Matthew 5:27-28

Speaker 1: Man, thank you for that good song, Brother Matt. And I've said it before, but I always love a song that paints a picture and tells a story. And after that, our message couple of weeks ago about the different types of Christian music. I was trying to think, where would I categorize that? And I think it falls under the category of him because really it is lording and magnifying and telling about the victory that our hero Jesus has already won. And so if we were to apply Ephesians five 19 through that song, I think it would be classified as a hymn. But anyways, take your Bibles if you haven't turned to the book of Matthew Matthew, chapter number five. We are in the middle of a series looking at the sermon on the Mount, and we're not going to have you stand to read just yet. But Matthew, Chapter five is where we're going to be in just a few moments. Please keep Miss Mary Brower in your prayers. Miss Mary's been a member here for for many years, and it seems as if her homegoing is going to be sooner rather than later. And so I went and spent some time with her yesterday and just it seems like God's going to bring her home pretty quick and that's what she wants. She's been asking God to take her home to heaven for many years now, and it looks like that's going to happen here soon. So please pray for her and her family. And I know that you will do that. Many of you know and love Miss Mary, and I know you'll keep her in your prayers. Imagine you are walking through a hospital, and for some of you, you don't have to imagine it hard. You do it every day. But imagine for those of you who try to avoid the hospital at all costs that you are walking through on this given day, and as you come into one of the rooms, there are two men laying in their hospital beds. One man is visibly uncomfortable. He is hurting. Every breath is painful. He is propped up in his bed. His face is contorted with pain. You can just tell this man is really suffering from whatever it is that has brought him to the hospital. The other man in the room is lying on his back. He is breathing normally. He seems to be a total peace. Perhaps he's even asleep. Now, if you were to look at these two men as perhaps an untrained observer, what would you guess as to the prospects of the two men? Which would you say is in better shape? Is it the one that is there with a cracked rib that is experiencing acute pain with every breath? Or is it the one in? Look, I know they probably wouldn't stick these two guys in the same room. OK, but just pretend. Or is it the one who has some dreadful disease that is internally silently killing him? Which would you say is in better shape? Well, if you knew what the symptoms are, what the underlying cause was, you'd probably say, Well, yeah, the man with a cracked rib, they can fix that. That'll be healed. The man with a disease that nobody sees that is running through his body unchecked, then yeah, we would say he's probably in a worse lot. We talk about this quite often here at church, but a lack of symptoms does not mean a lack of problems. Last week, we talked about the matter of Thou shalt not kill. The scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus Day, had treated the symptom without addressing the disease. They said as long as you don't murder someone and you're good. Of course, unseen below the surface, they allowed hatred and bitterness to exist unchecked. This morning, we're going to deal with the next passage in our series, and I have to admit it's not exactly the passage I was most looking forward to when it comes to the sermon on the Mount. But is it is perhaps one of the most needed passages in our world today, even here in a church? The topic that we're going to deal with this morning is is an issue that nine out of 10 men deal with on a weekly basis. Not monthly, not yearly. Nine out of 10 90 percent of men deal with this issue on a weekly basis. And lest you ladies think as you're looking ahead in your passage that you're going to get off the hook this morning, 40 percent of women deal with this passage on a weekly basis. This is something that is very pertinent to every single one of our lives. And you know when I've said this before? Perhaps you haven't heard me say it, but you'll hear it now. When I was youth pastor, I used to say, Hey, 13 13 is the the Earth the average age of first exposure to this issue? You realize that is not the case anymore. The the average age of first exposure to this issue is eight years old, boy or girl. Eight. Some of you are catching on to what we're talking about, can you imagine eight being the average age that this issue comes up? Listen, if you've got a 10 year old or you've got a 13 year old, you need to get on the ball. Because chances are you might be too late. I want you to take your bottles and turn to Matthew, five, if you haven't already stand with me as we read verses 20 seven. Reverse 30. The Bible says this. We have heard that it was said by them of old time. Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you. That whosoever look on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If they write, I offend the pluck it out, cast it from me for it is profitable for me that one of my members should perish. And not that my whole body should be cast in the hell. If they right hand offending, cut it off and cast it from me. Ford is profitable for the that one of nine members should perish. And not that my whole body should be cast into hell. Let's pray. Emily Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity. We have to look into your word. Thank you for how practical it is. Lord, the the issues that we deal with on a regular basis. Lord, you've already addressed and I asked, you would help us all to approach this topic with openness, with honesty between ourselves and your Holy Spirit. Lord, that you would use this passage to change the way we think about this issue. Or perhaps there's someone here today that. Unbeknownst to anyone else, is dealing with this issue on a weekly basis or a regular basis. I pray that today they would be helped and encouraged Lord with your offer to help them to overcome this in. Lord, we love you so much and thank you for all you do for us. It's in Jesus name, I pray. Amen. And you may be seated. Like killing. We're going to deal with a similar issue here this morning that the people of Jesus time had certain certainly had a problem with just the same as we have a problem with it today. Religious leaders had fought hard against the sin of adultery in their society. The consequences for committing adultery was death. Both the man and the woman involved would be slain by stoning should they be discovered. When you think of adultery, you think of someone being caught in the sin of adultery. I can't help but think of the woman who was brought to Jesus having been caught in the act of adultery. But just as with the matter of killing, they were hard liners. The Jewish leaders were hard liners in rooting out those who had broken the seventh commandment. If you broke the six commandment, you killed somebody, man. They'd come down hard on you if you broke the seventh commandment and you were caught in adultery. They would definitely come down hard on you as well. Exodus 20 14 says thou shalt not commit adultery. Realize that the act of adultery was simply another symptom of a deeper issue. The act of adultery is not the route. It's just a symptom of the root. It's a fruit produced by the root. Jesus, like a good surgeon, is not just going to treat the symptom, he's going to go deeper than what was presenting on the surface and address the underlying cause. Farriss failure in this case, I would say, is more troubling, more severe than in the matter of killing, because when we look at the matter of killing, it says thou shalt not kill. And so I mean, yes, we looked at how there are deeper issues involved with killing and hatred and and reviling and unjust anger. But, you know, Jesus expounded upon those things. Jesus doesn't have to expound on Thou shalt not commit adultery. It's already established in the Ten Commandments. All they had to do was go just a few commandments later on to find the tenth commandment, which says, you know. Thou shalt not covet. Well, you're not supposed to cut it, although neighbor's house, thy neighbor struck. I don't say that sorry. This must be the message or something. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's. Wife. You see, the truth was already there. The Jewish leaders are absolutely without excuse, because if they would have just read the Ten Commandments, they would have seen, thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife. Problem was they had become so concerned about outward conformity, they gave little thought to what was going on on the inside. That is something that you and I have to be careful with. I don't know how much of an independent Baptist you see yourself as, but you're here at an independent Baptist church. And so, you know an opinion, but I've just kind of have a reputation of being very concerned about what's on the outside, making sure we are all uniform. Not necessarily that we're all united, but just so as long as we're all uniform, we all look the same. We all talk the same. We all have the same outward allegiance to the world. Whatever. We don't give a whole lot of thought or concern as to what's going on on the inside. Just so long as you present yourself as being holy, you must be holy. She says, no, no, no. There is a deeper issue here, and I would I would guess that probably the majority of the people here have never committed adultery. I would guess the majority of that majority of people here, that would be true. But Jesus is going to raise the bar regarding his disciples purity. It's not just going to be thou shalt not commit the act. So because abstaining from adultery is a bigger issue than simply what one does with their body. Jesus says in verse number twenty eight. He reminds us that this issue of purity is also an issue of the eyes and the heart. Jesus says I say unto you. The whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. This is a pretty straightforward sentence, but maybe it would be helpful for us to break it down just a little bit just to help us think through and and and really get a good grasp and visualize what it is Jesus is trying to tell us here. You see, Jesus doesn't say that a man can never see a pretty woman. That's not what he says. He says verse number twenty eight whosoever look it on a woman with a purpose to lust after her. You say, you see, Jesus is telling his disciples that they should never look at a woman with the intention or for the purpose of lusting after her. Lust means to desire or long for. There is no innocence in this look. It has a nefarious motivation. In their day, Jewish leaders said, made it so that lustful looks were fine, just so long as you didn't act upon it. And hey. You don't have to go very far in this world to find out that we've got the same mentality. Window shopping. Look, but don't touch. I'm just an admirer of the female form. I would not encourage you to do it, but you would not have to look very hard on the internet to find articles and news stories that would encourage and tell you that it is healthy and beneficial to your marriage for you to be engaged in this kind of activity. Jesus is warning them. That the God who sees everything, including what you think, he also sees the imagined adultery that is taking place in their hearts. It's not just what you do in the darkness, it's what you imagine in your mind. There are many who would never commit the deed, but have no qualms about fantasizing what it would be like. Just as you don't have to commit murder to kill, you, don't have to commit adultery, to be guilty of impurity. You see what I'm talking about, this isn't exactly the most fun thing to talk, to preach about. I've heard some of you all are feeling really awkward right now, sitting next to your spouse or your parents. Like, OK, it's my breathing normal, I don't want I don't want my spouse to think my breathing is weird. Get in the car. They're going to be like, Why were you being so weird during the service? Why were you so uncomfortable and fidgety? And I could feel the tension coming off of you? Maybe I should have you like, stand up and like jog in place that way. Everybody's moving in and you can listen and not have to worry about, you know, how my acting. Which is worse. But this issue of adultery and the lustful heart, imagining things in your mind. Is it the outward symptom that everyone can see? I mean, an adulterer that is caught everyone, I see them right there. They're an adulterer. They're an obvious. They've got obvious issues. But the inward disease lingers silent. Unaddressed unknow causing damage for years. No one else knows about. I'd say both of these are serious. But one is more easily identified. While one is more easily concealed. You may have everyone else fooled. No one else may know, but there are two people who always know. You. And your God. Now, if you struggle in this area. And the statistics say that men almost all of us struggle in this area. And ladies, a growing majority of ladies deal with this as well. If you struggle in this area, the good news is Jesus knows. So that's not good news. No, no. The good news is Jesus knows, and he wants to help you. He specifically addresses how serious of an issue this is in verse number twenty nine, he says. And if I write, I afin de pluck it out. That seems drastic. You're right, it does and cast it from the but it's profitable for the other. One of their members should perish, and not the whole body should be cast into hell. If my right hand offended, cut it off and cast it from the furthest profitable for thee that one of nine members should perish. Not that the whole body should be cast into hell. Jesus, specifically addressed, addresses the senses of sight and touch. Now, I don't know if you think that's a coincidence or not, but given the topic at hand, I would say it's not a coincidence. That Jesus addresses sight and touch. But there's something deeper here that I want you to think about. And it's a cultural thing that you and I don't really we don't really relate to, but it was something they would have related to if I was to ask you what is the most important, the most valuable member of your body? What would you say? Don't answer that. Just think about it. My heart. Maybe you're an athlete, my legs, you know, these athletes that insure their body in case they get hurt. You know, you can actually put a number on how much they're knee for a running back is worth because they've got it insured for a certain amount. But in their day when Jesus is speaking, the two widely accepted most valuable members of a person's body was their right eye and their right hand. There was, I mean, if you lose your left hand, no big deal, you lose your left eye. No big deal. But if you lose your right eye, well, then you poor man. If you're a right hand gets injured or are cut off in battle or some work accident. Oh man, you were just you were up a creek, right? I and your right hand were your most valuable pieces of your body in their culture. And so. Jesus is making a point. The point is that there is nothing. That is so valuable that you shouldn't be willing to part with it if it means getting the victory over this particular set. There is nothing in your life, even to the most valuable members of your body that you shouldn't be willing to part with in order to get the victory over lust. Removable, the removal of these valuable instruments of sin are meant to demonstrate for us the reality of our choice. I didn't put this on my notes, but self-harm was a sin in their culture. OK, so what Jesus is saying is say, look, this is bad, OK, it would be bad for you, it's bad for your relationship with God, but it's it's not as bad as your whole body being eaten up with this sin. It's a it's a it's a game of comparison here. You know, we talk about letting the Holy Spirit change us. We understand the need for God to change us, not just for us to be involved in this self-refer making this self cleansing. But we have to realize there are some things that threaten to impede the work that he is trying to do. Oh, I meant to say this, not my nose bone to tell you this. My grandfather was in the Air Force and some of you may have seen similar things. I had to go up in a pressure chamber when he was trying to figure out if he could be a pilot or not. And he couldn't do it. He had air pockets in his teeth, but it wasn't as bad as the other dude who had an air pocket behind his eye. With up in the pressure chamber and that I popped out. I don't know if it's right or left, I don't I don't know, but as with somebody else, I heard of recently sneezed in their iPods. So I just trying to, you know, make the whole remove your eye thing, come to life and now you have that that mental image. You think about the two men we addressed earlier, the two men in the hospital bed. To their credit, both of them are they're in the hospital. A lot of people, they've got problems with their body ailments and they refuse to go get help. Right. None of you, I'm sure. They refused to go get help, they refused to go to the person that can heal them or are treat their their issue. And so one of the things that we have to realize is, yes, God is capable of healing. You is capable of healing your spirit, but you have to be willing to go to him for healing. And especially with this issue, I think a lot of us are too attached to it to say, God, I need you to help me get rid of this. We like it too much. We're dependent upon it. There are things that threaten to impede the work he's trying to do, if the Holy Spirit were to tell you to let go of the most valuable thing you had so that you could be free of this vice, this addiction. Would you be willing to do it? You see, it could be a valuable person or influence in your life that is inserting false ideas into your head, ideas that this is healthy. This is normal. You you're stressed. You've been working so hard, you deserve this. Besides, no one will know. Jesus is not advocating body part removal. But he is trying to help his listeners understand how serious of a matter this is. Nothing is too valuable to depart with if it aids in our purification from sin. Our sanctification. Humans think that sins of the mind are somehow less. The bitterness that I hold in my heart for this other person is not as bad as if I were to go and kill them. Just as you've already killed them in your heart, you're guilty. Oh, yeah, well, you know. Yeah, I'm a fan of sighs, I may have these imaginations, I may have this lustful problem with what I allow into my my, my vision and what I think about in my heart. But at least I've never committed the act. You said you've already committed the act in your heart. Jesus wants us to understand that there are people who are completely consumed by sin and its effects, though they have never outwardly acted upon their fantasies. Think about that you could be completely consumed with lust and impurity and never have cheated on your wife with. And you know. You have, but. I've never committed adultery. You could be completely eaten up with hate and bitterness towards a brother or a sister or just some random dude out there. And yet you've never killed anybody, so you're good. Anyone can identify the adulterer and the effects of their decision. Jesus warns us that the consequences for lustful hearts are just as real, even if no one else can see it. You see, the man who commits adultery is like the man in the hospital bed, that's invisible pain. The man who is dealing with a lustful heart appears to be perfectly fine while he has a dreadful disease eating his insides. This morning. The statistics say that the majority of people in this room. Are dealing with this issue. You know, sometimes preachers get a I believe the majority of the people in this room are believers. That's a nice thing to say. Yes, we are. We are believers. We are children of God. But when I say this morning, the majority of the people in this room are dealing with this issue of lustful thoughts and lustful. Watching. Well, it doesn't boost our ego quite as much, does it? Yes, actually, I do. It's no longer a male only issue, if it ever really was. It's not a younger person's issue, either. Don't raise your hand. How many of you that are older? When you were younger, I thought, you know, when I reach this age, I won't deal with this as much anymore. When I get married, I won't deal with this as much anymore. You remember those thoughts? It's not a young man's issue. It's a human issue. This is something that all of us must be honest with God about. You may not be regularly consuming what most would identify as pornography. But you may be just as guilty of fantasies and imaginations that are equally sordid. You may not have committed adultery. But you have coveted your neighbor's wife. Or your neighbor's spouse? Well, who is my neighbor? That's a different story for a different day. It's not just the person who lives next door to you. You may have lived out an affair only in your mind. As you watched it play out on a TV show. Think about this. It's not just what people will find on the internet. It could be that as you watch your favorite sitcom, which are, of course, super wholesome. That you lived it. Through the people you were watching on TV. You thought about what would that be like? How could I? Do something like that, you'd never do it. But you just kind of think about. Perhaps you have fantasized about the situation. If you are reading about in a book. There are many scenarios. In which this could play out in our lives, lustful hearts. It would be impossible for me to. To try and target all of them. So I'm just going to stop and say, Holy Spirit. Is fully capable of revealing to you if you struggle with a lustful part. Holy Spirit can pointed out to you if you're dealing with lustful eyes. If you have the Holy Spirit, then you know, right now if you struggle with lustful eyes or lustful heart. And don't be deceived. Your heart is what? It's desperately wicked, it's deceitful. Don't be deceived into thinking that because it's only in your imagination that it's less of a big deal. It is a serious issue. We should be ready if we do believe it's a serious issue, we should be ready to take drastic action to stop this hidden disease that is threatening to consume us. If you were told that you had a rapidly moving form of cancer, you would want to take whatever action was necessary to try and slow it down and stop it, wouldn't you? You read about these people down in Florida, they get flesh eating diseases for swimming in the lakes. We swim in some lakes in Florida. They need quick action, don't they? To stop that from eating them up inside. This morning, Jesus is telling us, not Gary, Gary is not telling you, Jesus is telling you that if you've got this issue, then you have garlic, flesh eating bacteria living inside your body. Not literally for all you literalist. That's not. Don't don't freak out on go. Jesus is telling you you have a a an advance, you have a an aggressive form of cancer. Living in your mind. And someone wants to tell you that about your body, you would move into the high speed action to try and stop it. But I'm afraid this morning some of you are listening to me. Some of you are having an inward conversation with the Holy Spirit and you are justifying. You are convincing yourself. It's not that big a deal. You don't know what's going on inside me. No, but I know what's going on inside, gone on inside of me when I listen to stuff about this. So there is nothing in your life that is so precious that you shouldn't be willing to part with it so that you can get the victory over this. If what you're watching is causing you to sin. If the places you're going is causing you to sin, if the things you are reading are causing you to sin. If the people you're hanging out with are influencing you to think lustful thoughts, then you need to be ready to remove those things from your life. The stakes are too high. The stakes are too high for you to continue on in this lifestyle. What will this do to your marriage in the long term? I'm not married yet. OK, well, maybe you will be someday. Do you want to enter into that marriage with this issue? It doesn't go away just because you get married. What is this issue going to? What effect is it going to have on your children? Men, you think you had a hard growing up? You think it was a lot of temptation for you when you were a teenager? Just think what it's like when your sons are teenagers. That is a very sobering thought, and I envy all those of you who have already passed through the parenting years. World's not getting more righteous. It's not getting harder to access these things. The average age of exposure isn't getting older. I have an eight year old. How are we going to help your son win the battle when you sir can't win the battle? Ma'am, how are you going to help your daughter when she's dealing with this? If you've never won the battle? You may not be the patient. Writhing in obvious pain. Maybe today you are the patient who looks fine on the outside. But inside your eaten up with a lustful cancer. Jesus is the doctor. Wants to heal you. He wants you to have the victory over this. You think about some of the surgeries, some of the procedures you've had, that fixed things that were wrong with your body and afterwards you went out, you like I forgot how much more free I felt back when my knees worked. I forgot what it felt like to actually feel, well, you remember those feelings? I mean, most of you have had COVID by now. We COVID as you like, I'm never going to get out of this bed. You know, and then you finally get over it and you're like, Oh, I feel so much better. That's what Jesus wants to do for your spiritually. Jesus wants you to experience that freedom, that that breaking of the chains I've been holding you down. In this area specifically. Are you willing to go to him? Are you willing to be honest with your doctor? You willing to be honest with your doctor? And say I've got a problem. I need you to help me. You're right. Do you have a problem? I'm going to help you. You're going to have to give this up. That's hard. All right, well, let's take baby steps. Let's take baby steps. Maybe if you're not ready to give up the smartphone. It will delete some apps. Maybe you're not ready to like, you know, junk the TV out of the window of your house. She'll put some parental guides on there and let your wife set the code. You'd be surprised how many times I counsel people, they're not even willing to let their wife have their password. Coming for help won't even let her have the password. Not much we can do. There's not much your doctor can do if you're not willing. To give some things up. How serious is this issue to you this morning? This has been a blast, hasn't it? I mean, I know you're going to go home saying there was so much fun. I loved every second of it. Going to the doctor's rarely fun. Right. Rarely. But we need it. I need to be reminded these things often. Often. And so do you. I hope we'll be honest with the Lord today. I hope that if there's things in our life that we need to have treated, that will let him do the work he wants to do. Is Jesus more powerful than your addiction? Is he? If you believe that, would you give it to him, let him help you? Let's pray differently, father. I think for the sake. And for the opportunity, we've had to look at this issue. God, I pray that she would help all of us, to be honest with you this morning. Got it, this is an area. Which we struggle a sin that. Is. Eating away at us inside, and maybe Lord, nobody else knows, but you know, and we know and kind of pray that we would. Come to you this morning for healing. That we would be convinced that there is nothing so valuable that we would. Not be willing to part with it so that we could be made righteous in this, this part of our lives. Pray for the men and the women that are here. Pray for the young people that are here or that we would have a church full of folks at all ages that would commit this morning. To keeping not only their bodies pure, but their eyes in their minds and their hearts pure before you. Lord, we love you so much. Thank you for what you're going to do in this invitation time. It's in Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

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