Sunday Sermon MATTHEW 5:27-30

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 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. 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.

Prayer

Lord heavenly Father, we thank you that we can gather freely to worship You in Spirit and in Truth because there are many in other countries that cannot. As we continue to work our way through the Sermon on the Mount, we ask that you would help us all to know the depths of Your love and grace for us as we make our way through this challenging text. Lord we want to be like Jesus, so we welcome your Spirit here now to deal with the unrighteousness in our hearts. And we ask that you we empower us to deal radically with the sin in our hearts. Remove all distractions, so that can receive with meekness your implanted Word which is able to save our souls.

In Jesus Name, we Love You!!! Amen and Amen!

Review

In looking back, we have learned that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

Praise God for the Great Exchange. It is here that Jesus exchanges our unrighteousness or sin, for his righteousness. Therefore, when we come to him, abide in him, we are placed in right standing with our Heavenly Father.

It is clear that the religious leaders thought Jesus came to destroy the law we learned, but he did not, He came to fulfill it.

If you have read through the rest of chapter 5, you will quickly realize that Jesus is giving us 6 illustrations or comparisons if you may regarding the teachings of old versus His teaching.

And he is doing this to deal with the issue of self-righteousness because the pious and religious of the day struggled with this.

So he goes right for the juggler vein and starts off with murder begins in the heart.

See the Pharisees and scribes taught that if you do not do the physical act, then you are good, while Jesus said if your angry with your brother, you have already committed murder.

Do you think the Pharisees and scribes were angry with Jesus?

I am confident they were, therefore, Jesus was reading their hearts, and met them right where they were!!!

Church, if we do not deal with the anger in our hearts it will damage all of our relationships and leave us lonely.

We will end up all alone.

So please church, let us deal with our anger and be reconciled to those we have hurt if possible...

Matthew 5:27 NKJV

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

To those of Old is pointing back to the Rabbinic teaching of the day.

Jesus is getting ready to contrast his teaching, to that of those of old, to those religious leaders who were listening.

Why did Jesus go here? Could it be because he knew what was in the heart of man? Was anger and adultery and major problem in his day? Is it in ours?

Exodus 20:14 NKJV

“You shall not commit adultery.

This is the 7th commandment church!

But what is adultery?

According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the simple meaning of adultery is marital infidelity.

However, let us dive a little deeper into this word.

Adultery-moicheuō- v.- to commit adultery with, have unlawful intercourse with another's wife (or husband).

But what is interesting is the word adultery is etymologically related to the word adulterate, which means “to render something poorer in quality by adding another substance.”

Adultery is the adulteration of marriage by the addition of a third person. Adultery is voluntary sexual activity between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse.

Synonyms ( are words that have the same meaning of another word) of adultery include terms like cheating, infidelity, and unfaithfulness.

Is cheating, infidelity, unfaithfulness, and adultery common place in our culture? Is it accepted as being ok in the US today?

How many of you know marriages that have ended because of this?

Top 10 Countries Where Cheating Is Unacceptable

(% of people who view extramarital affair as morally wrong)

Turkey 94%

Palestinian territories 94%

Egypt 93%

Jordan 93%

Indonesia 93%

Lebanon 92%

Pakistan 92%

Philippines 90%

Tunisia 90%

. Malaysia 90%

Source: Pew Research Center 2020

But wait! Where is America? Why are we not listed here when we are a Christian nations church?

Have we come to accept this as the norm?

The top 10 countries where people consider extramarital affairs as unacceptable are from Asian and African regions.

5 in the top 10 countries with most numbers of respondents who consider extramarital affairs as acceptable are from Europe.

France is the only country that tether between considering extramarital affairs as unacceptable (47%) and not being a moral issue (40%).

Over 90% of Americans consider infidelity as immoral.

Around 30% to 40% of Americans cheat on their partners.

These statistics are blasphemous church, because God said THOU shall Not commit adultery!

So, adultery - is a consensual sexual relationship between a married person with someone other than their spouse.

Matthew 5:28 NKJV

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Here we are at a BUT!

Buts are a term of contrast church, or the key that unlocks that passage as someone taught me years ago.

So Jesus shifts from the Rabbinic teaching of old to his teaching about the 7th commandment.

Can I ask you a question? Did Jesus lower the standard here?

Certainly not! He raised it.

Like murder, the rabbis taught if you do not engage in the physical act, you are ok!

Jesus says, If you lust after a woman (or man), you have committed adultery in your heart!

So Jesus moves from the letter of the law, to the Spirit of the law again.

Anger & Lust are 2 very powerful things, they both really reach down & touch the core of our being.

And from the disciples sitting in front of Jesus on the wild grass of Galilee’s hillside to each of us sitting in the today...none of us can fit ourselves into His kingdom.

Jesus set the standard far too high. (we must come thru HIM )

Jesus has a more exacting standard for His followers than what the Jewish Law demands.

Again, Jesus deals with the present day misconceptions, misinterpretations, & bad rabbinical explanations.

So what is Jesus saying about looking and lusting here?

Matthew 5:28 KJV 1900

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

I really like KING Jimmy here because of the looketh.

Depending on the context in the KJV bible, when you see a word written with the ending eth, it means continual or on going. This means that it is not a one time look church!!! This is looking the second, third, fourth, and fifth time!

Look- blepo’- v. — to perceive with attention; direct one’s gaze towards, to turn towards.

Again church, this is not a one time look, but a continual looking that causes our minds to wonder and guess what?

Our thoughts can determine our destiny!

So Jesus not only used the word look, but the word lust.

Let’s take a closer look at this word.

Lust-epithymeō- v. to covet things that are forbidden, or unlawful, to set one’s heart upon, to long for, to fix desire upon, desire earnestly, and to thirst after. It denotes the affection of the mind.

First we look and then we lust!

Its ok to look and say he is handsome or she is beautiful but its the second look that locks us in and then we start thinking thoughts that we should not that lead us to sin.

So the bottom line is Lust is To have sexual desires or urges toward a person who is not one’s spouse.

Thoughts as well as actions constitute sin.

And Jesus focuses on the source of the problem by dealing with sin where it starts: the mind.

In 2 Samuel 11 King David was supposed to be at war in the springtime with other kings, but he decided to stay home.

That evening Kiang David went to the roof of his palace and guess what?

2 Samuel 11:2–5 NKJV

Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

*Note that David was in the wrong place at the wrong time church.

He was to be at war and he chose to stay home.

How many times in our lives, were we at the wrong place at the wrong time

When this happened, how many time did we sin?

David saw that BATHSHEBA was beautiful to behold church. But it wasn’t that she was beautiful that got David, ti was his lust filled heart.

I do not believe King David just walked up on the roof and told his men to bring her to him. I believe he struggled with lust before he walked up there and when our lustful desires are not dealt with, they lead to sin.

James 1:12–15 NKJV

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

There are a couple of word pictures here that paint a picture for us!

Drawn away is a word picture of a cage propped up by a stick. Hunter would place a piece of flesh in the back of the cage and when the animal walked in, the stick would be knocked off and the animal would be trapped and thus death.

Enticed is a word picture of a fishermen baiting a hook with a worm or something. The hook is covered to decieve the fish church. The fish, which is a picture of us if you mat cannot see the hook, therefore, the fish bites and guess what? The fish is caught, therefore death.

James 1:15 NKJV

Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

This text gives us a picture of a women conceiving a child.

If our desires or cravings for things that are forbidden go unchecked, not dealt with church, these desire will birth sin and sin leads to death.

The lustful desires of King David’s heart lead him to his destiny that brought forth death and destruction for not just David church, but for his family.

King David killed Bathsheba’s husband after trying desperately to manipulate him.

He then took Bathsheba for his wife and when they had a child it died.

Then all of his children payed the price for this sin.

But you know what is interesting? You cannot commit adultery, unless you covet first!

Therefore, adultery is a by product of coveting....

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Leeches are incredible animals. Leech has 32 brains. They can survive loss of 9/10 of their body weight and exposure to heavy chemicals. Although leech pierces skin and sucks a huge amount of blood, process is not painful at all. Leech produces anesthetic which reduces the pain and allows undisturbed extraction of blood. c) A leach can consume 3 times its body weight. It can get 16” long. It also has 2 sucking disks at each end. [Lust is similar, it never gets satisfied]

If we give sin reign, you will find your self controlled, rather than “in control.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

So what is the remedy or the solution to this dilemma we all have?

Matthew 5:29–30 NKJV

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. 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 Jews believed that the right eye had the greatest vision, while the right hand the greatest strength and power.

Causes-skandalizō-v.-to cause to sin, to entrap, to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way.

Scandal- is an event that happens that is morally wrong church that causes the public problems.

Jesus has given us the remedy church in the form of a hyperbole.

Hyberbole- is an exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. It is used to get our attention and make a point.

Plucking our eye out or cutting off our hand is not meant to be taken literally church.

Jesus is getting our attention and he is trying to tell us to take action to prevent and eradicate sin.

Besides if you gouged out your right eye and cut off your left hand you would still have the lefts ones.

But what if you gouged out both eyes and cut off both hands?

You will still sin, because sin begins in the heart and mind church.

This is why it is so, so important for us to be in God’s word!

Psalm 119:11 NKJV

Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

I close with a few text to draw attention to the seriousness of this sin:

Proverbs 6:32 NKJV

Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own soul.

Church, if we do not deal with our anger and lust that leads to adultery, we will destroy our on souls.

When these two issues take over a society and it is here in America, we have full prisons, full jails, full CPS cases, full juvenile justice centers, full rescue missions, full mental health clinics, and destroyed families.

Anger and adultery not dealt with will bring death and destruction to all in its path!

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 NKJV

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Notice, as such were some of you!

Does God forgive adultery and fornication and all these sins? Yes!

But we must repent and turn away from them.

This means we must be willing to do whatever it takes to get free from it?

Are you ready?

Prayer

Lord God thank you that your Word is living and powerful, that it judges that thoughts and intents of our hearts. We ask that you would empower us to repent of the things that your Spirit convicted of us today and that we would follow the remedy you have laid out to do something radical so we do not fall into the sins that could lead to death and destruction. Lord our desire is to be like You, so please Oh pleaser Lord may you empower us to overcomers by the blood of the Lamb!

In Jesus Name, we Love U! Amen and Amen!

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 NKJV

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.

THE LORD BLESS YOU!

YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!

There is sometimes a confusion between adultery and fornication.

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