The Heart of the Issue
TITLE: The Heart of the Issue
TEXT: Matthew 5:27-30
TONE: Warning
TARGET: All listeners
TASK: Warn my hearers of sin’s origination and the urgency to mortify it by relying upon Jesus alone to do so.
TEACH: God rebuking the nation of Israel for their hypocritical heart and actions.
1. Isaiah 29:13
God rebukes Israel for worshiping Him with outward actions but having hearts far from Him:
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Isaiah 29:13:
"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor
me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is
based on merely human rules they have been taught.'"
2. Amos 5:21-24
In Amos, God expresses disdain for Israel's empty rituals and sacrifices, calling for justice and righteousness instead:
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Amos 5:21-24:
"I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench
to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not
accept them... But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a
never-failing stream!"
3. Jeremiah 7:9-10
God rebukes the people for their hypocrisy in thinking they can live in sin and still find security in the temple worship:
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Jeremiah 7:9-10:
"'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to
Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before
me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"—safe to
do all these detestable things?'"
4. Hosea 6:4-6
Here, God laments Israel's fleeting love and commitment, desiring mercy and knowledge of Him over sacrifice:
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Hosea 6:4-6 :
"What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love
is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears... For I desire
mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt
offerings."
5. Malachi 1:6-10
In this passage, God rebukes the priests and people for offering blemished, unacceptable sacrifices, showing their lack of reverence and sincerity:
●
Malachi 1:6-10:
"A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where
is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?' says the
Lord Almighty... 'When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not
wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong?'"
TRUTH:
Jesus continues in the sermon on the mount with the second of the sixth antithesis (“You have heard it said, but I tell you…” These teachings are not an addition to the Mosaic Law but a faithful interpretation and application of it. We learned from last week’s sermon the desire or motivation to perform a sinful act first begins in the heart. The self-righteous believed that as long as they did not commit a sinful act externally, then they were innocent of that sin. It is clear through Jesus’ teachings that a person’s internal sinful desire is what sets the external act in motion. Therefore, Jesus rebukes and warns His audience of attempting to view themselves as righteous before God while habitually sinning against Him in their hearts. Today’s passage involves Jesus addressing the seventh commandment in the Mosaic Law: “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Jesus not only indicts those who believe themselves to be self-righteous by ignoring their internal sinful desires, but He also provides a warning to all of His hearers of the urgency and severity of mortifying sin.
Transition- The first point that Jesus makes in this part of His sermon is…
I. Jesus Explains Sin’s Origination: verses 27-28
● Explanation: The seventh commandment in the Mosaic Law forbids individuals from committing adultery. Jesus provides His listeners with a clear and true interpretation of the commandment. Jesus does not solely include the act of adultery, but the motive of adultery lust. It was common practice for the self-righteous to believe themselves to be right before God because they had never committed the physical act of adultery. However, Jesus cuts to the heart of the issue and provides an indictment on all his listeners (then and now), and that is to look at a person with lustful intent to commit adultery. Jesus is teaching that the origination of sin begins in the heart of a person before it is ever carried out with their hands. Adultery and lust are examples of how a sinful desire originates in the heart of a person and then eventually produces the sinful act. This is taught clearly throughout the Bible…
○ “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:13-15
● Illustration: David and Bathsheba
○ A well-known story that illustrates this is David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). David did not start committing external sinful actions immediately. Instead, it began with him neglecting his kingly responsibilities, looking at a woman with lustful intent, and eventually, those sinful desires in his heart led to external sinful actions: adultery, deception, and murder.
● Application: Evaluate your desires, thoughts, and actions by:
○ Praying and asking God to search your heart:
■ “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” Psalm 139:23-24
Transition- The next point of Jesus’s sermon is an urgent and severe warning from Jesus. It must be understood that sin cannot be overcome by human effort. The indictment of sin in the human heart reveals that no human effort will prevail. This is precisely what Jesus taught in the first part of his sermon. Those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy before God are those who find the forgiveness of sin and the liberation from sin’s power. Jesus’ explanation of sin’s origination reveals the depravity of humanity. It is only through Jesus that an individual can be forgiven of sin’s penalty and power. With that understanding, we can now continue to Jesus’s next point in His sermon, which is…
II. Jesus Exhorts for Sin’s Mortification
● Explanation: The next aspect of Jesus’ teaching corresponds with sin’s origination in the heart of a person. Jesus provides a severe and urgent warning to His listeners about how they should respond to sin. The warning is to cut out one’s eye and to cut off one’s hand if they cause you to sin. Is Jesus advocating for a person to butcher themselves? Of course not, that would contradict everything He has taught! Jesus has been teaching that sin and its desires begin in the heart first, not with the hands or eyes. Listen to these verses from Proverbs,
○ Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?” Proverbs 6:27-28
The warning serves as an adamant warning for people to mortify sin urgently without any excuse. D.A. Carson puts it this way:
“But that (literally removing body parts), I think, quite misses Jesus’ point, and the absolute cast of Jesus’s preaching noticed earlier; for if I gouged out my right eye because it had looked and lusted, would not my left do as well? And if I blinded myself, might I lust anyway, and mentally gaze at forbidden things? What then does Jesus mean? Just this: we are to deal drastically with sin. We must not pamper it, flirt with it, enjoy nibbling a little of it around the edges. We are to hate it, crush it, dig it out… Jesus in Matthew 5:29 threatens with hell all those who will not deal drastically with sin.”[1]
● Illustration: Saul’s dealing with King Agag vs Samuel’s (1 Samuel 15)
● Application: Mortify sin in your life by:
○ Repenting of your sinful thoughts, desires, and habits
○ Removing the sinful thoughts, desires, and habits
○ Resting in God’s forgiveness of sin
○ Relying on God’s power to overcome sinful desires
TAKEAWAY(S): It is evident in this passage that sin originates in the heart, and the only appropriate response to sin is to deal with it severely. The only way a person can overcome the penalty and power of sin in their life is by repenting of their sin and believing in Jesus’ saving work upon the cross and resurrection. Unbeliever, you cannot fix your sin through any moral action; instead, repent of your sin and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone! Believer, Jesus has paid for the penalty of your sin and has given you the power to overcome sin. You must evaluate and deal severely with the sinful habits, desires, and thoughts that are taking place in your life.
TIE-UP: Jesus has made it clear to us that at the heart of the issue is the human heart. This morning, come to the one who can give you a new heart, and you will never be the same.
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” Ezekiel 36:26-27
Written and Preached by Ashton Wright
[1] Carson, D.A. Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: A Study of Matthew 5-10, 56-57.
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