Transcript Bro. Jim Cowie

Study 4
“The law of the
heart”
The King’s Manifesto for Life
The Thought and the Act
 Ex. 20:14 – 7th Commandment –
Covenant issues always involved.
 V.29 – “right eye” = the mind. Eye is a
symbol for intelligence.
 V.30 – “right hand” = actions. Hand is a
symbol for authority and power in action.
 Hence – “looketh” > “lust” = “adultery”.
 At what point does “looking” become a
sin?
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Intent equivalent to deed
 The Law forbad covetousness – e.g. Ex.
20:17 – “thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour’s wife” – which only God
can discern and judge.
 Rabbinical teaching primarily dealt with
externals – deeds, not motives.
 The Pharisee Josephus said – “The
purposing to do a thing, but not actually
doing it, is not worthy of punishment.”
 By contrast, Christ ‘fulfilled’ the Law.
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What characteristic of the 8?
Matt. 5:8
“Blessed are the pure
in heart: for they shall
see God.”
The
th
6
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characteristic
Adultery – A lack of heart
 Prov. 6:32-33 - But whoso committeth
adultery with a woman lacketh
understanding (Mgn. heart): he that
doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A
wound and dishonour shall he get;
and his reproach shall not be wiped
away.
 Job 31:1 - I made a covenant with
mine eyes; why then should I think
upon a maid?
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Adultery in the heart and in fact
 John 8:1-11 – The sin of adultery
diminished by the scribes and Pharisees.
 Luke 16:14-18 – Adultery the motivation
of covetous Pharisees.
 2 Sam. 11:1-3 – Indolence often the
source of adulterous contemplations.
 2 Sam. 13:1-2 – Ungratified lust makes
the heart and body sick.
 2 Pet. 2:14 – Entrenched adulterous
thought is near to being incurable.
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What is “thought adultery”?
 Reporter questions newly elected US
President Jimmy Carter in 1976 – “Have you
ever committed adultery?”
 Jimmy Carter responds – “Yes!” – He was a
Christian and believed Matt. 5:28 to be true.
He had been faithful to his wife.
 “lust” – epithumeo (16 occs.) – to fix the
desire upon, to have the affections
directed towards – Gal. 5:17; Luke 15:16;
16:21.
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Moral Capacity
(unique to mankind)
Intellect
Propensities
• eat
• drink
• procreate
“thought” zimmah - plan,
device,
purpose.
RSV – “The
devising of
folly is sin”
Prov. 24:9 – “The
thought of foolishness
is sin”
Christ and Temptation
“For, whatever view may be taken of some
questions surrounding the temptation, one
thing is fundamental: he ‘was tempted’. He
knew temptation as a fact, and conquered it in
the power of the Word; and this was part of the
experience by which he was ‘made perfect’ in
order that others may be ‘made perfect’
through him. As he ‘tasted of death for every
man’ so also he tasted of temptation; and as
through death he obtained an eternal
redemption - for himself, that it might be for
others - so through temptation he gained a
victory for himself that others might share its
fruits.”
Bro. L.G. Sargent - The Teaching of the Master pg.20
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Drastic Action!
 Eye plucked out! Hand cut off!
 Cannot be literal. But demonstrates
seriousness – radical surgery needed!
 Eye = Mind/thinking. Hand = Works.
 Radical action is required to overcome
besetting sin.
 Sublimation is better than repression –
Rom. 12:21.
 Examples – Eph. 4:25-32.
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Abstention alone is deficient
“It is right to abstain - to cut off the
hand or pluck out the eye rather
than indulge in those things which
may be a snare to others. But there
are always some who seem to think
that
righteousness
consists
in
finding fresh things which must not
be done.”
Bro. L.G. Sargent - The Teaching of the Master, pg.182
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Christ versus Rabbis
 Note difference between V.27 and V.31.
 V.27 – “Ye have heard that it was said
by them of old time” – The Law of
Moses.
 V.31 – “It hath been said” – By whom?
 The Rabbis taught – “Whosoever shall
put away his wife, let him give her a
writing of divorcement.”
 Deut. 24:1-4 does not say this!
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The teachings of Rabbi Hillel
 A man could, with Moses’ authority, “put away
his wife for every cause” - any minor infraction
provided a basis for summary dismissal.
 Burning a meal or dressing improperly were
grounds for divorce.
 This was the increasingly dominant view of the
two schools of thought at the time.
 Ultimately, Rabbi Aquiba taught that a man
“may divorce his wife even if he has found a
prettier woman”. This of course had always
been the real motivation behind unwarranted
divorce.
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Teachings of Rabbi Shammai
 The rival school of Shammai bitterly
opposed the liberal views of Hillel and
taught that “a man may not divorce his
wife, except he found in her an
unseemly thing (i.e. unchastity)”.
 Thus in this school of thought the only
grounds for divorce and remarriage
were restricted to sexual impropriety.
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Adultery in Practice!
 Every deliberate act has a motive,
therefore every motive is a potential act.
 Many Pharisees were adulterers at heart
– Luke 16:13-18.
 Many lustfully looked at other women
having already decided to find a way to
dismiss their wife.
 Hence, such fixed desire (epithumeo)
was in itself an act of adultery.
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Is there an Exceptive Clause?
 Where is the permission to remarry?
 Matt. 5:32 – “But I say unto you,
That whosoever shall put away his
wife, saving for the cause of
fornication, causeth her to commit
adultery: and whosoever shall marry
her that is divorced committeth
adultery.”
 In those times banishing a wife virtually
condemned her to remarriage for mere
survival.
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Christ’s teaching on divorce
 The only escape from culpability for
creating ‘multiple’ adultery is if the wife
has already committed it.
 Nowhere does Christ give permission
for remarriage!
 Mark 10:2-12 and Luke 16:18 are
unequivocal – No exceptions.
 Hence, the disciples view – Matt. 19:10 “If the case of the man be so with
his wife, it is not good to marry.”
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Next Study
(God willing)
Study 5 – “The law of
love”
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Content of this study
 The natural man and the law of the heart.
 Adultery in the heart (Jimmy Carter).
 What is sin? Initial thought or considered intentions.
 Radical action required.
 Divorce – Exceptive clause.
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