. Maybe he will grant you boldness to speak into a frightening situation. Maybe he will give you a divine compassion for the lost and the poor. Maybe he will give you wisdom to say exactly what a person needs to hear at a critical moment in their life. You won’t know what God will do until you get out there and follow his leading.

We absolutely need to step beyond our own abilities. You get praised for using your own talents well. God gets praised when his power accomplishes the humanly impossible.

Have you ever walked away from a ministry opportunity because it would take you beyond your natural talents? In what areas would you need the Spirit to empower you in a situation like that?

This is by far the most difficult. It’s time to follow the Spirit’s leading, even if you’re not sure where he’s taking you or how you’ll get through it.

What would it look like if every Christian in our church fully submitted themselves to the Spirit’s leading?

What practical steps can you take right now to pursue the Spirit and live in dependence on him? Will you rely on your natural abilities, or will you allow the Holy Spirit to use you in incredible ways? If you rely on your own talents, you will be stopped so easily. You will get tired, distracted, overwhelmed, and attacked.

Pray that the Spirit of God would radically transform your life from the inside out.

Francis Chan Quotes from The Forgotten God:

 

 

  • I bet you would agree that a group of talented, charismatic leaders can draw a crowd. Find the right creative team, musicians, and speakers, and you can grow any church. It doesn’t even have to be a Christian Church. The fact is that without making a conscious choice to depend on the Holy Spirit, we can do a lot.
  • I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for him to come through. That if he doesn’t come through, I am screwed.
  • We created a whole brand of churches that do not depend on the spirit, the whole culture of Christians who are not disciples, a new group of followers who do not follow.
  • God is not interested in numbers. He cares most about the faithfulness, not the size, of his bride. He cares about whether people are lovers of him. And while I might be able to get people in the doors of a church or auditorium if I tell enough jokes or use enough visuals, the fact remains that I cannot convince people to be obsessed with Jesus.
  • Regarding Elijah and the prophets of Baal: Is that what happens at the Christian gatherings you attend or does it feel more like what the prophets of Baal experienced before Elijah prayed? We can have a great time singing and dancing ourselves into a frenzy. But at the end of it, fire doesn’t come down from heaven. People leave talking about the people who led rather than the power of God.
  • We all can choose to face life’s issues and circumstances in exactly the same way as someone without the Spirit of God. We worry, strive, and grieve know differently than non-believers. While it is true that we are humans like everyone else. It is also true that we are humans with the Spirit of God willing in us. Yet, whether consciously or not, we essentially say to God, I know you raised Jesus Christ from the dead, but the fact is my problems are just too much for you and I need to deal with them by myself.
  • He desires to do more than “help out” a bit. He wants to completely transform us. He wants to take a timid heart and set it ablaze with strength and courage, so that people know something supernatural has taken place, life change just as miraculous as fire coming down from heaven. He wants to give us wisdom because he is the spirit of wisdom and revelation, (Ephesians 1:17, Isaiah 11:2).
  • What disturbs me most is when we are not really bothered that God living in US has not made much of a noticeable difference.
  • Don’t keep yourselves from praying desperately and courageously put the Spirit to work in your life simply because you are not the prophet Elijah as this verse says, Elijah was a human being with a nature like ours. He was just like us. The key thing about him? He prayed fervently, (James 5:17).
  • I know that I tend to run from situations where I need God, and I think that is true in most every one of us. It is safer to avoid situations where we need God to come through than to stake it all on him and risk God’s silence.
  • The church is tended to be a beautiful place of community. A place where wealth is shared and when one suffers, everyone suffers. A place where one rejoices, everyone rejoice. A place for everyone experiences real love and acceptance in the midst of great honesty about our brokenness. Yet most of the time this is not even close to how we would describe our churches.
  • When we stock up on knowledge without applying it to our lives, we are actually sinning. You would think that learning more about God would be a good thing, and it can be. But when we gain knowledge ABOUT God without responding TO God or assimilating his truth into our lives, then it is not a good thing. According to the Bible, it is sin.

Facing Our Spiritual Immaturity

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The writer to the Hebrews instructs the church to, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (Hebrew 13:17). This is an awesome charge, NOT to the leaders, but to the people. While the leaders have charge over the souls of God’s people (which is intimidatingly awesome to say the least) the writer tells the people that it is their responsibility to not cause grief to their spiritual leaders. Spiritual leaders teach, guide, instruct, challenge, protect, admonish, comfort, and yes, rebuke and discipline when it is needed. It is not an authority thing, or a superiority issue, but God says there are benefits in people cooperating with their leaders. As people catch vision, discover their places of service and ministry, live out their faith in a lost and dying world, leading people ought to be a joy, not full of grief.

So, this message is from a heart of love and compassion, to help us and to challenge us all to become the people of God that the Lord desires for us to be.

From the Hebrews 5 passage today, the consequences of not being all-in for God, is spiritual immaturity. And let’s admit it, we often desire to remain immature, probably so that we are not obligated to work, or to serve, or get connected, or talk about our faith, or lead people to Jesus, or teach preschoolers or children… just fill in the blank with whatever you fear that God would ask you to do for his kingdom.

How many of us would admit that we have told God, “Give me enough of Jesus to escape hell, but not so much that would move me toward actually BEING the hands and feet of Jesus in the church or the community.”

After a long discussion about the priesthood of Christ being superior to that of the earthly priests in the line of Aaron (Hebrews 5:1-10), we get to our focal passage today. Here the writer deviates from his theological presentation to address to the people of the church… and in addressing them, he addresses us.

This is a practical section on how to move away from spiritual immaturity and toward spiritual maturity (Hebrews 5:11-14), but first, everyone needs to take an inventory of their spiritual progress. If you recognize your spiritual immaturity, you may be have-way there. But let’s NOT stay there. Using this spiritual inventory, we will see that it is so important to know where you ARE before you can get where you want to GO.

What about the people reading this letter? They needed to face their spiritual immaturity… and so do we. The first thing I want to point out is that…

They had a MENTAL problem, they were dull of hearing. Dullness in hearing is definitely a sign of spiritual immaturity. Let’s read again Hebrews 5:11 – Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. Let’s recap through the book of Hebrews and discover their backward journey…

First, they were drifting from the Word (Hebrews 2:1-3a) – For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?

Next, they were doubting the Word (Hebrews 3:7-4:13) – 3:12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end… 4:11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. How will anyone have an evil, unbelieving heart? They doubt the Word of God and embrace the deceitfulness of sin.

Now, they were dull of hearing the Word of God, which manifested itself by being unable to listen to God’s Word, receive the Word, or even act on the Word. They were not like the people in Thessalonica where Paul writes about them, “Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

Face it; one of the first steps backward toward spiritual immaturity and complacency is that we develop a dullness toward the Bible and the things of God.

  • The Sunday School class is dull.
  • The lesson is dull.
  • The preacher and his sermons are dull.
  • All this church stuff is always dull, or to use the word of the day, BORING.

But let me submit to you that it is not the Sunday School teacher, not the preacher, or anything else, but the problem resides within the attender himself, because when you encounter the living God, it is anything but dull.

The fact is, you get out of a service or a Bible study exactly what you expect from it or what you put into it. Worship becomes “all about me” when I tell myself or someone else about how the choir special didn’t speak to me, or that the preacher’s message was irrelevant to my life.

How often do we drive to church having LITTLE or NO preparation to encounter the living God? We hurriedly strut into God’s presence with an attitude of, “bless me, wow me, God must surely be happy that I’m here today, this service better not go past 12:00, I hope no one comes forward to get saved because that will delay my lunch, I’m not going to respond to the invitation and commitment time because THAT is for other people, because me and God are just fine.”

So, people were dull of hearing, which indicated they had a MENTAL problem. I also challenge you to see that…

They had a MORAL problem, they refused to be teachers. Face it, the inability to share God’s truth with other people is a sign of spiritual immaturity. Hebrews 5:12a says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.” The word, “ought” indicates an obligation, and since it was their DUTY to teach others, their failure to do so became a moral problem.

I understand that not all believers have the gift of teaching, but we ALL can tell someone else about what we learned in the Bible, or what God has taught us by reading the Bible.

I find it interesting that the very first real problem we discover in a child is the inability to share with other people? NOT sharing is certainly a sign of childishness and immaturity.

Those who were the recipients of this letter should have been teaching others by now. But instead of helping others to grow in their knowledge of and love for God, they were in need of going over and over again the elementary principles of the Christian life. They wanted to stay in the shallow end of the pool, never desiring to launch into the deep end of spiritual truth and understanding.

If you want to get out of the kiddie pool or out of your second childhood, then learn to teach others, learn to share the Word of God with other people. It takes a little practice to be good at it, but you have to get started and keep moving forward.

Teach in your own Sunday School class; ask for an opportunity to lead a lesson one week, be a substitute once a month.

Tell Connie or Karen that you want to invest your life into the next generation, leaving a legacy of faith to the children in our congregation. You can sign up for every other month in a 9:45 Sunday School class or even once a month working with preschoolers at 11:00.

Think about all the needs we have in our children’s and our preschool departments. If everyone would simply commit to helping out every once in a while, we will share the load, and those who have been serving faithfully for years won’t burn out. People can still be a part of an adult class on a regular basis.

I’ve heard a few stories from older members who founded and established this church, that “we have put in our time, and it’s time for the 30-somethings and 40-somethings to step up…” There IS something to be said for that.

I know that many people in this room have taught for years and faithfully served for so long, but is it EVER true that you can retire from teaching others the Word of God?

Some people may not be physically able to serve like they used to and that’s OK. Maybe your strength doesn’t allow you to securely hold babies anymore, or your knees won’t let you to get on the floor with toddlers.

But I challenge you all to look around the room and see all of the able-bodied believers who could step up to the meet needs of others and share what they have and what they know with others.

After looking around, make sure you also look in the mirror. What is holding YOU back? Knowledge? Apathy? Education? The fear of tough questions? Very few people attended seminary so you can’t simply leave it all to the pastor or staff. The CHURCH is charged with the gospel, that ALL of US, ordinary followers of Jesus allowing the Holy Spirit to use us as he sees fit.

Remember that the Word of God was translated into the vernacular (the common language) so that God’s Word would be in the hands of everyday common people. No longer would God’s Word be only for an elite few (like pastors and priests) who understood Latin, or New Testament Greek. The Bible is for the PEOPLE to read, and then people are unleashed to read, serve, teach, witness, and share about God and what he has done for us all.

Let me put in a good word about small groups and teaching: I would much rather have servant-leaders who have a heart for a small group of people, than those who just teach the Bible without exercising care and concern for their flock.

Fortunately, King’s Grant has a bunch of people serving in our discipleship ministry who do BOTH very well. But the fact is, we will not, and cannot grow to the next level without the body of Christ stepping up and doing what it takes to serve and teach others. We cannot let our faith or discipleship be a “one-hour-on-Sunday” experience.

So, not only did these people in the book of Hebrews have a MENTAL problem, (they were dull of hearing the Word of God); and have a MORAL problem, (they refused to do their duty and teach God’s word to others)…

They had a DEVELOPMENTAL problem: They preferred their “baby food” diet by continuing to feed on “milk” rather than “meat,” which is another sign of their spiritual immaturity. Hebrews 5:12b-13 says, “you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.” These people were still babies.

I believe that spiritual infancy is nurtured by religious ritual. I say this because the nation of Israel would be considered to be in the infancy stage of Christianity. The old covenant has passed away and the new covenant was brought through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. With the coming of Christ, the nursery is left behind. They made no spiritual progress because they were tied to the apron strings of a ritualistic religious system.

Perhaps the ritualistic system today is what I call “drive by church.” Many people say, “I’ll just attend, but have no plans on getting involved, or investing my life into others, or allowing others to invest their lives into me.” For many people, Christmas and Easter are all they desire of the things of God, and this may be the ultimate in a ritualistic mindset.

Let’s talk about the “milk” and “meat” for a moment:

  • “Milk” is considered to be the first or elementary principles of God, which would include the teachings about the earthly ministry of Jesus: his birth, life, teachings, miracles, death, burial, resurrection.
  • “Meat” would be the teachings about the ministry of Jesus RIGHT NOW in heaven as our high priest.

Even the most mature believer still drinks milk, we enjoy and are challenged by the teachings of Jesus while he was on earth. But we must not stop there. We must include what we call theology. How does all of this fit together? How is Jesus the fulfillment of the Old Testament? How can I apply this teaching in today’s world?

So, these people had a MENTAL problem, (they were dull of hearing the Word of God); and had a MORAL problem, (they refused to do their duty and teach God’s word to others); they also had a DEVELOPMENTAL problem (preferring spiritual milk rather than meat); and finally, we come to the last mark of spiritual immaturity…

They had a DISCERNMENT problem: They were unskilled in using God’s Word, because as we grow in spirituality and knowledge of God’s Word, we must learn to apply it in everyday life. Hebrews 5:14 tells us, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

When we APPLY the Word of God, we develop our spiritual senses and exercise discernment. Little children lack such discernment; think about it, a baby will put anything in its mouth, food, bugs, dirt, rocks, moth balls, a soiled diaper.

So, what does that means for an immature believer? He or she will listen to ANY preacher on the TV, radio, or podcast and not be able to discern truth from error.

Discerning good and evil are a part of the Christian life, and those reading this letter to the Hebrews were in danger of making a terrible mistake. Just as Israel failed to discern God’s leadership, their failure caused them to go backwards and wander aimlessly through the wilderness. They were unable to enter into God’s rest.

Hebrew 4:11 says, “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”

Wow, it’s time to draw this to a close. How do we make this message practical? Let me tell you a story.

Imagine a football team, fired up, the cheering crowds, with pep rally fever pitch, and now the team is running out to the huddle. They gather to hear the play, break, and then run back to the bench. This happens several times, and the crowd begins to wonder what’s going on. This is a great picture of today’s American church. We run out on the field, huddle, hear the pastor’s plays, he tells us what we need to do, we all agree, then break, we run back to the sidelines. Imagine the church actually running the plays, and making a difference. (from Francis Chan, The Forgotten God)

It’s time to face your spiritual immaturity and you MUST conduct a proper evaluation of where you are before you look ahead to where you want to be. Check your bulletin outline and look at those questions at the bottom.

  1. How would you describe your level of spiritual maturity?
  2. How have you grown since you first came to faith in Christ?
  3. For what decisions do you need a little extra discernment?
  4. Of what does your spiritual diet consist?
  5. How can you become more useful to God and his kingdom?
  6. What will you plan to do to become more mature in your relationship with Christ?
  7. What will you change in your daily and weekly routine to combat spiritual immaturity and laziness?
  8. Where will you volunteer to make an impact on others? It’s time to get out of the huddle and run some plays!

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Forget God’s Will for Your Life

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Here are my notes for the sixth session of The Forgotten God, by Francis Chan, which includes questions for my Poster-TheForgottenGodsmall group, quotes from the book, and other observations. Remember these are notes, and not a complete article on the topic. Please purchase the book to support the author.

What might you accomplish with your life? How often is this just asking about your five-year or ten-year plan? Sadly, we often focus only on the future rather than on the here and now.

Why might it be safer to follow “God’s will for your life” than following God in what he may lead you to do today?

If you were absolutely, 100% submitted to the will of God at this moment, what do you think he might ask you to do?

Read Romans 8:1-13

That which is impossible to do (and live up to) in Romans 7 is possible in Romans 8. What makes the difference?

In Romans 8:5-8, Paul writes about the difference of the mind set on the flesh and the mind set on the Spirit.

In Romans 8:9-13, what does Paul mention that set the Spirit-filled person apart?

What do you think it means to “by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13). The process of following the Spirit’s leading is walking according to the Spirit (Romans 8:4, Galatians 5, 16, 25).

The analogy of walking: We don’t really think about the getting from point A to point B when we walk, we are focusing on the next step. Practically, what would it mean for you to walk by the Spirit in your daily life?

Walking by the Spirit means we are moving in a particular direction, and that direction is set by the Spirit.

What is the real difference between adding the Spirit to your already busy life and actually following him step by step?

When you just add the Spirit to your life, you are not open to change, you want the Spirit to enhance what you are already doing.

When you follow the Spirit, you will find yourself changing, maybe letting go of some things that were once important to you, maybe even giving up some good things in your life.

Which is more frightening? Giving up everything you own or going through life without the Holy Spirit?

Remember the rich, young, ruler (Mark 10:17-22). He didn’t realize what was keeping him from Jesus until Jesus asked him a similar question.

By definition, submitting to the Spirit’s leading means giving up control. This is not a one-time act but a lifelong process. Walking by the Spirit comes down to daily dependence on God. Falling into sin means you are disregarding the Spirit’s leading.

Identify a particular sin in your life. What would it look like to be Spirit-led in a moment of temptation?

There can be real pressure to try harder to produce the Fruit of the Spirit. Truth is, you really can’t try harder! Obedience only comes through the power of the Spirit.

Francis Chan Quotes from The Forgotten God:

  • And to expose our hearts to truth and consistently refuse or neglect to obey the impulses it arouses is to stymie the motions of life within us and, if persisted in, to grieve the Holy Spirit into silence. – A.W. Tozer
  • It makes sense that Jesus would say it’s to our advantage to have this “other counselor.” After all, Jesus merely walked beside the disciples; the Spirit would actually enter their human bodies (John 14:17).
  • To be honest, I believe part of the desire to “know God’s will for my life” is birthed in fear and results in paralysis. We are scared to make mistakes, so we fret over figuring out God’s will. We wonder what living according to His will would actually look and feel like, and we are scared to find out. We forget that we were never promised a twenty-year plan of action; instead, God promises multiple times in Scripture never to leave or forsake us.
  • My hope is that instead of searching for “God’s will for my life,” each of us would learn to seek hard after “the Spirit’s leading in my life today.” May we learn to pray for an open and willing heart, to surrender to the Spirit’s leading with that friend, child, spouse, circumstance, or decision in our lives right now. To say that we are not called to figure out “God’s will for my life” does not mean God doesn’t have purposes and plans for each of our lives or that He doesn’t care what we do with our lives. He does. In both the Old and New Testaments He tells us that this is true. The key is that He never promises to reveal these purposes all at once, in advance.
  • Nowhere in Scripture do I see a “balanced life with a little bit of God added in” as an ideal for us to emulate. Yet when I look at our churches, this is exactly what I see: a lot of people who have added Jesus to their lives. People who have, in a sense, asked Him to join them on their life journey, to follow them wherever they feel they should go, rather than following Him as we are commanded. The God of the universe is not something we can just add to our lives and keep on as we did before. The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is not someone we can just call on when we want a little extra power in our lives. Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us. He died and rose again so that we could forget everything else and follow Him to the cross, to true Life.
  • I think repentance is one of those words we hear a lot but maybe don’t incorporate into our lives very often.
  • Jesus is calling us to be willing to suffer anything and forsake everything for the sake of the gospel.
  • I say I want to give it all to God, to truly submit myself to the leading of the Holy Spirit. But I won’t lie, sometimes the reality of what that means leaves me wanting to hold back a little. There are things on this earth that I really enjoy, like surfing, golfing, eating out, and laughing with friends. I know what you’re thinking: that those things are not sinful. And you are right. But that doesn’t mean the Spirit will not lead me to forgo those things occasionally or maybe even permanently for His purposes and the glory of the Father.
  • Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not limited to the day we first meet Christ. Instead, throughout Scripture we read of a relationship that calls us into an active pursuit of the Spirit.
  • Imagine I buy a treadmill to lose some weight. Three months later I take it back to the store and complain to the clerk that it didn’t work, I didn’t lose a pound. He would asked me, “What’s the problem? Did it not work properly?” I respond, I don’t know if it works. I never ran on it. I just know I didn’t lose weight, so I am done with it!
  • Receiving freedom and healing in answer to prayer is generally not something that is done to you, a situation in which you are just a passive participant. Occasionally God works this way and simply heels or frees a person outright. He is certainly capable of this. But in my experience, he typically asks us to play an active role in the journey toward wholeness. He doesn’t need our help but invites us to participate. Also this journey to freedom takes time, sometimes a very long time.
  • Have you been stuck in a cycle of sin for a long time? Have you given up on the Holy Spirit and resign yourself to thinking that he doesn’t work or doesn’t have the power to bring freedom, at least not in your life? If this is you, then maybe you have not internalized the reality that walking in the spirit requires action on your part.
  • The hopeful part in all this is that even when I do ignore the Spirit and sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us of that sin. Though at times we sin, we are not ruled and enslaved by sin as we once were.
  • The Holy Spirit will not, cannot, lead you into sin. If the Holy Spirit is in you, as a believer, then when you sin you are not listening to the Spirit’s leading.
  • Living by the Spirit implies a habitual, continual, and active interaction with the Holy Spirit. While this sounds exhausting, it really isn’t because all of this living and action is done in the power of the Spirit. It is not by your own strength.
  • I love the apparent contradiction in Philippians 2:12-13. Paul says in one breath, work out your own salvation, and then the next, it is God who works in you. The both-ness here doesn’t allow us to escape a simple conclusion. Yes, it is God who works in you. And yes, there is work for you to do. Yes, the spirit empowers you to do the work. And yes, you do the work.

How to Reconcile Relationships

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Wow, we have now come to the third command in this Adult Stage or Equip Level of disciplemaking, on how to reconcile relationships in Matthew 5:21-26. The commands (each present imperative) are found in Matthew 5:23, 25 – LEAVE, GO first BE RECONCILED, MAKE friends quickly. We find this also outside of the gospels (Acts 9:36, 26:18, 1 Corinthians 7:11, 2 Timothy 3:3).

Questions to Consider:

1. Do you tend to internalize or ventilate anger?

2. What do you do when you become aware that someone is angry at you?

3. When is it better to just let a matter lie? (Proverbs 10:12, 17:9, 19:11, Colossians 3:13, 1 Peter 4:8)

4. What Type of anger are we justified in having? What type is Jesus condemning? (Ephesians 4:26)

5. Why is it important to deal with anger as soon as possible? (Ephesians 4:27)

6. Have you ever broken the the sixth commandment (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17, Matthew 5:21)

7. With whom was Jesus contrasting his teaching? (Matthew 5:22)

8. Is verbal homicide as serious before God as physically killing someone? (Matthew 5:21-22)

9. Is Jesus condemning all uses of the word, “fool?” (Matthew 12:34, 15:19, Mark 7:21, Matthew 23:17)

10. Where did the expression “the fiery hell” (literally, Gehenna of fire) come from? (Matthew 5:22)

11. Who is liable for the same punishment as an actual murderer? (Matthew 5:22, 1 John 3:15)

12. What two illustrations does Jesus use to expose the seriousness of anger? (Matthew 5:23-26)

13. Why is it important to be reconciled based on these two illustrations?

14. What commands does Jesus give to us whether we are the innocent or guilty party? (Matthew 5:24-25)

15. Are some people irreconcilable? What are we to do then? (1 Corinthians 7:11, 2 Timothy 3:3, Proverbs 18:19, Romans 12:18)

Exegesis:

Matthew 5:21, You have heard the ancients were told – These were rabbis and scribes who came up with the many traditions that became burdensome, which had virtually replaced the authority of Scripture. Jesus refers to the traditional interpretations of scriptural commands.

Matthew 5:21, you shall not commit murder – This is straight from the Ten Commandments, and Jesus had already affirmed his support for the Law (Matthew 5:17). His problem was how the ancients interpreted the law, as merely taking a human life. Genesis 9:6 affirms this principle long before there was any Law of Moses. “Murder” in the NASB and “kill” in the KJV do not refer to capital punishment (apparently a divine allowance against those who take an innocent life, essentially to commit murder). Killing is permitted in a just war, according to divine plan, and is permitted in the case of self-defense, because we all have the right to protect the image of God in our lives and the lives of others when they are assaulted or attacked by those who would kill them. Nor does this refer to accidental deaths, according to Deuteronomy 19).

Matthew 5:22, but I say to you – The law goes much deeper than just our actions, it addresses the attitude of the heart. The attitude behind murder is hate or anger (Matthew 5:22, 15:19, 1 John 3:15). Anger is a God given emotion that when misused will tear us up or tear up others.

  1. Tearing up Others: Vented Anger (Proverbs 12:16, 14:29, 15:18, 16:32, 29:11, 29:22, Galatians 5:19-20)
  2. Tear up Ourselves: Internalized Anger (Ephesians 4:31, Proverbs 30:33)

The command in Ephesians 4:26 is to be angry, yet do not sin, and don’t let the sun go down on your anger. When we don’t express our anger it becomes a toxic waste of bitterness, resentment, and holding grudges. We can bury it, but it will eventually leak. In Ephesians 4:27, such anger gives the devil an opportunity or beachhead, the word actually means “place” or “foothold.”

Matthew 5:22, Saying raca (or good for nothing) shall be guilty before the court – basically unable to escape the punishment of the court. “Fool” literally means “Empty-headed” or “brainless idiot.” It was a word of arrogant contempt. Jesus suggested here that the verbal abuse stems from the same sinful motives (anger and hatred) that ultimately lead to murder. The internal attitude is what the law actually prohibits, and therefore an abusive insult carries the same kind of moral guilt as an act of murder.

Although there is a progression in the evil attitudes cited, Jesus intends to show that behind the overt act of murder is the disposition of anger, hostility, or contempt. Although attitudes may not be tried in court, they are as dangerous as the overt acts of wrong for which one is tried in court or for which one stands in danger of hell fire, unless one experiences God’s forgiveness in Christ.

Matthew 5:22, the fiery hell – This is a reference to the Hinnom Valley, southwest of Jerusalem. Ahaz and Manasseh permitted human sacrifices there during their reigns (2 Chronicles 28:3; 33:6, Jeremiah 7:31, Ezekiel 16:20, 23:37), and therefore it was called “The Valley of Slaughter” (Jeremiah 19:6). In Jesus’ day, it was a garbage dump where fires burned continually and was thus an apt symbol of eternal fire. Josiah abolished these practices and defiled the area by making it a dumping ground for executed criminals (2 Kings 23:10). Later, this valley has eschatological references (Matthew 10:28, 23:15, 33, 18:9) dealing with punishment.

Matthew 5:23, presenting your offering at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you – The point is “suddenly” remember (aorist, passive subjunctive) where subjunctive affirms the possibility; it assumes the idea is NOT a fact but may become one. The passive indicate the subject is being acted upon, receiving the action. So, the subject is you and God is causing you to remember something. We often don’t take such initiatives in relationships, but God will bring to mind what we are to do, because unresolved anger in the heart hinders worship. We are preoccupied with hatred or anger of the other person who has offended us, but this passage tells us to be equally concerned for when we provoke anger in others intentionally or unintentionally.

Reconciliation is important because it can become intensive and explosive. Anger distorts facts. The longer we wait to resolve a situation the more distorted and exaggerated the situation becomes in the eyes of the offended one and minimized in the eyes of the offender.

  1. In Matthew 5:23-24, the one with the gift may be innocent, the fault may be on the one who holds the anger against him (so his anger stands in the way of him worshiping).
  2. In Matthew 5:25-26, the one who is about to deliver someone to the judge is becoming angrier over time and will demand satisfactory restitution.

It is interesting to note that Jesus is not give steps to dealing with OUR anger, but with OUR offense that has provoked anger in someone else.

We are to make friends or agree quickly. Jesus calls for reconciliation to be sought eagerly, aggressively, quickly, even if it involves self-sacrifice. It is better to be wronged than to allow a dispute between brethren to be a cause for dishonoring Christ (1 Corinthians 6:7). Our adversary is the opponent in a law case. Prison would mean debtor’s prison, where the person could work to earn back what he had defrauded.

Therefore, we get to the commands…

LEAVE (aorist imperative) your offering – Leaving immediately, aorist stresses urgency.

GO (present imperative) – When communicating to an angry person it is important to speak softly (Proverbs 15:1).

First BE RECONCILED (aorist passive imperative) to your brother – “First” stresses that reconciliation takes priority over worship, but leaving the gift anticipates the worshiper returning after obeying the command. This is not an isolated teaching on reconciliation (Acts 7:26, 1 Corinthians 7:11).

Reconciliation among people refers to mutual concession after mutual hostility. The Bible teaches that God does not need to be reconciled to us, but we must be reconciled to God (Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20, Ephesians 2:16, Colossians 1:20, 22). God is not hostile toward us, we are hostile toward God.
Some people are irreconcilable (2 Timothy 3:1-3, Romans 12:18).

And then COME and PRESENT (present active imperative) your offering – Once he returns to the temple, resume presenting the offering.

MAKE friends quickly (present imperative) with your opponent… – The Message reads Matthew 5:25-26 “Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out without a stiff fine.” To make friends means to settle the account quickly before he faces judgment.

The Age of Rage:

Defining Anger

  • It is a God given emotion
  • We are commanded to be angry at some things (Ephesians 4:26)
  • The anger of Jesus (Mark 3:5, Hebrews 4:15)
  • The anger of men (James 1:20)

Mismanagement of Anger (Ephesians 4:27) It all starts when the enemy gets a foothold, stronghold, beachhead, opportunity.

Sources of Anger

  • Immature love (1 Corinthians 13:5) Agape does not get angry.
  • Psychological abuse (Proverbs 15:1)
  • Learned behavior (Proverbs 22:24-25)
  • Unwilling to deal with first emotions (anger is the second emotion, jealousy is the first emotion)
    • Cain’s anger with Able (Genesis 4:5)
    • Jacob’s anger with Rachel (Genesis 30:1-2)
    • Simon and Levi’s anger with Dinah’s rape (Genesis 34:7-25)
    • Jacob’s anger over Joseph’s favoritism (Genesis 37:4, 18)
    • Predisposition or sinful nature (John 8:44, 2 Peter 1:4)

Assessment of Anger

  • Acknowledge your angry feeling.
  • Backtrack to the first emotion
  • Confess sinful anger (1 John 1:9)
    • Sinful anger nurses a grudge (Ephesians 4:31) It is connected to rights.
    • Sinful anger has outbursts (Proverbs 29:11, 22b) Good anger is in control.
    • Sinful anger goes to bed upset (Ephesians 4:26) This anger is unused, or did not attack the problem.
      • We either bottle it up or we blow up.
      • Deal with the problem while it is fresh, hot, don’t delay or avoid.
      • The person is not the problem, the problem is the problem.

[Based on my classes with Richard D. Leineweber, Jr. c. 2000]