Week 3 - You Have Heard That It Was Said

 

Link to Sunday Service Recording

Text: Matthew 5:21 (ESV)
 

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.

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Matthew 5:27-28 (ESV)

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You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

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Main Message​​

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• You Shall Not Murder

  • For the scribes and Pharisees, they were perfectly happy as long as one did not actually commit murder, all was well and have kept and fulfilled command “You shall not kill.”

  • Jesus is telling them that if you are angry in your heart without a cause with somebody, then it is equivalent to murder.

  • Not only are we not to harbor murder and evil thoughts in our heart against another; but the commandment not to kill really means we should take positive steps to put ourselves right with one another.

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• You Shall Not Commit Adultery

  • If we continue our behavioral pattern of lust, Jesus said that it will fall into adultery, maybe not with that person but with another person.

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Reflection Questions:

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1. READ EPHESIANS 4:26. Do you think it is a sin to be angry? What is the difference between sinful anger and “unsinful” anger?

2. REREAD MATTHEW 5:21-22 IN THE NIV. Raca is the Aramaic word for empty-headed or stupid. The word fool means morally worthless. Both are expressions of contempt, but fool is assigned greater punishment than raca. Why do you think this is the case?

3. How does unreconciled anger affect our ability to worship God (see Matt. 5:24)?