The Seventh Commandment Revisited Matt 5:27-30

Introduction

Last week we looked at the sixth commandment revisited, where Jesus took thou shalt not kill to the deeper meaning given by scripture rather than the traditions that had been taught by the Rabbis and Scribes for years. Murder starts in the heart and we must be careful with our thoughts and anger towards others.

Tonight we are going to look at the seventh commandment revisited, and see how its not our actions, but our thoughts that can cause us to stumble.

Thou shalt not commit adultery vs. 27

Here Jesus takes them back to Exodus 20:14 where God commanded “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Anger and Sexual lust are two of the most powerful influences on mankind

This commandment just as the six is a clear commandment, we should not commit adultery

Adultery- In a scriptural sense, all manner of lewdness or unchastity, as in the seventh commandment.

Here we notice again that the rabbis tried to limit the scope of this commandment by just making the action a sin and not the thought.

Just as last week they were thinking, man thats easy, I’ve never cheated on my wife, but Jesus is going to elaborate or exposit the verse.

While sexual temptations have been strong since man’s fall we know it will only get worse the closer we get to the return of Christ

2 Timothy 3:13 “13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

Jesus Expounds on Commandment 7 vs. 28

Jesus again isn’t adding to the commandment, but rather expounding on it. The rabbis taught such a narrow definition of adultery, that way they could avoid the conviction that the true biblical meaning would bring.

One Commentary said this “He extended the implications of the divine prohibition. Rather, he affirmed that the true meaning of God’s command was much wider than a mere prohibition of acts of sexual immorality. As the prohibition of murder included the angry thought and the insulting word, so the prohibition of adultery included the lustful look and imagination. We can commit murder with our words; we can commit adultery in our hearts or minds.”

In the world we live in today, you cannot drive down the road or turn on the tv without the devil tempting us to stumble.

Jesus here is not speaking of unexpected and unavoidable exposure to sexual temptation, it is the continued look in order to satisfy lustful desires that Jesus condemns, because it is evidence of a vile heart.

We see this illustrated in the life of David.

2 Samuel 11:1–4 “1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3 And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.”

The first look wasn’t the problem with David, it was the continued look.

Look what Job says in Job 31.

Job 31:1 “1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; Why then should I think upon a maid?”

Job 31:7–8 “7 If my step hath turned out of the way, And mine heart walked after mine eyes, And if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; 8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; Yea, let my offspring be rooted out.”

Job knew that sin begins in the heart and that he was just as deserving of God’s punishment for looking at a woman lustfully as for committing adultery with her. He determined in advance to guard himself by making a pact with his eyes not to gaze at a woman who might tempt him.

We need to pray as the psalmist did in Psalm 119:37–38“37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; And quicken thou me in thy way. 38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant, Who is devoted to thy fear.”

Paul called Timothy to “flee youthful lust” in 2 Tim. 2:22.

2 Timothy 2:22 “22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

How to overcome lust vs. 29-30

Jesus here gives them a graphic demonstration of the cost of purity.

In Jewish culture, the right eye and right hand represented a person’s best and most precious faculties. The right eye represented one’s best vision, and the right hand one’s best skill. Jesus’ point is that we should be willing to give up whatever is necessary, even the most cherished things we possess, of doing that will help protect us from evil.

One commentary put it this way “The strong message is obviously not to be interpreted in a wooden, literal way so that the Lord appears to be avocating mutilation. Mutilation will not cleanse the heart. The intent of these words is simply to call for dramatic severing of the sinful impulses in us which push us to evil action.

Matthew 18:8–9 “8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.”

Jesus here tells the audience that sin must be dealt with radically.

Look what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27 “27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

No matter what radical approach you choose, there must be a change of heart, which is only possible through the help of the Holy Spirit. \

Conclusion

Jesus here sets forth an impossible standard of kingdom righteousness. Jesus isn’t suggesting to the audience that they can do it on their own, it is only through a heart change that Jesus Christ gives.

I was reading a story about a highly educated and propular woman that fell into prostitution during the civil war. By the time she was 22, she was friendless, broken and lay dying in a Hospital in Cincinnati. Just before she died she wrote a poem lamenting her life. the poem was published in the paper the next day and drew sympathy from thousands across the country, the poem ended like this

Fainting, freezing, dying alone,

too wicked for prayer,

Too weak for a moan to be heard

in the streets of the crazy town

gone mad in the joy

of the snow coming down.

to lie and to die,

in my terrible woe,

with a bed and a shroud

of the beautiful snow.

Some one later added this stanza

Helpless and frail as the trampled snow,

Sinner despair not Christ stoopeth low

to rescue a soul that is lost in its sin

and raise it to life and enjoyment again

groaning, bleeding, dying for thee

the crucified hung, made a curse on the tree

His accents of mercy fall soft on thine ear

Is there mercy for me? Will He heed my prayer?

O God! in the stream that for sinners doth flow,

wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

None of our self-righteousness can save us, it is only the shed blood of Jesus Christ that can make the payment of the debt that we owe.