Matthew 5:27-30
The Law & the King – part 2
Read…
Matt.
Matt.
Matt. 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Matt. 5:30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Pray
Intro
√ The law & the King
The next area of the Law that Jesus tackles relates to sexual purity. Specifically, the law as it relates to adultery.
Once again Jesus is going to contrast the traditional teachings of the religious leaders…
…with His teaching on the subject.
As we mentioned in our last two studies, the Pharisees were masters at keeping the Letter of the Law, but failed to keep the Spirit of the Law…
…and were therefore guilty before God.
Ap. A pure heart
This section of scripture ought to be interesting to everyone because in it we find the Lord’s thoughts on sex!
Lots of people today claim to be experts on the subject and have written all sorts of books about what constitutes a healthy and normal sexual experience…
…the problem is that they base their conclusions on the observation
of
Ex. Dr. Bruce Rind
But the only true expert is the One Who created it! What many people don’t know, or chose to ignore…
…is that God speaks with great clarity on the subject of sexual relationships and defines what is normal, healthy and God-sanctioned.
The Letter of the Law (vs. 27)
Matt.
√ The Letter of the Law
The religious leaders accurately quoted the scripture regarding sexual purity…
“You shall not commit adultery.”
Ex.
But, they missed the spirit of the law by insisting that adultery only occurred when a person had sex with someone they weren’t married to.
What they failed to grasp was that adultery begins in the heart (looking lustfully)…
…and is then followed by the act.
So, the lustful desire in the heart is just as wrong as the act because it reveals that a person is not in a right relationship with God (and their spouse!).
Jesus then gives us the proper understanding of God’s intent behind the giving of the Law.
The Spirit of the Law (vs. 28)
Matt.
√ The Spirit of the Law
Once again we find Jesus saying…
“But I say to you”
That is, Jesus is contradicting the teaching of the religious leaders on the subject of what constitutes adultery (specifically) and sexual impurity (generally).
Note that Jesus says that adultery is not limited to the physical act of sex outside of marriage…
…but includes the thoughts in our heart!.
He says…
“…whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Jesus is not saying that lustful desires are identical to lustful deeds…
…therefore, we might just as well go ahead and commit adultery!
Wrong!
Rather, He is telling us that while the desire and the deed are not identical, spiritually speaking…
…they are equivalent in that both the desire and the deed violate the command of God.
√ The lustful spirit
It is important that we define lust so that we’re understand what Jesus is telling us.
It is not that casual glance wherein we observe an attractive person.
One can certainly appreciate a beautiful woman or a hansom man without having sexual desire.
Rather, the lustful look is that long purposeful look that feeds the inner sensual appetites.
That, Jesus tells us breaks the spirit of the command…
“Do not commit adultery”
Therefore, the religious leaders and all those who were listening to Jesus teach are guilty of breaking the Law!
Providing more evidence that no one can hope to win their way to heaven on their own righteousness.
So, we need the righteousness that Jesus gives.
√ Say’s who!”
Whenever we talk about the issue of human sexuality someone will contest our thoughts and ask…
“What right do you have to tell me what’s right and wrong”
Whether it was the “free love” preached by the Hippies, or the homosexual agenda promoted today what they’re really saying is…
“No one has authority over my body and what I’m going to do with it except me!”
However, what we find in Jesus’ comments on adultery remind us that God has the authority to tell us what is right and what is wrong with regards to sexuality.
That is, because God created sex, He has the authority to regulate the context in which sex is practiced (marriage)…
…and to protect the sanctity of sex by punishing those who misuse it.
Ex. Biblical examples of God’s punishment
Here’s just a few examples of God intervening in human history and judging those who misused sex.
Homosexuality - Sodom & Gomorrah
(Gen. 19 & 2 Peter 2:6)
Fornication - 24,000 Israelis died after sex with Midianite women (Num. 25)
Adultery - David and Bathsheba (child dies, Tamar raped, Amnon murdered, Absalom rebelled, his wives violated)
The point is that God is very serious about sexual purity, and so should we be!
Ap. The Lords’ instruction to Christians
1Th. 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
1Th. 4:4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
1Th. 4:5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
1Th. 4:6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified.
1Th. 4:7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
1Th. 4:8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.
Note that the Lord Himself is the One to Whom we must give account if we reject the instructions of the Bible regarding sexual expression.
So, we see then how serious God is about the subject of sexual purity.
How then can we hope to follow Jesus’ instructions and keep not just the letter of the Law…
…but the spirit of the Law also? (pure heart)
The Practice of the Law (vs. 29-30)
Matt. 5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Matt. 5:30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
√ The Practice of the Law
At this point in the service we’re going to hand out little kits with a…
Spoon for scooping out your eyes
Saw for cutting off your hands
…after all, isn’t that what Jesus said to do if we find ourselves struggling with lust?!
Wrong!
Rather, Jesus is using hyperbole to make the point that we must deal with our sinful heart in a drastic way.
Ex. Literally following Jesus’ instructions wouldn’t fix the problem!
That is, a blind person can still lust and a person with one hand can still sin!
What Jesus is telling us to do is to be decisive and immediate in our dealing with the inner attitude that causes the sin.
Don’t ignore the sinful heart!
Ap. If you have a problem with lust
You must deal with it today, and do so in a radical way (like scooping out your eye, or cutting off your hand).
You can’t hope to wean yourself off of lust…
…you’ve got to go “cold turkey”!
Ex. Adultery
You can’t break yourself of immorality by…
“I’ll just have one sexual encounter a week, then after a couple of months I’ll make the move to just one act of adultery per month…
…until I’m only having sex with my wife.”
Jesus is telling us that we have to deal with it today and be radical about it.
Ex. If you’re currently involved in sexual sin
You must…
Ask for forgiveness (from the Lord & spouse)
Repent, by…
Breaking off the relationship today
Never speaking to the other person again
Doing whatever you have to do so that you won’t be near them again
Additionally you may need to…
Get rid of anything that’s even close to pornographic
Throw out some of you DVD’s & CD’s
Take down and throw away those trashy posters (& books)
Shut down your internet account (or get a good blocker)
Then, fill the void with Godly activity. Note the apostle Paul’s instructions to Timothy…
…a young man in a wicked city.
2Tim. 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Notice that Paul instructs Timothy to get away from lust…
…by running after the pure things of faith.
The same truth applies to us today. If we’re going to follow the Lord’s instructions and deal drastically and immediately with the sin in our heart…
…we must replace that sinful attitude with the mind of Christ!
If we do so we’ll find victory over sin, not just the outward action, but also the sinful attitude our the heart.
Close
√ The Law & the King
Once more we’re reminded that not one of us can be saved by our own righteousness because we’re sinners to the very core of our being!
But, once more we’re reminded that with Jesus’ help and the power of His Spirit living within us that we can break the power of sin in our lives!
We’re all born with a lustful heart, but praise the Lord He has promised to change us and give us a pure heart like His!