INTRODUCTION:<\/p>\n
A. Though our society takes adultery lightly, it is a serious offense in the eyes of God<\/p>\n
1. God listed it right after murder in the Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:13-14<\/p>\n
2. He made it a capital offense in the Old Testament, worthy of the death penalty – Leviticus 20:10<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
3. God has promised to judge those who are adulterers<\/p>\n
a. Hebrews 13:4<\/p>\n
b. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10<\/p>\n
4. Adultery destroys friendships, marriages, and families, contributing to the destruction of many children’s lives!<\/p>\n
5. How can one avoid the sin of adultery?<\/p>\n
B. Divorce is a big problem in our society as well<\/p>\n
1. We live in an age of easy divorce…<\/p>\n
a. Many if not all states have “no-fault” divorce laws<\/p>\n
b. In some cases, all it takes is for one person to decide to have a divorce, and their spouse can do nothing to prevent it<\/p>\n
2. What does God think about divorce?<\/p>\n
a. What was His view of divorce in the Old Testament?<\/p>\n
b. What does He think of it now?<\/p>\n
C. Remember Jesus challenged His disciples – Matthew 5:20<\/p>\n
1. He illustrated what He meant through a series on contrasts<\/p>\n
a. Between what they had heard from those of old<\/p>\n
b. And what He was now declaring to them<\/p>\n
2. In this lesson we are going to address the issues of adultery and divorce<\/p>\n
DISCUSSION:<\/p>\n
A. ADULTERY<\/p>\n
1. The oral traditions of the Scribes and Pharisees certainly repeated the written commandment found in the Law – Matthew 5:27<\/p>\n
a. But they evidently stressed that as long as one did not commit the actual act, one was not guilty of anything<\/p>\n
b. Thereby emphasizing the “letter” of the Law, but not appreciating the “spirit” behind the Law as well<\/p>\n
2. Jesus taught differently<\/p>\n
a. One does not have to commit the “act” to be guilty of sin<\/p>\n
b. One is just as guilty when one “looks at a woman to lust for her” – Matthew 5:28<\/p>\n
c. If a woman sees her husband lusting, can she divorce him for adultery? The answer is “no” for the following reasons:<\/p>\n
1) Jesus adds the phrase in your heart which separates it from the actual act of adultery.<\/p>\n
2) This is not the same as “the act” of adultery, which requires two people (John 8:4).<\/p>\n
3) The sin of adultery requires the two becoming one flesh (1 Cor. 6:16).<\/p>\n
d. Notice also that is not the “looking” per se that is wrong, but the looking “to lust” for her<\/p>\n
1) To “lust” means to have a strong desire for, to possess and dominate completely<\/p>\n
2) A person may look at another with admiration for beauty and not be guilty of “lust”<\/p>\n
3. Jesus’ interpretation was in harmony with the Law<\/p>\n
a. Notice that the Tenth Commandment condemned coveting a neighbor’s wife – Exodus 20:17<\/p>\n
b. Even in the time of Job, to “look at a woman to lust for her” was considered wrong – Job 31:1<\/p>\n
c. So the problem begins in the heart – Mark 7:21-23<\/p>\n
1) If we can prevent the lusting in the heart (or the “lustful eye”), the problem of adultery is “nipped in the bud”!<\/p>\n
2) Jesus goes on to say what we should do with respect to the lustful eye or any other stumbling blocks<\/p>\n
4. Matthew 5:29-30<\/p>\n
a. That Jesus is not being literal should be obvious, for one could still stumble with the left eye or hand<\/p>\n
b. The key to understanding this passage is found in Matthew 18:7-9<\/p>\n
1) The “eye” and “hand” represent “offenses”<\/p>\n
2) Offenses are “stumbling blocks” that lead to sin<\/p>\n
3) These would be enticements to do wrong, beguiling allurements<\/p>\n
c. The meaning of Jesus’ teaching:<\/p>\n
1) “Take drastic action in getting rid of whatever in the natural course of events will tempt you to sin” (Hendriksen)<\/p>\n
2) Such should be the case in regards to ALL sin, as well as the sin of adultery<\/p>\n
3) As we contemplate Jesus’ words, there are several<\/p>\n
5. Important lessons to be learned:<\/p>\n
a. The present is not our only life – we are destined for eternity<\/p>\n
b. Nothing, no matter how precious, should be allowed to doom our glorious destiny<\/p>\n
c. Sin, being a very destructive force, must not be pampered<\/p>\n
B. DIVORCE<\/p>\n
1. Matthew 5:31<\/p>\n
a. This was the “traditional” interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1-4; handed down orally<\/p>\n
b. In applying the Law, they had focused on the idea of giving certificates of divorce<\/p>\n
c. They concluded divorce was permissible as long as a certificate of divorce was given<\/p>\n
2. Is this what Jesus actually said?<\/p>\n
a. Lets read Deuteronomy 24:1-4 carefully…<\/p>\n
1) Verses 1-3 simply describe a particular situation<\/p>\n
2) It is in verse 4 that Moses actually commands what must not be done<\/p>\n
a) Which was: “her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination to the Lord”<\/p>\n
b) This passage is simply forbidding a man to remarry his wife after she had been married to another – Jeremiah 3:1<\/p>\n
c. Note also Paul’s understanding of the Law – Romans 7:1-3<\/p>\n
1) A woman was bound by the Law to her husband as long he lived<\/p>\n
2) If she married another while her first husband was still living (implying a certificate of divorce was given), she became an adulteress (i.e., defiled)!<\/p>\n
3) So the scribes and Pharisees had interpreted the Law to permit divorce as long as a certificate of divorce was given to the wife. But this was not what the Law taught<\/p>\n
4) What does Jesus say?<\/p>\n
3. Matthew 5:32<\/p>\n
a. The only acceptable grounds for divorce is fornication, or sexual immorality<\/p>\n
b. Otherwise, divorcing ones spouse “causes him\/her to commit adultery”<\/p>\n
1) How? By placing them in a position where they are likely to remarry, in which they become an adulteress or adulterer<\/p>\n
2) This is what the Law implied in Deut. 24:4 and Jer. 3:1<\/p>\n
c. Jesus made clear what the Law itself implied: To divorce a woman for any reason other than sexual immorality would cause her to be defiled (when she remarried)!<\/p>\n
d. Jesus goes on to say that anyone who marries a person who has been divorced (lit. “put away”) also commits adultery!<\/p>\n
e. A person who is divorced for reasons OTHER than adultery cannot remarry<\/p>\n
f. Nor can a person “put away” for the reason of adultery remarry<\/p>\n
1) For such a person is an “adulteress” or “adulterer”<\/p>\n
2) As such, is “defiled” and would thereby cause anyone who married that person to commit adultery!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: Adultery and Divorce, Matthew 5:27-33 INTRODUCTION: A. Though our society takes adultery lightly, it is a serious offense in the eyes of God 1. God listed it right after murder in the Ten Commandments – Exodus 20:13-14 2. He made it a capital offense in the Old Testament, worthy of … Continue reading “Adultery and Divorce – Bible Outlines”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43527\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}