The Internal Law of the Kingdom of God (the Law of the Heart)
A soldier in the time of war got a letter from his fiancé, saying he has met someone else and wants to call off the marriage. So she asked for the engagement ring and her picture, so that she might have use for it in the future. He was really depressed about this. As he spoke to other soldiers, they said this is what you should do. They gave the pictures of their girlfriends to him and said, “Send a letter back with all these pictures.” So he wrote to her saying, “I am sorry I know I have to send the ring and your picture back, but I do not remember which one you are, please take your picture and send others back to me!”
There is a saying that vengeance is sweet. How we respond is very important, and I am not sure how the soldier responded is according to how Jesus taught us to respond in the Sermon on the Mount.
John said, “The Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” We are going to see what is said in the Law of Moses and Jesus’ description of how a child of God should behave that is something beyond the Law of Moses.
In verse 13 of chapter 5 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” and “You are the light of the world, A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
As a child of God:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you think about?
3. What do you look at?
4. What do you say?
5. How do you respond?
1. Who are you?
Salt and Light – Matthew 5:13-20
Jesus says in verse 13 and 14 who you are. It is a statement of being. He begins with how we should behave with the statement of who we are – Ontological anthropology.
We are the salt and the light of the world. People who do not follow Jesus are not the salt and the light of the world.
Some similarities between the two:
• Salt and light both preserve and disinfect. Salt in meat is used to preserve and added for better taste. Light is used for similar purpose; a beam of ultra-violet light in a biological research lab is used to kill viruses.
• Salt and light add spice and beauty. A good meal which has a variety of herbs and salt and spices really tastes good.
I once visited the Yosemite National Park in California. We got there at night and we could not see a thing. You have to travel through a tunnel, which is tunneled through a solid rock but as you come out, you see this beautiful valley with waterfalls and everything. But in the darkness we could not see any of these until we woke up the next morning and saw this breathtaking beauty!
In the darkness you do not see beauty or the glory that surrounds you. But light reveals it.
Some dissimilarity between the two:
Salt must become invisible to do its work. If you see salt on your food there is too much salt.
Light must be visible. Light does not help you see unless the cover is taken off.
There is a place for the follower of Jesus to work invisibly, being salt, and also visibly, being the light.
Application:
We must learn to be humble enough to avoid the limelight, and be bold enough to be the light, when our testimony needs to shine so that others can be drawn to Christ.
This principle, the ontological anthropology (the description of who we are as humans) results in all that follows in the chapter - the application of who we are to what we do-how salt & light lives in the world. All that we will see later on in following chapters is based on this principle – “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world, therefore this is how you should behave.”
The Children of the Kingdom are Salt and Light, therefore they are Law keepers and teachers (Matthew 5:17-20).
Jesus came not to destroy the Law but to fulfill the Law. All the sacrificial system mentioned in the Old Testament was fulfilled by Jesus. He fulfilled what the Justice of God demanded by dying on the Cross. He overcame the power of the law which brings death by rising again from death. So the law of the New Covenant is deeply rooted in the Law of Moses. “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 5:19.
Then Jesus says that your righteousness has to surpass the self-righteous Pharisees, who go out of their way to fulfill the Law. The Pharisees strain at a gnat out of their mouth in case it was found in their drinking water to fulfill the Law of Moses. They were hyper religious, yet Jesus says our righteousness should surpass that.
A Christian goes beyond what is required by the Law. He is not only righteous in appearance, in action, but in character, obedient to God on the inside.
You carry your Bible to church – and you might carry a big Bible, because you are spiritual. And a person carrying small Bible is not so spiritual? It is not about appearance. It is what is happening on the inside.
This is the foundation of all that follows: our character/nature (we are salt & light) determines what we do. A child of the Kingdom of God is interested in fulfilling the Law on the inside.
2. What do you think about?
Murder – Matthew 5:21-26
Illustration:
When I ride on the roads of Bangalore, somebody does something that is so irrational and stupid; I get in the flesh and get stirred up, “I cannot believe that person did something so stupid! Oops, sorry I said that, Lord!”
Jesus says when we are angry at our brother, we are subject to judgment. And later on He says that we settle accounts with someone who might have something against us.
The point is that it is not just what you do, but it is how you think about people and relationships. So it is not about taking a gun and shooting someone or poisoning someone, you might have thought of it, but not done it. But Jesus is saying is more to do with how you think of people on the inside. Murder begins in the thoughts; it does not begin with picking up the weapon and killing somebody.
We are to be people of peace—peace in our hearts, not just in our actions.
If we are thinking about a conflict with someone, stewing over the wrongs against us, stirring up anger in our hearts, we have already broken the inward principle of the outward ordinance.
Even beyond this, if we remember (think about something) someone else who has something against us, someone who perceives us as having wronged them, we are to take the initiative and pursue peace with that person. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peace-makers”; we make peace even when we are not at fault. . .
There is a way in which our concern about the wellbeing of others, of the community, drives our thoughts and actions. And we are not to come to God making an offering when we know that there is strife in our relationships with others - strife within our hearts toward others, or strife in the hearts of others toward us. We may not be able to control how another responds to our attempt at peace, but we are to seek peace, nevertheless.
It is our responsibility to have a clean heart toward people – in our hearts and minds.
3. What do you look at?
Adultery - Matthew 5:27-30
Again, Jesus focuses on our inward condition, and not merely on our actions. The children of the Kingdom do more than simply obey the Law; they fulfill it in their hearts and minds.
In this subject, Jesus has moved from the murder and anger (the inward condition which leads to murder) to that of adultery, and the internal condition that leads to it-pornography, or looking.-think ‘eye candy’. Jesus is saying, it begins in your thinking – in what you look at and why you are looking at.
It is not about a guy looking at a girl and saying, “Wow, she is a beautiful girl.” But it is about looking at the person in order to lust for that person; beginning to enter into some kind of a physical or romantic relationship with that person in your mind. It is the fantasy that is wrong. It is the condition of the heart and the mind you have to be careful about.
Adultery and its predecessor, looking at a person or image or reading a story for the purpose of feeding desire, are both having a devastating and pervasive impact on current world society.
World-wide, on an average, about 50% of all married couples remain sexually faithful throughout their marriage. . . about half do not. In some States in India, the divorce rate has tripled in the last 10 years and it continues to go up. In many divorces, adultery is part of it.
Men have more of an issue with pornography than women. More than half of all men in the West have viewed some kind of pornography. According to Josh MacDowell, almost all teenage boys view pornography.
Being in ministry or studying for ministry does not make you immune to this condition.
The connection between pornography and deviant behavior is well-established. But the problem with pornography is not merely the behavior or misbehavior to which it leads; it is an evil because of the condition it creates in the heart, emotions, mind, and body, leading people away from the plan and purpose of God (our fulfillment) and preventing us from fulfilling all for which God has designed us.
There are many suggested ways of overcoming patterns of unforgiveness (the source of the problem of murder) or pornographic addiction:
• Confess
• Establish an accountability partner
• Set up pop up blockers on your computers
• Enter a support group
• Seek help online (there are web sites dedicated to helping people overcome addictive behaviors)
• Etc.
All these things are good. Probably the best way to overcome these relational and habitual problems is to enter the biblical pattern:
1. Take your sin seriously. If your eye offends, gouge it out, if your hand leads you to sin, cut it off. You need to understand that this is something evil, that will prevent you from accomplishing what God has called you to accomplish. It is a hindrance to the work of faith and Spirit. Jesus said, “If your eye offends you, pluck it out.” Self mutilation is not part of the Christian tradition, but Jesus is saying, if this is going to keep you from the Kingdom of heaven, cut it out of your life, get rid of it, have nothing to do with it. Take sin seriously – that is the beginning.
2. Repent. You take 180-degree turn. You go in the opposite direction and you never turn back. Anger, hatred, looking down on others, and fantasizing about romance or sex are evil. Rather than justifying ourselves concerning these things, we must recognize the destructive nature of bad character and turn away from it. By embracing these inward sins, we miss the opportunity to become the person God wants us to be and get distracted.
3. Commit to always turning our heart condition over to Christ. As soon as temptation faces you, pray a prayer such as “Lord, I know this is wrong, but I have always had a problem with this. I am weak, but You are strong. Please be my strength and build Your character into my heart”. Jesus responds to that kind of prayer.
4. If you don’t have time for that prayer, just say “Jesus, Help!”
These (Murder and Adultery) are the only two of the 10 Commandments that Jesus addresses directly in the Sermon of the Mount. Maybe they are kind of representative. If you can deal with these inward issues of the heart, you can deal with the remaining 10 commandments. For eg: Honoring parents will not be an issue for us, if we deal with issues in our heart. If you love your neighbor; if your character is right, then you will be happy for him and not covet when he has something that you do not have.
We are to nurture those emotions and conditions of the heart that tend toward love and vanquish those thoughts which lead to feelings and conditions of the heart of division, strife, thievery, unfaithfulness, greed, and dispeace.
4. What do you say?
Oaths & Murder – Matthew 5:33-37
How do you speak as a child of the kingdom?
When you say, “I promise to be there, I really will, I swear.” You do not say that unless everyone knows that you are quite accustomed to lying. The only reason you would swear is if you know people would doubt whether you are telling the truth. So, once you say, “Yes,” stick to it. If you say, “No,” do not say it until you are sure, then you say it and stick with it.
ILLUSTRATION:
This is one of the difficulties here in India. Your friend asks you over to a birthday party. That same night you know that the following day you have a big presentation and you have to work late, and that you cannot be out for a social outing that night. But you say to your friend, “I will try to be there.” When you say that you know you are not going to that party and not even going to try. We say it because we do not want to deal with the argument after you say, “I am sorry, I cannot come.” Your friend might say, “No, please come.” “I cannot come, I have a big presentation next day and I cannot make it.” “Oh, come on . . . come on..” So you know this is the way the conversation will go. It is a lot easier to simply say, “I will try.” “I will try,” means I cannot come in India. But if you say you will be there, blessed is the man who swears to his own hurt.
ILLUSTRATION:
A wealthy businessman lay on his deathbed. His preacher came to visit and talked about God’s healing power and prayed for his parishioner. When the preacher was done, the businessman said, "Preacher, if God heals me, I’ll give the church a million dollars." Miraculously, the businessman got better and within a few short weeks was out of the hospital.
Several months later, the preacher bumped into this businessman on the sidewalk and said, "You know, when you were in the hospital dying, you promised to give the church a million dollars if you got well. We haven’t received it as of yet."
The businessman replied, “Did I say that? I guess that goes to show how sick I really was.”
ILLUSTRATION:
The Leo Burnett advertising agency did a nationwide telephone survey a few years ago on lying, cataloging when we lie, how we lie, and why we lie.
The results were interesting.
91% of all Americans confessed that they regularly lied.
79% had given out false phone numbers or invented new identities when meeting strangers on airplanes.
One out of every five admitted that they couldn't get through even one day without going along with a previously manufactured lie.
The survey revealed what we lie about the most:
Our income, our weight, or our age—
Our weight.—the one truth no lie could ever conceal.
When I was growing up, it was part of the American identity that you tell the truth and not lie. When I was 6 or 7 years old, I heard the story of George Washington. When he was five years old, his father gave him his first hatchet. He went out and in his father’s farm where there was this little cherry tree. He used the hatchet and cut down the cherry tree. His father came home and immediately understood what had happened and asked his son, “Who cut down the cherry tree?” Little Georgie said, “I cannot tell a lie. I cut down the cherry tree.” That is a legend and I do not even know if it really happened but that was part of the American mindset. But now, the truth is most Americans do not even care about lying, and to me it is very disturbing. We don't get upset anymore when someone exaggerates, falsifies, fabricates, or misrepresents the truth.
James Emery White said this,
“We live in a day when we've been bombarded with erased tapes, tampered evidence, illicit cover-ups, padded resumes, and exaggerated ads to the point that we've pretty much given up on truth being a viable enterprise.”
Jesus calls us to a different kind of speaking – our yes should be yes, and our no should be no.
5. How do you respond?
Divorce, Eye for an Eye, Love Your Enemies – Matthew 5:31-48
5:31-32
In Judaism, the woman could not divorce the man, but in the Roman law, woman could. During this time, there was a woman who had married 22 times and divorced. Her 22nd husband was marrying her as his 21st wife. But as far as God is concerned, when you are married, you are married for life, “as long as we both shall live, till death parts us.” That is what the covenant is.
So even if you get a divorce, the marriage is a covenant for life. You are committing adultery when you marry a married person, because as far as God is concerned, the person is married for life.
Really when you want to marry a person, it does not matter if the woman you want to marry is fair, or has such and such qualifications, or the field of work – these are not concerns for marriage, but character. Does this person love the Lord? Is this person committed to the ministry? These are the qualifications that matter, and not the appearance or status.
Then when you are married, you may not get the affection or respect you need. So what? Jesus asks us to love nevertheless. It is not your job to worry about what your spouse is doing, but what you are doing to your spouse. So be the person that God has called you to be in that marriage. Divorce is not even an option.
5:38-42
An Eye for an Eye and Tooth for tooth, and soon the world is blind and toothless.
Don’t give pain for pain, suffering for suffering – the Lord says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. It is the matter of the heart.
5:43-48
We do not respond based on nature, but we respond based on the Spirit of God.
Love your enemies and do good to those who persecute you. The person whom you know has something against you, you say, “Hi, good to see you!”
ILLUSTRATION:
Abraham Lincoln went to a party and one of the Generals hated Lincoln, and was very public in his proclamations against Lincoln. There was even a public argument published in the newspaper. And at this party, a man asked, “Mr. President, what you do think about this General?” Abraham Lincoln began to go on and on about the virtues of this General. And the man said, “Sir, do you not know this man hates you?” Lincoln said, “You did not ask me what he thinks of me, but you asked me what I think of him.” Wow!
Jesus is advocating a supernatural response and not a natural response. When an authority makes unreasonable demands on you, you go the extra mile. When your enemy abuses you, you love, bless and pray for that person. Each of these commandments is impossible for us in our own nature.
ILLUSTRATION:
Dr. Evan Kane was the head of Summit hospital in New York, in the 1920s. At that time when they operated they used general anesthesia. Dr. Kane felt, local anesthesia would do and would help patient do better, and recovery would be quicker. His theory seemed true, but no one was willing to go for a surgery without general anesthesia. He finally found a willing patient, who wanted an appendectomy done. Dr. Kane had done over 4,000 appendix removals. So he went through the procedure, everything without the general anesthesia. And the patient as predicted got up, and walked out the next day itself. This is amazing. In those days, people had to stay in hospital for about a week or so after an appendectomy. This was in 1921. What was extraordinary was Dr. Kane performed this on himself.
Maybe the Sermon on the Mount is recommending some personal surgery, what needs to be done in our own hearts – a spiritual surgery. Jesus places the responsibility on us to bring our hearts before God, so that He can make the transformation on the inside.
