Additional Sermon Notes for 24 September 2006

Date: 24 September 2006
Text: Matthew 5:31-37
Title: I Would Be True
Speaker: Pastor Lai
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I. True to others (vv 31~32)

(1) Verse 31 is quoting from Deuteronomy 24:1, but Jesus is emphasizing the need to do things in the right perspective. Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel during Jesus’ time argued over the interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1~4, especially about verse 1 which says ‘finds something indecent about her’. Rabbi Shammai being a person who treats everything seriously, propose that pertaining to indecent things, it should be a serious offence in marriage. On the contrary, Rabbi Hillel holds a macro view; if a wife cannot cook, or even when the husband does not like her look anymore or fell in love with another beautiful woman is considered indecent on the part of the wife.

(2) That is why men are attracted to divorce their wives to their advantage. Even the serious follower of the law like the Pharisees are tempted to do likewise and pose Jesus with the question in Matthew 19:3. They wanted to test whether Jesus is the serious type or holds the macro view. Instead of answering their queries, Jesus brings them back to Genesis, to where God began His creation. Jesus respects the establishment of marriage, and his only exception is Matthew 5:32 and 19:9.

(3) To be true towards others should not depend on who the person is or what that person has done to agitate us. It should be totally dependent on whether we take God’s word seriously to treat everyone around us with the best possible righteous manner. I totally agreed with Stanley that it is the ‘I’ syndrome that matters.

II. True to speech (vv 33~37)

(1) Verse 33 is not just quoting from one item in the law of Moses, but a summary of several old testament law; it’s purpose is for the people to honour the oaths that is being made (Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21). Pharisees took this difficult commands and twist the attention of the people towards the process of the oath instead of towards the contents of the oath.

(2) Jesus was speaking not against oaths themselves but against the abuses of oaths and the corresponding abuse of the truth that went with them. For it is evident that there are plenty of instances in the old and new testaments that oath is mentioned by Moses (Deuteronomy 10:20), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 12:16~17) and even taken by Paul the apostle (Romans 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:23; Philippians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 2:5, 10).

(3) Even God Himself takes oath to assure men of the truth of his statements (Genesis 9:9~11; Luke 1:68, 73; Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27~31; Isaiah 49:15~18). Why does God had to behave like men to take oaths? Hebrews 6:17~19 tells us why.

III. True to God (Matthew 23:16~22)

(1) The people during Jesus’ time try to show that they are true and sincere by swearing as and when they like and that eventually became meaningless even if they are swearing by their life! Taking oath in this manner is neither necessary nor proper. It is just superficial and redundant.

(2) There are also people who were afraid to swear by the name of the Lord because they were not telling the full truth. And so they began to swear by things, and because mere things were not thought to be significant as the name of the Lord. Therefore this second class of oaths was not considered to be binding.

(3) In other words, life cannot be divided into neat little compartments some of which are exempt from God’s presence and some of which are not. God is everywhere. He is in every compartment of life. Hence, the truth is as important in one situation and at one time as another.

The Bible and the Chocolate

Question:
If the Bible were a brand of chocolates, what would it be?


There are many answers to this...
1. Cadbury
Because it's a family name. The Bible is meant for everyone, especially the poor.

2. Merci
Because the Bible tells of God's mercy to everyone, who have sinned against Him
Merci also means "Thank you" in French

3. Lindt Dark Chocolate
Because the Bible tells of a Bitter Sweet story...Bitter because God was disappointed with man who sinned and disobeyed Him. Sweet because He still loves us, and sends Christ to die for us, to save us.

4. Smarties
Because of their tagline goes like this "Only Smarties has the answer"
Similarly, only the Bible has the answers to all aspects of our lives


Think it through. Reflect upon it...
What brand of chocolate is the Bible to you?

Additional Sermon Notes for 10 September 2006

Date: 10 September 2006
Text: Matthew 5: 21-30
Title: Pure as Gold?
Speaker: Pastor Lai
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I. Stop the internal bleeding (vv 21~26)

(1) What Jesus is teaching is taken from the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:13), based on the sixth commandment, the commandment that said, “You shall not murder.” Understanding the commandment, we know that there is a difference between murder and kill; if murder is equivalent to killing, then God who commands Moses to kill all the evil idol worshippers when the Israelites enter Canaan is going back on His own word, moreover, there is still this Law from God who sentence death penalty to those who committed serious offence against man and God.

(2) Jesus is fulfilling the Law not only by its verbal meaning, but He is pushing it further to show that even being angry with someone is also murdering him or her! The apostle John fully agrees with Jesus (see 1 John 3:15).

Since we are not righteous, the way that we are allowed to anger is to be very slow in getting angry and do not let it last over night. (James 1:19; Ephesians 4:26~27)

Scolding someone with names is certainly a lousy practice; Raca is a term meaning empty, but the insult of it is more in the sound than the meaning. If it means anything, it means “a nothing” or “a nobody.”

(3) Getting ourselves angry with someone is like inflicting injuries upon ourselves, just that this kind of injury is causing us to bleed internally. That is why Jesus is encouraging us to end this internal bleeding as soon as possible. He is to bring forth healing in a special way, the medicine or antiseptic is love from the cross on Calvary. It is this love that can transform us from inside out.

II. Stop thinking about sex (vv 27~30)

(1) When Jesus talked about the seventh commandment (Exodus 20:14, you shall not commit adultery), He is again not just trying to stop someone from having a lustful behaviour but also to stop one from even having a lustful mind!

(2) The Bible is not stopping married couples to make love towards each other; this can be clearly seen from the Song of Solomon where it depicts true marital love between a loving couples. But the Bible is against any form of lustful thought or behaviour that is extra-marital.

(3) At first glance, it might seem ridiculous for Jesus to command us to gouge out one eye or to cut off one hand or one leg. But there are some whose passion overriding their wisdom truly did so! These are people who took the word of God by the letter instead of by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6). Taking away the eye, hand or leg that can stumble us is the descriptive way Jesus used in His exhortation. It does not encourage us to cause infliction upon ourselves, but rather it is a moral determination to control our personal desire. It is a way to bear the cross in following our Lord, the conviction to get rid of our sins (Mark 8:34; Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 3:5).

III. Start talking about love (1 John 1:9)

(1) Finding the right antidote towards this ruthless and lustful world is what our Lord Jesus motivates us to do. When the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law (Rabbi) try to find the easy way out in obeying the Law, Jesus taught otherwise. Getting to the root of the problem is what we ought to do today.

(2) John as Jesus’ disciples understand how precious it is to come under the grace of Jesus, knowing that He is always there ready to pardon and forgive us is a comfort. This is not an insurance that we can continue to sin but an assurance that He is always there for us as well as guiding us.

(3) Embracing the love from God meant we could share this love with those who hungers for true love in this world. True love that is only present in God, who is the maker and giver of all things. Let us learn how to commit our emotions and sexual desires to him, as He truly understands it all.