Turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Let me just
say that last Sunday evening was very enjoyable. Very enjoyable. That's the kind
of thing we need to do more often, be able to get together as a
family and enjoy fellowship with one another. The title of this message, Christ
Interprets His Law. I read to you the Ten Commandments
just a few minutes ago. And our Lord, starting in verse
21, is going to interpret the law, give the correct meaning. He's going to show us how far
reaching the law of God is. You know, he said to them in
verse 17, think not that I've come to destroy the law or the
prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. And what he's going to fulfill
is the spirituality of the law. You see, they took it for just
what it said on the surface. Thou shalt not kill, so I didn't
kill anybody today, so I'm okay. I was angry with a couple guys.
I'd like to kill them, but I didn't do it. So I'm okay. Well, the Lord's gonna show us,
no, you're not okay. You're not okay. And I know this,
after I was reading this and studying this, I thought every
believer in here As we go through this, it's going to say guilty,
guilty. Because you know, you know the
spirituality of the law. You know how far reaching the
law is. You know that. You know it by
experience in your own heart. Now the Pharisees and the scribes,
they taught the law to the people. They would give their interpretation
of the law. And the problem being was this,
they put their spin on it. Scripture interprets scripture.
The true interpreter of scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ. But
they would put their spin on it. And there was laws that they
would even eliminate. They would say, it's just not
that big a deal. If it's of God, it's a big deal,
isn't it? It's like someone saying, say
a little prayer for me. There's no such thing as a little
prayer. There's no such thing as a little prayer. We don't
go before a little God, do we? Our God is great. And to have
an audience, to have an audience with Almighty God, that's not
little. That's not little. And we're
going to see here how far reaching the law of God is. Pharisees, as I said, they put
their spin on it, and we need to remember this. If the blind
leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch. So make sure
the person you're following is not blind. Seriously, make sure
that person is not blind. Make sure that person knows where they're going if you want to
get there also. if you want to go to the same
place. Make sure they know where they're going. Make sure they
know what they're talking about. I have, and I believe this, I
believe that this position, the pastor standing by the pulpit,
can be one of the most dangerous positions in the world. Because
you're dealing with God's glory, You're dealing with matters of
eternity. You're dealing with matters of life and death, eternal
life and death. And it's serious. You hear me
often pray, enable me to rightly divide the word of truth, not
put my spin on it, nor give you my opinion. I'm not here to give
you my opinion and God save you from that. truth and i'll tell you this
also truth remember this truth is not an opinion truth is true
everything outside of that's opinion but truth is the truth
it's not an opinion now what we're going to see here is the
spirituality of the law how far reaching the law of god is in
verse 21 you have heard This is what you've heard. This is
what the Pharisees and the scribes have taught. Remember he's speaking
to the disciples and that multitude there. You have heard that it
was said by them of old time. Here's what you've heard, but
it's amazing how things change as time goes on and man puts
his spin on it. Thou shalt not kill. I just read
that to you over in Exodus 20. What did it say after that? Did
it say, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment?
That was added. It may be implied, but it was
added. The Lord just said, thou shalt
not kill. It's not in the original giving
of the law. But our Lord says, here's the
true interpretation of this, thou shalt not kill. You see,
the lawgiver is gonna give us the true meaning of this scripture. And you'll notice how broad the
scope of the law is here. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry, angry, God's gonna put, He's
gonna tell us, that anger with your brother without a cause
is on the same level, it's on the exact same level as murder. It's murder. You think I would
never kill anybody, but boy, I sure am angry with a lot of
people. He says it's the same, it's on the same level. Whosoever's
angry with his, and this ain't a matter of anger, it's a heart
problem. It's a heart problem, what he's pointing out. He's
angry with his brother without a call, shall be in danger of
judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother Raka, Raka, that is vain fella, shall be in danger of
the council. But whosoever shall say thou
fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
They never saw that. They didn't see that. The law
reaches past the actions and it enters the heart. God looks
on the heart and it's why you do what you do more than what
you do. It's why you do it. It's the
motive. It's the heart involved in it. Why you do what you do.
Many will stand in judgment, guilty of murdering their brother
in their heart who never committed the actual act. But now listen, the only reason
the act was not committed was because God did not allow it.
It's called sovereign constraint. Sovereign constraint. That's
what that's called. And he's going to show us here
that this matter of anger being on the same level as murder If we have that, if we harbor
that, he says, don't even attempt to worship. That's what he's
saying. Don't attempt to worship. Listen.
Therefore, see, this is a true interpretation of that law. If they'll bring that gift to
the altar and they'll remember us that thy brother hath ought
against thee. If you come to the altar, now
we don't come to an altar and offer gifts, do we? But I tell
you what we do, we come to God in prayer, don't we? We come
before God Almighty in prayer. And I believe he's saying this,
if you want to apply it to our day, quit praying. Leave there, he says here, leave
your gift at the altar and go your way, be reconciled to your
brother. God cannot be worshiped with
malice in the heart toward a brother. This is what he's saying. He
said, this is how far reaching it is. Don't cover up a bad spirit
attitude towards your brother with pretense to worshiping God. Don't pretend to worship God
when you can't stand the one sitting beside of you. That's
what he's saying. Boy, that's shooting at the heart,
isn't it? I mean, that's shooting straight
at the heart. Men look at the gift, but God
looks at the heart. That's what it says in 1 Samuel
6, 16. Malice, unjust anger is not permitted
in the worship of God, no matter how great the gift is. Listen,
God cannot be bought. God cannot be bought. He owns
it all anyway. You and I are only giving back
a portion of what he's given us through the week and through
our lives. Leave there thy gift before the
altar. Just stop right there. Leave
your gift and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come back and offer the gift. Then come back and
pray, as it would apply to us. Then come back and give your
offering. First be reconciled, then worship. Be a peacemaker. Remember, our
Lord said, blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers.
And he says in verse 25, agree with thine adversary quickly
while thou art in the way with them. This has reference here
to someone who owes a debt, but they go on as if they didn't
know it. They didn't know it. Then all
of a sudden they get called into court. And he says, you don't. Our Lord is saying, be quick
to make peace. Be quick to make peace. But what he's saying here, let
me finish this out. Agree with an adversary quickly
while thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary
deliver thee to the judge and the judge deliver thee to the
officer and thou be cast into prison. This is especially applicable
to the gospel. The laws against us. The law's against, we've broken
it. We've broken it. God is a just God. God has every
right to be against me, doesn't he? He has every right to be
against you. We've broken his law. We've despised
his grace. We've despised his mercy. His
sun shines on the just and the unjust. His sun shined on me
when I didn't believe him. And he says here, a sinner, here's
the implication. A sinner should be quick to agree
with God's judgment on him while he's near, while the gospel's
being preached. Now, remember, I think it was
Thursday, today. Today, if you'll hear his voice,
pardon not your heart, today. Agree with him while he's near,
the gospel's being preached now. Agree with him. That's what happens when salvation
takes place in the heart of a sinner. That sinner takes sides with
God against himself. That's what happens. You take
sides with God against yourself. You don't try to justify yourself.
You make no excuses. You cry guilty. You say, I'm
guilty. Lord, I'm at your mercy. I'm
at your mercy. And you know what? The scripture
says he delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. Agree
with God's judgment on you. Because he says, if not, if not,
you walk away from here and you just blow it off. He says, verily I say unto thee,
thou shalt by no means come out of prison. Because he said, you'll
be cast into prison. You'll not come out of prison
until thou has paid the uttermost farthing. If you couldn't pay
it before prison, how you think you gonna pay it after you go
into prison? That's like they put you in jail and they charge
you so much a day. Well, how you gonna pay it off
if you're not even working? You know, if God puts you in
prison, if you couldn't pay it beforehand, you sure can't pay
it after that. God put you in hell. You know why hell's eternal? You know why the suffering is
eternal? Because you can never satisfy justice. You can never
come up with the payment that will satisfy justice. You can't
do it. And then he says in verse 27,
you have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt
not commit adultery. Adultery is never accepted of
God. It used to be punishable by death.
It used to be in the Old Testament. But I want you to understand
this. Here's what he's saying. But I say to you, whoever looketh,
and that word looketh is a continual purposeful look Whoever looketh
on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already
with her in his heart. Adultery is never accepted of
God. Yet, listen, all are guilty of it. There's not a person on
this earth, man or woman, has not looked at another one and
lusted. There's not one, not one. Those Pharisees, they would read
and said, thou shalt not kill. I haven't killed anybody, so
I'm not guilty. It says, thou shalt not commit
adultery. It said, I haven't committed adultery, so I'm not
guilty. But the Lord said, oh, yes, you
are. Oh, yes, you are. God looks at the heart. God judges
by the heart. There is life, listen, there
is life in a look. Look unto me and be ye saved.
But there's also death in a look. Eve looked at the tree and took
it. Achan looked at a wedge of gold
and he took it and he died for it. It's one thing to look. It's one thing to recognize beauty. There's nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with recognizing beauty, whether it be in creation
or whether it be in a person. There's nothing wrong with that.
It's that keep looking. It's that keep looking. And that's
what God sees. See, I can't see that. I can't
see your heart. You can't see mine. But God sees it. God sees it. It's that keep looking
and lusting and longing after. All who are not in Christ will
stand in judgment guilty of adultery in their heart. That's what God's
going to bring out with the thoughts and intents of the heart that
nobody sees, that no one sees. And you think it was long gone?
You don't even remember it anymore. Come back. Come back. Well, when
I read this, I think, oh man, I'm so glad salvation's all of
grace. I'd be a goner. I'd be a goner. And he gives
us a course of action here to correct the problem. And he says
in verse 29, if thy right eye, that's your best eye, if it offend
thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable
for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that the
whole body should be cast into hell. That which enters the eye,
enters the intellect of the mind. You see it. Eve looked at it. Achan looked
at that gold. That which is the cause is to
be given up, is to quit looking. Anything that causes me to think
or feel wrong about something, the Lord said, get rid of it.
Get rid of it. Flee from it. Flee from it. It's
far better to get rid of an offense than to perish for an offense.
That's what he's saying. And then he goes to the action.
Here's another course of action to correct the problem. If thy
right hand defend thee, cut it off, cast it from thee. For it
is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,
and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. The first
is the thought, which is where sin is conceived. And now he
deals with the action, it's the hand Remember Adam took, Eve
took of that tree. They reached up and took of it. Our hands are to be employed
in serving God. They're not to be employed in
sinful passions of this flesh. And what he's saying here is
don't let your thoughts, if you stop it in the thought, stop
it in the thought. That's why our Lord said, bring
every thought into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ. Stop
it in your thought. Don't let it break out into action.
Cut off the problem at its source. Put off the old man with his
deeds and put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after him who created him in righteousness and true holiness.
Now, our Lord is not saying, he's not saying to literally
cut off your hand, or pluck out your right eye. He's not saying
that. You can pluck out your right
eye, you can cut off your right hand, but you still have that
sinful nature. You can put both eyes out. You
can cut both hands off, and you're still gonna lust after other
things. Because you can't change the
heart. You can't change the heart. But what our Lord is saying here,
cut off the occasion to sin, cut off the occasion of feeding
that old nature. Mortify, we were told different
times in the New Testament, mortify the deeds of the flesh. Mortify. It's a battle, isn't it? It's
a battle. And then our Lord, he gives another interpretation
of the law. He deals with divorce. He says, it hath been said, whosoever
shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away
his wife, save for the cause of fornication, unfaithfulness,
causes her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her
that is divorced commits adultery. You know one place the Pharisees
was talking to our Lord and they mentioned to him about this matter
of divorce and then they said Moses said to give a writing
of divorcement. Our Lord said but in the beginning
it wasn't so and what he's saying is this God didn't give that
to you. He didn't give that to you. That's what he's saying. A writing
of divorcement was allowed. You know why it was allowed?
To keep us from killing each other. That's exactly why it
was allowed. To keep people from killing each
other. But it was never approved of God. It was never given of
God. Wrong is wrong. Right is right. However, our
Lord says, except for fornication, unfaithfulness, and marriage,
the unbeliever leaves for that reason. The believer is not under
bondage. But here's the implication. And this I thought of last night
or yesterday evening. As difficult as that is, and
I know some of them here had to go through a divorce, as difficult
as that is, why would I feel more terrible
about that than I feel about being angry with my brother?
The Lord puts it on the same level. You see, all these are
on the same, it's the same law. It's one law. It's one law. You know, I can feel bad about
doing one thing, and I don't feel so bad about anything else,
because I haven't outwardly done it, but the Lord says, in your
heart, you've done it. You've done it. It's just as, which is worse? Which would you count as worse?
Murder or divorce? Which would you say is worse?
He says, be angry with your brother's murder. He says it's murder. Then he goes to the tongue. He goes to the tongue. Again,
you've heard that it has been said by them of old time. You
notice how he keeps saying, this is what you've heard. But then
he said, but this is how it is. This is what you've heard, but
this is how it really is. This is what the law really is saying. Thou shalt not forswear thyself,
but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say to you, swear not law. Swear not at all,
neither by heaven, for it's God's throne, nor by earth, it's God's
footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it's the city of the great
king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because you can't
make one hair white or black by swearing. I swear I'll do
that. Yeah, you might and you might
not. You don't have the power to bring anything to pass. You
know what you're doing? You're literally putting yourself
in the place of God. God is the only one who can swear
by his own name and make it happen. I swear, he said, they shall
not enter into my rest. We saw that last Thursday. But
you and I, he said, don't swear because you can't make it, make
it happen. And this is one something I want
you, me and you to remember this and keep this in mind. Be careful,
be careful calling God in on a matter because it better be exactly
like you said. He will not, God will not own
up to a lie. I mean, it can't even be a shade
off. It can't be a jot or tittle off.
I mean, even the motive can't even be wrong. Be careful calling
God in by a swear. God's a just God. God is a just God. You and I
cannot make things come to pass by swearing. So he says, just
say yes and no. Just say, that's hard to do. You realize how hard that is
to do? Just say yes or no. We want to say yes, but we've got to add this long explanation. He says, just say yes or no.
Anything more than that, he said, is sin. And then he comes to the deep
things of the law, the deep things of the gospel, the deep things
of grace. You think election is deep? You
think predestination is deep? Turning the other cheek, that's
deep. Loving your enemies, that's deep. That's the deep things. You have
heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for
a tooth. That just fits our nature, doesn't it? That just fits our
nature. You slap me, I'm gonna slap you.
Doesn't that fit us? That explains us to the T. But I say to you, I say to you,
my disciples, that you resist not evil, But whosoever shall
smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. Deal
in mercy. I was, as I was going over this
yesterday, I was thinking there's got to be spiritual common sense
in reading this. There's got to be, God's got
to give us spiritual common, if somebody breaks in my house
and tries to harm my family, he's not telling me to turn the
other cheek. If somebody's going to harm my family, he's not telling
me to do that. If a mad dog walks in this room, what are we going
to do? We're going to shoot him. If
he's going to come in here and harm the family, that's not what
he's talking about here. He's talking about having a spirit
of mercy about us. A spirit of mercy and love toward
all men. Be willing to suffer wrongfully,
not always saying, You know, I demand my rights. Be willing, be willing to give
up your rights. Be willing to do that. Our Lord
suffered the just for the unjust. He was smitten on the cheek. He hung there on a cross. He
said, father, forgive them. They don't know what they do. If a man will sue thee at the
law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. Don't
resort to taking your brother. If I have a dispute with, me
and you have a dispute with one another over something, our Lord
said, don't take your brother to law. Don't take him to court. Don't do that. Resort to a spirit of love and
mercy, is what he said. Don't conform to the practice
of this work, but conform to the practice of grace. And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, you say, are you kidding? I gotta walk a mile? And what it's saying, they will
compel you to carry something for them, to carry it for them
for a mile. He says, carry it two miles. Should not grace do better? Should
not grace do better? Be willing to do more than forced
to. You see, they're forced to go
a mile. You say, but you go two miles. Did our Lord do that? You know, when I read this, when
I especially read this part of it, I realize what our Lord went
through in saving us. He went two miles. He didn't
take me to court and exact what I owed out of me. Instead, he paid it. He paid
it. He carried my burden all the
way. He carried my sin debts and your
sin debts, you who believe, all the way. He carried them all
the way and got rid of them. Don't just do what you have to,
do all you can do. That's the spirit of grace. You've
heard it's been said that thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy. I say to you, love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray
for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. You know,
God didn't say hate your enemies. How convenient to make a law
and then claim God said it. They made a law, God didn't say
that. They added that. I say, is always better than
you heard. The universal law is love. It's a mark of sonship. Love
your enemies. When you realize that you were
truly an enemy of God, when you realize that now, when it's real
to you, it's not nearly as hard to love your enemies. when you
realize God loves you and you were an enemy. It's not so hard. When Christ interceded for you,
he said, pray for them. Go read John 17. Christ interceding
for you while you hated him, while you were an enemy. It's
not so hard to pray for an enemy when you realize Christ prayed
for you when you were an enemy. If you never realize that, you
can't do this. Forget it. You can't do it. You can't do it. You can't bless
them that curse you. When you realize that God blessed
you in Christ in the heavenly places before the world began,
gave you everything you need to stand in his presence when
it's real to you. And it's not so hard for you
to do it. And it says here, pray for them that despitefully
use you, that you may be the children of your father, which
is in heaven, because it's just like him. That's exactly what
he's done for us. That's exactly what he's done
for us. And when you realize that, it's not so hard to do
that. And who knows that enemy? That one you call an enemy, that
one who is slapping you in the face, he may be doing it verbally
now, he may be just trying to destroy your character, that
one may be a child of God. He may be. that you may be the children
of your father, which is in heaven, where he maketh his son to rise
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just
and the unjust. Look how merciful he is. When you were an enemy of God, did God stop raining on your
garden? Now that rain fell on your garden too. When you were
an enemy, when you hated God, The sun still shine at your house. The rain fell on your garden. If there's anything you and I
want to be like, it's like our father. If you want to be like
your heavenly father, he just told you what he's like. He feeds those who hate him every
day, every day. If he only rained blessings on
your garden, the world would starve, wouldn't it? It would
starve. Now it says, for if you love
them which love you, and I put a little head note over this,
who maketh thee to differ? For if you love them which love
you, what reward have you, and I like to read it like this,
what grace have you? What makes you any different
than anybody else? If all you do is love those who love you
and hate those who hate you. Do not even the publicans the
same? If you salute your brethren only, why do you more than others?
Do not the publicans the same? What grace have you? The only
difference between the believer and the unbeliever is the grace
of God in Christ to us. That's it. Here's the ultimate goal. Here's
the ultimate goal. Be ye therefore perfect, be mature,
even as your father which is in heaven is perfect. But I think
he is saying this, be ye therefore perfect, even as your father
which is in heaven is perfect. You say, I can't be perfect.
In Christ I am. In Christ I am perfect. And while
I walk through this life, I'm gonna strive, I'm gonna strive
for it. I know I'll never be perfect,
do anything perfect in this life. But I want to. I do. I want to. Be ye holy for I am
holy. Do you want to be holy? Do you
want to be righteous? I know before I get out of this
building I'll sin in my thoughts. I know I will. But I tell you
what, I still want to be righteous. I still want to be holy. And
I still want to be perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect.
I want to be like him. I want to be like him. To be
like our Heavenly Father is enough to motivate His children. It's enough motivation for us.
Everything our Lord said is contrary to human nature. That's why men change the law
to fit their ways instead of God's way. This is what you heard,
but this is, He said, but this is the way it is. It's what I
say. See how far reaching the law
is? Aren't you glad salvation's all grace? I wouldn't make it. I wouldn't
make it. And it's just so, you know, as
a believer, when you read the scriptures like that, you say,
well, you know, I feel bad about this, but I don't, and you understand,
you understand God doesn't catalog sin. You
and I catalog sin. We haven't done this. We're not
as bad as somebody else. That's the way the world operates. But
you understand, you understand that you've broken God's law
in every which way possible, spiritually. And the only hope
you have is Jesus Christ, his obedience, his righteousness. That's the correct interpretation
of the law. It reaches to the heart. It reaches to the heart. And when anger rises up, get
rid of it. Let it go. Let it go. God says it's the same as murder.
It's the same. All right, Craig.