February 12th, 2012
Sermon:
Love Unconditionally
Matthew 5:27-30
Matt 5: 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Eph 5: 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
I Cor 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Last week we talked about avoiding lust, and guarding our hearts, this week we will talk about why we must do that. We are talking about the value of marriage.
1) Jesus is very serious about us protecting ourselves from illicit relationships. This passage is loaded. It is harsh. It catches you a bit off guard on the first read. With the loose morals of the day in which Jesus lived, this would have really made people sit up and take notice.
eyes and hands are important
repeats phrase twice
consequence of not heeding advice is hell
2) We can see from these passages that when Jesus talks about marriage, he is thinking about his bride, the church. For those who have a low view of marriage, and what it means, this passage sends a clear message. Marriage is a big deal to Jesus, and is to be protected, even if it means great cost to the individual.
3) Jesus sets the example for how we are to love, by loving us, his bride. What does that say about how we are to love our brides (and our grooms). How are you doing? How do you measure up?
4) NO OF US MEASURE UP.
5) Marriage is a very humbling experience. Nothing brings out our weaknesses, and underlines our failures like marriage. If we are going to fail as individuals it is seen here first, and if we are unwilling to humbly face our faults, they will destroy us.
6) But, in a bigger picture, this is not about our ability to follow the law, it is about our ability to accept grace and forgiveness. Remember that the point of Jesus overall teaching is not that we must make ourselves follow the law, but that we must receive righteousness, by faith in him. And that he who began a good work in us will complete it. If we have accepted Jesus, we have imputed righteousness (we wear his Righteousness), but our actions are slower to catch up, and we must grow into our righteousness.
7) We are holy, but not yet holy.
8) This does not mean we get a free pass. The Bible says we must fight against temptation, and keep our eye on the goal and run the race, and throw off the sin that so easily entangles us. We must struggle with everything within us to follow his example (not out of law) but out of gratitude.
9) Obedience is rooted in TRUST. Do you trust that following God's word is the best way to live? We become obedient as we daily surrender to His will, and this requires that we trust what He is telling us to do. We can not obey Him with our full hearts if we do not trust that the direction He is leading us is truly the best. And to be sure, our culture is doing everything in its power to convince us that God's ways are boring and pointless, and too difficult.
10) What simple strategies do you use to keep your marriage strong? Are there things we can learn from each other? What have you seen others do that worked?
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