Matthew 5:27-30
Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 12 viewsNotes
Transcript
Lust
Lust
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;
28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
30 “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
Here we have the same beginning as we did in the last section about the sixth commandment of murder. Here Christ is explaining what the commandment really means and not the legalistic way that they were following it.
“You shall not commit adultery”
Obviously this is a direct quote from Exodus 20:14. This is the seventh commandment. And what Jesus is about to explain for this commandment is no different than when Moses gave the law to the children of Israel.
Our world has a serious problem with rules don’t we? Some people see a commandment in the Bible like this and they say “God doesn’t want me to have any fun, God is just trying to steal away all my chances for fun.” Friend, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The ten commandments are an expression of love. Every commandment that God gave man was an order out of love, not out of discipline. The commandments were given to protect us, not to keep us from enjoying life. Many people stray away from the Bible because they think it will cut out all of the enjoyment out of their life. And they are probably right, because they are enjoying all the wrong things.
“You shall not commit adultery”
Let me start out by explaining this simply. NO SEX OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE. PERIOD. This is what the Pharisee’s took this to mean. They understood that it was against the commandment to fornicate with somebody that was not their husband or their wife. They knew that. But what they didn’t know is that Jesus was about to ruin their day.
“But I say”
Here we go again. Jesus is about to lay it on them. He is about to define the seventh commandment like they’ve never heard it before. They heard him say “You shall not commit adultery” and they thought to themselves. “YEP, we are good. No problem there.” But let’s read what Jesus says next.
“Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart”
Ok, we’ll stay here for quite a while this morning. Have you ever heard anyone say “You can look, but not touch”? Well Jesus is saying here that’s not true. The reason that is not true is because it gives a license to look. Men, do you think you have a license to look? You don’t.
What I want to do here this morning is focus on what the Bible says about this, and look at how we can apply it to our lives in this society that we live in.
Proverbs 5:3-5
“For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword.”
Drip honey, smoother than oil? Sounds like good stuff right? That’s sin and temptation. Temptation always sounds good. It always has a sweet sound to it in the beginning. It always promises pleasure and fulfillment, but what does the rest of the verse say?
“Bitter as wormwood” You know what came to my mind when I read this? Sirens. No, not the type that are on an ambulance. The type that you see in the movies, the mermaids that come up and are super attractive and seductive and then they turn into flesh eating monsters. Maybe I’m the only one who watched the Pirates of the Caribbean? That is what this verse is saying. THE GRASS ISN’T GREENER!
“Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol”
NOT GOOD. This is not a good way to stumble. This sin will take you places that you do not want to go.
Proverbs 5:15-20
“Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. Why should you be intoxicated my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?”
Some of you are sitting there thinking, “I can’t believe he just said breasts from the pulpit” Well, before you throw something at me, there is so much practical advice here. These verses mean keep the marriage bed pure. Be satisfied with your own wife, your own husband, don’t go seeking to lay down with someone else. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. God has put you and your spouse together for a reason. You are married and your marriage is a covenant. God wants you to keep your vows before your spouse and before Him.
Proverbs 6:23-29
Once again, very sage advice here. “Do not desire her beauty in your heart” That is what Jesus is saying. It’s not enough that you don’t have physical contact with someone else, it’s that you don’t lust after and desire someone else.
Some people look at the 7th commandment as a buzzkill. They say, God is just trying to keep me from expressing my love to someone else. Wrong. God is trying to protect you.
Destructive power of sexual sin
Sexual sin has a destructive power like none other. The reason for that is because when you engage in that activity you join your souls together, and when you join your souls together but you really don’t have a relationship other than sex, then you are creating a major tidal wave of emotions and shame and destruction. Do you know that over half of the teenage suicides each year are due to sexual shame? It’s true, and it’s powerful. This is not a laughing matter. This is not something that we need to take lightly.
Pornography. Let’s think about this one a minute. Not all sexual sin is involved with another person. I know some of this stuff is very personal, but this is so prevalent in today’s society it cannot go unsaid. Pornography is like an alligator. It slowly creeps up on you, grabs you, and then drags you down into the mud and rolls you over and over and over until you don’t know which way is up and you are just an empty shell. Pornography is so destructive because it gives the lie that this isn’t hurting anyone else but me, so what if this is what I choose to do? Do you all think we are free to do whatever we wish with our bodies? NO we are not. Listen to 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Your body is not your own. It has been purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ, and that means that he owns it. You are merely renting space from Him. So, treat it like you would something that is borrowed. Pornography dishonors our bodies and brings shame to God.
Folks, we live in a society that sells sex like it sells milk and bread. Our society is so engulfed with this that it is totally rampant.
For example, strip clubs are a universal part of our culture. I’m a businessman, and it is just bizarre that someone would actually start a business to make money off of women taking their clothes off in front of men. But guess what, IT SELLS!
Let’s think about this a minute. What if we removed the woman from the situation and we plated a 14oz. medium rare ribeye on a gold platter and covered it up with a black towel. SO, we bring it out a little at a time and slowly we parade it around and reveal a little more of the meat and men cheer and throw money on the stage? Sounds stupid doesn’t it? I know, but this is exactly what is going on in a strip club except that is God’s creation up there being idolized and dishonored. Something is really wrong with our world and it’s called sin. It’s not pleasure or fun or entertainment. Everybody wants to call it “ADULT ENTERTAINMENT” NOPE. That’s not what it’s called. It’s called SIN.
Why do you think that people want to remove the 10 commandments from courthouses and public arenas? Because it reminds them of their sin. That’s the only reason. It’s not religious freedom, or some hogwash like that. It’s because it reminds the sinful of their sin and they don’t want to stare at it because it makes them feel guilty. End of Story.
Men - this issue of lust is probably more for you than for the women, but it affects women too. It affects women more on the emotional side than on the physical attraction side.
Men - this is also a more difficult issue for you because of the way women dress. Now, hold on women before you get upset. I'm not saying it is completely the woman’s fault that men ogle them, but I would just like to go on record for saying that some of the shirts and shorts that some women wear are solely for the purpose of saying "look at me". Now, I don't expect women to wear a complete shawl with a head covering and all, but what I am saying is be modest. If God gave you things you want to show off, then be proud but don't let them all hang out for the world to see. God created you to worship Him, not parade around half naked.
Men - this is also an interesting thing because if you showed up in public with booty shorts and a shirt that was cut down to the middle of your belly we would really start to be concerned. So what does that say for our society?
Sex Sells. Part of the problem is our society has gotten so insensitive to sexual exploitation. Our society has figured out a way to profit from enticing our carnal nature. Commercials, movies, magazines, Internet. You can't watch any channel on TV and be immune from seeing a Victoria secret commercial showing women in their underwear to anyone who is willing to watch. Just like all of the reality TV filth that is on these days. Affairs are normal, sleeping around is normal, living together is normal, faithful marriage is abnormal. One of the most popular TV shows in recent history was called "Sex and the City" for crying out loud.
We were at the beach a few weeks ago and just let me say wow. I actually told Jane that I felt dirty just being there and not being able to look anywhere without seeing things I shouldn't see. I'm not saying the unavoidable glance is sin, please don't misunderstand me but it's something that you don't want to continually expose yourself to.
I want to be very clear here. Jesus is not saying that the unavoidable look is sin. Jesus isn’t saying that people need to go around all the time with their head down to keep from sinning, that isn’t it. It isn’t a sin to be tempted. But it is a sin to harbor that desire and dwell on it. It is a sin to desire that person in a way that would dishonor God.
Remember David? He saw Bathsheba bathing, just minding her own business. He saw her with the occasional glance, and that’s where he should have stopped. That’s where he should have said, nope that isn’t for me. That isn’t going to benefit me at all. But he didn’t. He lusted after her until he had her. And look what the consequences were? He committed murder in the face of the coverup and then the baby that was conceived died. David saw some serious consequences to that sin. The unavoidable glance wasn’t sin, but the pursuit of the temptation was.
You may be sitting here saying, well that would never happen to me. That would never be me in that position. That’s what other people do. Other people get involved in pornography, and affairs and that kind of stuff. I’m way above that.
Listen to what the Bible says “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” If you are thinking that you are immune to this, watch out! There is a very prominent pastor who just happens to be the grandson of Billy Graham that was found out to be involved in an affair a couple of months ago and what did he say? “I thought I was above it, I thought that would never be me.” But he was wrong, and the reason he was wrong was because his pride told him that his flesh was strong, but it isn’t. Our flesh is sinful and weak. Don’t think this is something that you couldn’t fall prey to. It is. Don’t think that you can harbor these thoughts of sexual sin and not be harmed by them.
Let’s finish up our text for this morning.
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body go into hell”
So what is Jesus saying here? He is simply telling us to do whatever it takes (obviously not self-mutilation) to get rid of the temptation to sin. If your job is the problem… Maybe you’re job leads you into situations that you know you shouldn’t be in… QUIT! Maybe it’s your smartphone that tempts you too much and you know it’s a problem, GET A FLIP PHONE! They’re out there, I promise. Maybe it’s your boyfriend or girlfriend who thinks that because you’re in LOVE that you should express that sexually. BREAK UP!
Jesus is saying that you need to keep yourself as pure as you can and sometimes that means you get rid of things in your life that cause you to sway from God’s commandments. The eyes and the hands are very instrumental when it comes to sin of this kind, so what he is telling us here is do whatever we can to assure that we aren’t put in places where it will be a problem for us.
Deliverance from sexual sin
Forgiveness is certainly possible for all of this. I don’t want this to paint anybody in a corner. This is a very destructive sin, but it is certainly forgivable. If this has been you in the past, or is describing you currently, don’t think that you are beyond God’s redemptive power. The woman caught in adultery is the prime example. Jesus forgave her and sent her on the way. But what did he tell her? GO AND SIN NO MORE. The power of forgiveness comes with the power to free us from the captivity of enslaving sin. Habits are difficult to break, but freedom is possible through Jesus.
There is deliverance from sin in the power of Jesus Christ. There is no sin so great that you cannot be forgiven. But this forgiveness requires that you come to Him in humble repentance, a sinner in need of grace.