Read Matthew 5:27-30

I’m not sure how many women’s bible studies are talking about this topic, but we’re going there.

Lust

Lust: an intense desire or need, a sexual urge

This is more than a glance or being attracted to someone, this is letting your mind wander into fantasy, craving a sexual encounter. In this context, lust is referring sexual temptation, a strong desire to be sexually intimate with someone who is not your spouse.

Our generation is over sexualized. It’s no secret. Commercials, songs, music videos, store ads, TV shows, even sitcoms are sexualized. I can’t turn on the TV without something sexual popping up in my face. We’ve tried watching so many shows that people rave about, only to get a few episodes, or minutes into the series, and there’s a graphic sexual scene.  In fact, just the other night I was scrolling through Facebook and child, who is in Jr.High, posted and up-close picture of a man’s well, you know what. I can’t even go on Facebook now without my eyes being scorned.

According to Covenant Eyes, 1 in 5 mobile searches are for pornography. Global pornography revenue is in the billions, with lots of it coming from the US. In fact here’s an info graphic I found worth sharing:

In other words, lust isn’t going away, in fact it’s only getting stronger. Lust doesn’t always give way to affairs or viewing pornography, but it can still be destructive.  Lust is letting your mind wander into a place it shouldn’t.  Jesus tells us in this passage that long before the act of adultery is committed, lust in the heart is found.  This is where true adultery begins.  So what do we do? Here are 3 tips for fighting lust:

1. Guard Your Heart (and Mind)
Jesus whole teaching on sin is that it always starts in the heart. Lust is conceived in the heart and born in the mind. We have to be able to fight sin as drastically as Jesus told us to. That starts with guarding your heart and your mind. Lust maybe purely physical, but I’m not sure that’s always the case. At times sexual immorality is born out of loneliness, seeking comfort in the wrong things. Run to God with these desires, nip them in the bud before they begin to grow, and ask God to change you from the inside out.  Temptation always starts with one little bite, so search your heart for those little places you’re allowing sin to grow.

2. Walk in the Light
Nothing is more difficult than to fight sin in the dark. Trying to do this on your own, in your own strength is a death sentence. Find others you can be honest with. Remember Jesus’ advice for fighting sin isn’t “try harder” or “be better”, it’s “tear your eye out”. Do what you have to do fight sin and bring this into the light. Take drastic measures. Sin must be dealt with drastically because it’s deadly; it kills both physically and spiritually. The best way to fight lust in the heart is in community and authenticity.

3. Preach the Gospel to Yourself
I mean it. Preach the Gospel to yourself. You made by our Creator God and redeemed by Jesus our Savior.  The same power that raised  Christ from the dead now lives in you. Repentance is the road to freedom. Remembering whose you are and who you are in Christ, regularly coming back to that, will help you breakdown strongholds. While putting up moral fences may work for a time, the only true long-lasting road to freedom is Calvary.

Fight. Guard your heart. Renew your mind. Live in community. Find accountability. Preach the Gospel to yourself.

1. What are there circumstances in your life that cause you to lust?

2. Why would Jesus say, “tear your eye out” and “cut off your hand” in regards to fighting lust?

3. If lust is something you struggle with, write out some action steps for how you’ll fight it.

Read Matthew 5:21-26

We’ve all done this. Heading to a party, or a family gathering, or a dinner out with friends and then it happens.

You get in a fight in the car on your way there. Over who knows what, but you’re arguing and you realize in just 3 minutes you’re going to have to walk inside to the party or whatever and pretend like you’re not angry with your spouse, or your significant other, or your sister, or whoever you were just yelling at.

You try to engage and act normal at the party but there’s unresolved conflict and it’s seeping out into how you act toward others. It’s so hard to even be present and enjoy yourself because there’s unresolved conflict in your heart.

You can’t just leave the anger and unresolved conflict in the car. It follows you into the party and keeps you from truly enjoying your time with others.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t even sleep well when there’s unresolved conflict in my life. I wish I never had to engage in conflict with loved ones, but we know it’s only a matter of time before most relationships face them.

Jesus starts his upside down teaching in these verses by telling us over and over in this chapter “you have heard it said . . . but I tell you . . .” and he starts with anger and unresolved conflict. He shows us again that sin is more deeply rooted than we realize by focusing not on the action with our hands, but the action within our heart.

Anger, insulting your brother or calling him a fool, makes us liable to judgment. Anger within our hearts doesn’t just affect my horizontal relationships with others; it affects my vertical relationship with God.

So much so that Jesus says anger and unresolved conflict will distract us from true worship. God cares so much about our reconciliation with others, that He actually tells us if we aren’t reconciled one to another, we need to leave the altar and go be reconciled. Anger in our hearts leads to death with our words and separation in our relationship, both with one another and with God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Being a peacemaker means stepping into the conflict and actively engaging reconciliation. Reconciling one to another because we have been reconciled to God.

Taking Jesus at His word, we need to seek peace and repent of anger in our hearts and “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18)

1. What are some of the things Jesus says in Matthew 5:21-26  are a result of anger in our hearts?

2. How do you handle conflict? What are some ways you can pursue peacemaking?

3. Is there someone you are angry with? Do you need to reconcile? If so write out a first step in reconciling with that person.

“I believe in Jesus, I just don’t believe in some book that was written over 2,000 years ago and is outdated.”  A comment someone said to me as a “believer” that was openly living in sin.  In other words, Jesus is great as my Savior, but all those words He spoke about how to live, those are old and don’t really matter.

Can we really love Jesus apart from His word?  Can we really know grace apart from the Law?  This is the great debate: If Christ has fulfilled the Law, does the Law have any relevance for today?

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (v.17-18)

Fulfill: to carry out, to perform or do, to obey or follow.

Jesus did something absolutely none of us could do, he lived a perfect life, fulfilling the Law.  Jesus was not coming to teach something new, He was coming to fulfill what was already being taught.  Jesus was not teaching that Law doesn’t matter or holds no relevance, He was teaching that the Law will never save you.

“Christ despised “the traditions of the elders,” the religious leaders supposed Him to be a deceiver, going about to destroy the very foundations of piety. Because He threw far more emphasis upon great moral principles than upon ceremonial institutions, many were ready to imagine that He repudiated the entire Levitical system. Because He was the Proclaimer of grace and the Dispenser of mercy, the “Friend of publicans and sinners,” the idea became current that He was opposed to the Law.” -A.W. Pink

Can you imagine that?  Jesus, being accused of being too liberal and too free with grace.  He makes sure to say while He is free with grace, He still has reverence for the Law.

“Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (v.19)

Relax: to slacken, to make less strict, weaken, lessen, reduce.

Obedience flows out of belief. If we truly believe, we will obey. We will do what God asks of us and teach it to others.

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (v.20)

Exceeds: To surpass, to be superior, to go beyond.

There is a righteousness that exceeds that of “religious” people, it’s beyond external deeds . . . it’s a renewed heart, gifted through grace.

“Jesus said He would fulfill the Law by obeying it perfectly and would fulfill the prophets’ predictions of the Messiah and His kingdom. But the responsibility of the people was made clear. The righteousness they were currently seeking—that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law—was insufficient for entrance into the kingdom Jesus was offering. The righteousness He demanded was not merely external; it was a true inner righteousness based on faith in God’s Word (Rom. 3:21-22). This is clear from what follows.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)

Though we are living in the New Covenant where His grace abounds, His law still matters. Obedience that flows from a renewed, thankful, changed heart is beautiful, it is great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Are you trying to dismiss His law and His commands for your life?
Are you relaxing what is taught in scripture?
Are you trying to attain righteousness through external religion?

If so, stop.
Remember the Cross.
Remember who we are in Christ.
Remember Jesus fulfills the law and we are fulfilled by Him.
Obedience doesn’t earn righteousness, but is a result of righteousness.
His fulfillment of the law is our fulfillment of His grace.

1.  List some of the laws in scripture.  (See Exodus 20).

2.   What is the relationship between law and grace?  How do they relate to the gospel?

3.  At what point did you understand your need for grace?

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” (Matthew 5:13)

What is the purpose of salt?
Why is it used?
What benefits does it have?
And why, oh, why would Jesus call us “salt of the earth”?

Salt is used to add flavor, preserve, season, freshen, sweeten to taste.  It’s a means of purification, delays decay or physical corruption.

According to A.W. Pink, “Ministers are to dispense the Word, both Law and Gospel, in such a way as to express the qualities of salt. Now the properties of salt as applied to raw flesh or fresh meats are principally these: first, it will fret and bite, being of a hot and dry nature; second, it makes meat savory to our taste; third, it preserves meat from putrefaction by drawing out of it superfluous moisture.”

Salt . . .
Frets and bites
Makes a savory taste
Preserves

Frets and Bites
We are to be just like this to the world arounds us. Our message of Christ and Christ crucified may sting (fret/bite) a bit at first. For some, it may be offensive. It may cause pain to hear that they way they do life or understand life is wrong. It may hurt a bit to hear that Jesus is THE only way to eternal life and reconciliation with the Father. The message can be painful in the beginning. But that’s okay, salt on flesh stings at first in order to disinfect and fight disease. Pain comes before purification.

Savory Taste
However, it shouldn’t stop there. After the salt is poured onto the flesh, it begins to make a savory taste. We should be able to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ in a way that causes others to have a good taste in their mouth. One that leaves them craving more. We should share Truth in a way that is flavorful, delightful, and tasty. Not in a way that causes people to spit it out, but in a way that causes them to chew on it more.

Preserves 
Salt helps keeps things alive longer. Salt keeps things from decay (corrupting), it can keep from harm, illness, or disease. So just as salt preserves food, we as salt of the earth are to help preserve people. We are to help people along the path of of everlasting by showing them Christ. We are to help keep others from harm, moral decay, spiritual illness or disease by pointing to Christ and His word.

We are salt of the earth. Jesus tells us so. But not all salt stays “salty”. The rest of this scripture warns that we are supposed to be the kind of salt that does not lose it’s taste. If we don’t remain salty, remain fresh and pure ourselves, when we offer our “salt” to others, it will do no good. It will be useless, “thrown out and trampled under feet” as Jesus said. The way we live our life can either be as a preservative for others, or it can be meaningless and thrown out.

We’ve all come across these kinds of people. Those who talk about the redeeming work of Jesus and yet their lives are anything but redeemed. They lose credibility, people begin to toss them aside, throw out their message, because it is not reputable. It’s meaningless. They’re salty people who have lost their taste. Their salt is good for nothing.

Friends, will you work hard at protecting your saltiness? Will you remain in Jesus, the ultimate Preserver, so that your salt provides others with a savory taste? Let’s be people whose salt has a purpose and good flavor.

Let’s be people who allow our salt to sting, savor, and save.

1.  List the ways salt is used.

2.  Is your life salty to those around you?  How do you add flavor to others lives? Preserve them from death?

3.  Salt can also make you thirsty.  Does your life make people thirst for Jesus?  Why or why not?

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

You know the routine. People are on your way over and you’ve got just a few minutes to tidy up before guests arrive. The house is a mess, stuff is everywhere, and you need to pick it up before everyone gets here, so you grab the clutter from the counter, make a pile, and shove it in a drawer or a closet.

So no one can see your mess and everyone who comes in will think you’re clean.

Everything is going just fine, until that one friend who is a little too comfortable at your house, decides to look around and open that one door and find all of your junk shoved into a closet.

Don’t act like that hasn’t happened to you!

We try to appear cleaner on the outside than we really are.

Again, with this beatitude, Jesus is helping people see what really matters when it comes to Kingdom living. During this time, there was so much religious ritual that focused more on external than it did on the internal.

One of the most obvious was the cleansing ritual that took place in the mikveh. A Mikveh was a gathering place for living water (yes, Living Water) where a Jew would enter in for a cleansing bath after some type of impurity. There was an actual ritual of being immersed in living water to be cleansed of your impurity. Some would enter in the mikveh frequently because they believed that was what cleansed them of their impurity.

Jews were more concerned with the physical cleansing in the mikveh than they were with the baptism of the heart. In other words, a beautiful ritual that was meant to point to Jesus, actual Living Water, became more important than the meaning behind it. Many believed it was the act of entering the Mikveh that cleansed you rather than the repentance within your heart.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:25-26)

While we may not be lining up in front the Temple today to wait our turn in the Mikveh, there are many things we do that focus our purity externally, rather than internally.

Going to church
Reading our bibles
Feeding the hungry
Serving the poor
Helping the homeless
Loving our neighbor

All good things, things we should do as Christians, but done with wrong motives, done to earn your cleanliness or approval from God, can become nothing more than external rituals. If we are still looking to ritual and external acts to see God, we are doing nothing but closing our eyes hiding our mess in a junk drawer. It’s still there, will someday be found, and needs to be dealt with.

Those of us that are still “doing things” in order to be seen as clean and righteous will not see God. Those who have been cleansed from the inside by Jesus Christ will see God.

It’s the purity of the heart that only Christ can provide that will help us see.

1. Read 1 Samuel 16:7 and Jeremiah 17:9-10. What do these verses say about the heart?

2. How is your understanding on purity of heart different after reading this text?

3. Are there areas in your heart that you need to bring to the light and repent of? If so, find a friend to confess to and pray with.

When you hear the word Christian, is the first word you think of “mercy”?

We’ve learned that the Gospel takes root in poverty of spirit, mourning our sin, meekness in our understanding of who we are and who God is, and in our hunger and thirst for His righteousness.

As these things take root, they begin to grow, bloom, and bear fruit. These next few beatitudes Jesus tells us how the Gospel should bear fruit in our lives. And again, starting place number one is not where we think it would be.

We think being a Christian means we’re diligently reading our bible, going to church every Sunday, and not cussing as much as we used to.  Jesus tells us the first fruits of being a Christian is mercy.

Mercy is not pity and it’s not just giving a $1 to the guy on the street corner.  Mercy means to withhold giving someone what he or she deserves.  Mercy is withholding judgment and condemnation toward others for their sin and pointing them to Jesus as their ultimate sacrifice.

What marks us as Christians? Does the world know us by our mercy or by our condemnation? By our exclusion of those who are different than us, or by our inclusion?

We know by now that God was merciful to us through Jesus Christ, by giving His son the punishment we deserve for our sin.

If we have been given this kind of mercy, should we not do the same to others?

Once we are in Christ, we are to be merciful to others. To see them as those who are helpless and guilty. Of all the peoples in this world, we should be the most merciful for we have received the most mercy from the most loving God.

“The merciful extend mercy to others, thus demonstrating God’s mercy which has been extended to them.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)

“Mercifulness, then, is a gracious disposition toward our fellow creatures and fellow Christians. It is a spirit of kindness and benevolence which sympathizes with the sufferings of the afflicted, so that we weep with those that weep.” (A.W. Pink)

Remember Jesus response to the people? “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)

He was not frustrated that others did not understand. He was not angered that they were not perfect. He didn’t picket their nightclubs or yell hateful things. He didn’t look down his nose at them, he didn’t turn them away, shun them, or isolate from them. He saw them and had compassion.

Or as my wise teacher once said, He recognized “They were not the enemy, they were victims of the enemy.” We are to extend mercy, to show grace and compassion, for others. We are to offer Christ and pray that they receive relationship with the Father of Mercy.

As an act of gratitude for receiving mercy from our sovereign LORD, we are to share that mercy with others. It is the only response for being saturated in this gift of mercy . . . pouring it out onto others.

“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)

1.  Read Matthew 5:7 and write out the definition for the word mercy.

2.  List some ways you have received mercy from God or from others.

3.  Do you struggle to show mercy to others?  How does understanding this beatitude change your view on mercy?