Living In The Kingdom 9 Series

Living In The Kingdom Part 9

Scripture: Matthew 5:27-32; 19:3-8; Exodus 20:14; Malachi 2:15-16

I want to thank Pastor Fulks for ministering in my absence on last Sunday. If you did not get a chance to attend, please go to our Facebook page and view her message from last week. Her title was “Activate Your Faith” coming from Nehemiah the first chapter. It was a powerful reminder of what each of us needs to do more of in 2022. This morning I will be continuing my series “Living in the Kingdom” based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In my first message of 2022, I told you that we must begin implanting the Word of God in our hearts so that we might begin living according to His Word. Last Sunday Pastor Fulks told us we need to activate our faith which cannot be done separate from God Word as we know from Romans 10:17 that “….faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

When we read Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in chapters five through seven of the book of Matthew, it is a very good place to start implanting His Word in our hearts because that is what His sermon focuses on – the heart. If you recall from my previous messages in this series, Jesus began this sermon by discussing what our attitudes should be as children of His kingdom – what is referred to as the beatitudes. Then He told us why we should have those attitudes – because we are supposed to be the salt of the earth and the light of this world. Next He transitioned to His authority and why He could teach the things He was teaching them – because He is the Son of God. After establishing this foundation, Jesus began to address some of the things they had learned in their Jewish education by saying “as was said to those of old.” He then began explaining some of the Ten Commandments, how they had been taught versus the true spiritual meaning behind them. The first commandment He addressed was the sixth commandment which says we shall not kill. His focus was on the thoughts of the hearts versus the actual act of killing someone. Jesus said being angry with someone without a cause is breaking this commandment. In other words, the unjust anger in our hearts is on the same level as murder in God’s eyes.

This morning we will focused on what Jesus said about the seventh commandment which states that we should not commit adultery. Our foundation Scripture comes from Matthew 5:27-32. In this section of His sermon, Jesus specifically speaks about two more heart issues – adultery and divorce. As I go through this message, we will examine what He said in the context of this specific sermon, especially as it relates to divorce. This morning, we are going to look at what Jesus taught as the most egregious reason for divorce. Let’s read what is recorded in Matthew 5:27-32. “You have heard that it was said by them of old time, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29 And if your right eye causes you to offend, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to offend, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. 31 It has been said, ‘Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.’ 32 But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery.”

Let’s examine what Jesus said about adultery. As I said, the seventh commandment says “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14) Before we go further, let’s define what adultery is. Adultery is defined as “voluntary sexual relations between a married person and somebody other than his or her spouse.” In Scripture, adultery is also a term that was used to define the acts of idolatry (people of God turning their backs on God and worshipping idols.) This morning we will be dealing with the primary definition of a married person having sex with someone other than their spouse. Now to be clear, the Bible forbids any type of sexual immorality, so I want to point out that fornication is often linked to adultery. The reason for this is simple. Biblically, fornication is sex outside of marriage. All adultery is fornication, but not all fornication is adultery. If two single people engage in sex before they are married they are committing fornication, not adultery. However, if one of them in married, then the one who is married is not committing fornication. That person is committing adultery. Do you see the distinction? The Bible makes it perfectly clear that those who commit these acts without repenting will spend an eternity in hell. But I am getting way ahead of myself because Jesus totally transformed the definition of adultery.