Kingdom Priorities - Following Jesus Without Reserve - Matthew 19.1-30 Series

2025.08.03. Sermon Notes.

Kingdom Priorities - Following JESUS without Reserve-Matthew 19.1-30

William Akehurst, HSWC

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 19:1-30, Genesis 1:27-28, Genesis 2:23-24, Deuteronomy 24:1, Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 1:9-11

BIG IDEA: True discipleship requires wholehearted surrender to GOD's design, childlike faith, and a willingness to give up anything that hinders full devotion to Christ.

• Honor GOD's will above social/cultural norms (marriage/divorce),

• Value what GOD values (children and humility),

• Release what competes with loyalty to Christ (wealth and self-righteousness),

• Trust GOD's reward for every sacrifice made in His name.

Introduction:

We live in a world filled with negotiations and conditions—"I'll follow JESUS, if..."

But JESUS calls us to full surrender.

Matthew 19 is a powerful call to Kingdom priorities—putting GOD first in our relationships, in our possessions, and in our identity.

Summary:

Matthew 19 focuses on JESUS’ teachings as He journeys toward Jerusalem. He addresses marriage and divorce, children in the kingdom, and the challenge of wealth in relation to discipleship. Each section highlights what it truly means to follow Christ, honor GOD’s design, and embrace childlike faith and sacrifice.

I. GOD’s Design for Marriage (vv. 1–12)

Marriage and Divorce (Mark 10:1–12)

1 Now it came to pass, when JESUS had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.

3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female,’

5 and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what GOD has joined together, let not man separate.”

7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

10 His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

JESUS Teaches on Celibacy

11 But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: 12 For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

Context: Pharisees test JESUS with a question about divorce.

KEY: “What GOD has joined together, let not man separate.” (v. 6)

POINTS:

• GOD created marriage (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:23-24).

• Divorce was allowed due to hardness of heart (permitted by Moses), not part of GOD's perfect plan. (Deuteronomy 24:1)

• Celibacy is a calling, not a command (vv. 11–12).

A. The Pharisees Test JESUS – hoping to trap JESUS.

• They ask, “Is it lawful to divorce for just any reason?” (v. 3)

• “Have you not read” vs 4. JESUS points them back to Genesis: GOD's design is male and female, joined as one flesh (vv. 4–5).

• Genesis 1:27-28 27 So GOD created man in His own image; in the image of GOD He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then GOD blessed them, and GOD said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

• Genesis 2:23-24 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”

Vs 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

B. The Heart Behind the Law – The Mosaic Controversy

• “Why did Moses command divorce?” (Matthew 19:7)

The Pharisees misunderstood. They thought Moses commanded divorce in cases of uncleanness, but Jesus explained that God never commanded divorce—He only permitted it.

• Moses didn’t promote divorce—he regulated it

In Deuteronomy 24:1, Moses allowed a man to give a certificate of divorce when he found “uncleanness” in his wife, but this was not God’s ideal—it was a concession due to human sinfulness.