Coming to Terms with Sin

Introduction: There are 2 types of people in this world. People who like to make a plan and people who like to wing it.

Ironically they usually marry each other.

But we all know that some things, no matter who you are, require a plan. Even the person with the greatest ability to wing it, can’t wing everything.

Some goals require a plan.

From planning a wedding…to training for a marathon.

From project management to budgeting to get out of debt.

Sometimes winging it can get you into a deep hole.

Only a plan will get you out.

And when you need a plan, it starts with coming to terms with where you are.

Being completely and totally honest about the situation. Where you are and how you got there.

And then coming up with a plan to get out of it.

Really smart people who have come to terms with their situation know that they can’t and shouldn’t try to get out of it on their own.

They ask for help and involved others.

That’s where we all find ourselves when it comes to sin.

We were born into sin. And sin left to our own devices leads to eternal consequences.

We have to come to terms with that. And then we need to adopt a plan.

The good news is that we don’t know to come up with our own plan. We need to adopt God’s plan.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 5:27-30. We’re continuing in our Study on the Sermon on the mount where Jesus changes our perspective on the Law.

Last week we looked at Murder. This week we look at adultery.

Now it’s interesting when you look through this entire section. Jesus isn’t trying to do a full exposition of the Law.

He’s picking a choosing representative commandments that help us to understand the whole spirit of the law.

In Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

And then we have 6 “you have heard…but I say to you” statements where Jesus expands our understanding of what it means to fulfill the Law of God.

So in a sense these 6 statements seem to summarize the entirety of the Law in a way that helps us grasp what it means to fulfill the Law of God in our own lives.

Introduce: Today’s You have heard statement is about more than just adultery and desire.

It deals with all sin and temptation that deals with the eyes and the heart.

And what Jesus is trying to teach us is to…

Big Idea: Avoid SIN at all COSTS.

Read: Matthew 5:27-30

Matthew 5:27–30 ESV

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 lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 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. 30 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 that your whole body go into hell.

Big Idea: Avoid SIN at all COSTS.

Jesus uses adultery and desire as a way to explain all sin that deals with the eyes and the heart. The other big one is coveting which deals with wanting something that someone else has in a sinful manner.

Now I know we have a lot of kids in he room that might wonder what these words are or mean.

And what I want you all to know is that our hope and prayer is that you grow up to know and serve the Lord and that in that knowing and serving that God will provide for you husband or a wife (like your mom and dad) and that together you will know and serve the Lord better together.

That relationship between a husband and wife is something so sacred that you must protect it at all costs. Jesus is saying that you shouldn’t look at another person in the same way you look at your husband or wife. You shouldn’t even think about another person. You should spend all of your time and energy building your own marriage.

And I would argue that being faithful to your husband and wife begins while you are young and still single. Prepare yourself now for what God has for you in the future.

Now, before we go on, again, I want to point out what we touched on last week. Jesus puts the responsibility on you to avoid sin.

You don’t get to blame anyone else for your sin.

But they did this or that!

They provoked me!

But he or she was wearing something that caused me to sin….nope.

You are responsible for your thoughts and actions. No one else.

2 passages I want to point out that speak to this.

First let’s go back to the garden and the first sin:

Genesis 3:12–13 ESV

12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Both Adam and Eve blamed someone else for their sin.

And then a passage that we might miss, but I think would benefit a lot of us if we put it into practice.

In John 21, Jesus is talking to Peter about what the future will hold for Peter. How he will die and glorify God.

And then Peter says, “what about John?”

John 21:21–22 ESV

21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

A very loving way to say, “mind your own business.”

We shouldn’t worry about other people…we follow Jesus.

And if our eyes are fixed on Jesus, I guarantee we will sin less.

But as we said Jesus gives us a plan to deal with sin.

As we move on, first we learn that sin is a heart issue. So…

1. GUARD your HEART. (Matthew 5:27-28)

Explanation: Jesus states

Matthew 5:28 ESV

28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

So it’s not just about what you do or the words that come out of your mouth. Sin begins in the heart.

The Bible has a lot to say about the heart and it’s importance.

For the jewish mind, the heart is the seat of emotions while the head is the seat of the intellect.

There is no need to argue that the heart is just a muscle with no consciousness. We all know this. But we also know that our emotions are often at war with our intellect. We often no something to be true while emotionally we think something different.

Our “heart” is a lot like a toddler. It’s wild an immature and has severe impulse control.

It needs to be protected at all times lest it wonder into the street or move towards an electrical outlet with a pointed metal object.

The heart can not be trusted at all.

Yet so many of us let our hearts run the show.

“Follow your heart!” the world says.

“What does your heart tell you?” the world asks.

“But I love him/her with my whole heart!”

What does the Bible say!

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Illustration: It’s always amazing to me that you can take your eye off a toddler for 10 seconds and they have already made a mess.

We relax for a minute the wall is covered with marker. The cereal is dumped all over the floor or the book is ripped in half.

When it comes to a toddler you can’t take your eyes off of them at all.

The same is true of the heart.

Application: You might be asking, what does this have to do with adultery and lust.

Jesus is going to explain that in a second. But we need to understand that this doesn’t merely apply to adultery and lust.

Because all sin has a heart, eyes and hands component.

2. PROTECT your EYES. (Matthew 5:29)

Explanation: Jesus gives us a brutal warning.

Matthew 5:29 ESV

29 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.

A lot of times people will chalk this up to simple hyperbole. Jesus isn’t really saying to tear out your eye. That’s crazy talk. He’s just trying to prove a point!

But what point is He trying to make? Think about what the very thought of doing this implies.

Sin is so bad that it could end with you spending eternity burning in gehenna. The passing pleasures of looking at things you shouldn’t look at or desiring something you shouldn’t desire could have eternal consequences.

That being said, if, by tearing out your eye, it could ensure you avoid eternal punishment and gain eternal life, wouldn’t it be worth it?

You would make that deal! I would make that deal! It’s a great deal. A small price to pay for heaven!

It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

But the problem is that we have such a narrow view of life.

What’s wrong with one little look?

Look but don’t touch.

It’s not hurting anyone?

But the truth is, it does hurt someone. It hurts you and it offends a holy and righteous God.

Illustration: Now here is the truth. Whether or not it is lust or coveting, the first look is not often sinful. We all see things as we go through this life that cause us temptation.

And often when we see things we shouldn’t look at, the Christian’s first reaction is to look away…and rightly so. This is protecting your eyes.

It’s the second look. The first look can be unintentional. The second look is a conscious choice. And that’s when it becomes sin.

Guarding your eyes might mean you don’t go places where you know it might cause you increased temptation.

Application: Kids, have you ever gone a store and saw something that you really wanted and you asked your parents if you could have it?

And they say, no? How do you respond? You can be sad and go on with your life and God is pleased with that response.

But you might be tempted to throw a fit and cry. You throw a temper tantrum in the middle of the floor trying to get your way. God is not pleased with that.

And your parents may choose to not bring you with them to stores because they don’t want to put that temptation. Or even keep you from going past the toy section.

In this case your parents are protecting your eyes. As you grow up, you must learn to do it yourself.

For us adults, we all struggle with a lot of things. If you know something is a struggle for you, don’t go to places that do that. If you have struggled with alcohol, don’t go to bars or places where alochol is on full display.

If you struggle with gluttony, beware of places where overeating is encouraged.

Now, again, you are your responsibility. God will hold you accountable for your actions no matter anything else.

But as Christian brothers and sisters we do have a responsibility to not lay stumbling blocks before other Christians.

Let’s us all practice the love Paul commands:

Romans 14:14–21 ESV

14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

3. CONTROL your HANDS. (Matthew 5:30)

Explanation: Jesus then moves from the heart to the eyes to the hands.

Matthew 5:30 ESV

30 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 that your whole body go into hell.

Again, this is more than hyperbole.

If, by cutting off your hand, it could ensure you avoid eternal punishment and gain eternal life, wouldn’t it be worth it?

Of course it would be worth it.

Sin is bad and needs to be taken seriously.

But we need to learn to control ourselves.

When we think of controlling our hands, it often is in the context of not touching something that you shouldn’t touch. Or don’t steal something.

This is one of the reasons why, even in cultures today, the penalty for theft is having your hand cut off. Not just for the person who steals but as a warning to others who might be tempted to steal.

But it goes beyond that.

We should never touch another person without their consent either. This obviously in this context relates to a member of the opposite gender.

But it also deals with violence as well. Don’t hit someone in anger….even if you think they deserve it.

Illustration: Have you ever noticed with kids how from the very beginning we have to teach them this very simple context.

They don’t understand what stealing is. They see something they want an they take it. They touch whoever they want. They hit people in anger.

At North Hills Christian Preschool and School, as I walk the campus, at least once a week, I hear a teacher say the same words I heard as a kid…I have have said to my own kids….

Please keep your heads to yourself.

In other words, control yourself.

Application: Sin is often though of as a process that doesn’t become sin until your hands are involved.

We think, our eyes see something, our hearts desire it. But until our hands are involved, we’re still good.

Jesus is saying that sin is sin at all levels long before our hands are involved. And that our hands are tempted to jump into action shows that we’ve already sinned.

Now common sense tells us that a situation is made worse when it gets to your hands. Because up until this point, your eyes and heart only hurt you and God.

Like last week. Jesus said that to hate a person is already murder in your heart. But most of us would much rather someone hate us than kill us.

That’s true today.

On the one hand, it’s certainly better to sin with your eyes and heart than with your hands.

When your hands get involved, now the sin is outside of you and has involved hurting another person.

But like we said last week about murder, it never begins with murder. It begins with your heart.

The same is true of lust and covetous. We have to come to terms with the internal sin so that it doesn’t become outward sin.

Nip it in the bud now.

Sin tends to snowball in your life.

Paul talked about this to the

Galatians 5:9 ESV

9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

It only takes a little sin to ruin your life.

I fear what Charles Spurgeon says about sin:

“Those who tolerate sin in what they think to be little things, will soon indulge in greater matters.”

So whatever causes you to sin, cut it out. That could be hobbies, doomscrolling social media, toxic relationships, or maybe even your job.

If, by cutting out those things, it could ensure you avoid eternal punishment and gain eternal life, wouldn’t it be worth it?

Response: Are you YIELDING your thoughts and actions to CHRIST?

Summation:

Big Idea: Avoid SIN at all COSTS.

1. GUARD your HEART. (Matthew 5:27-28)

2. PROTECT your EYES. (Matthew 5:29)

3. CONTROL your HANDS. (Matthew 5:30)

Now, if your wondering why the teaching of Jesus here seems very works-based instead of grace-based, you’ve entered into one of the biggest theological debates in the last 2,000 years.

Because on the one hand, we know that gouging out our eyes and cutting off our hand couldn’t get us into heaven any more than doing our best to sin less in our lives.

We know how we are saved: Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So we aren’t saved by anything we do. We are saved by grace.

So if I’m saved by grace, sin cannot keep me out of heaven since Jesus paid it all.

And I’ve known a lot of people who think, I’ll just pray that prayer of salvation when I’m 6 or 7 years old and then live my life however I want and still go to heaven.

Paul acknowledged this very argument in talking about baptism!

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:10–14 ESV

10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Because we are saved by grace, we are going to sin less. But we still must be on our guard.

Sin is a problem in our lives and always will be until Jesus comes to take us home to be with Him.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now, we are not saved by works but we are saved for works.

Sin gets in the way of your ability to follow Jesus rightly.

So you must come to terms with your sin by yielding your thoughts and actions to Jesus, do whatever it takes to get in out of your life.

Closing Illustration: I think many of us are becoming more and more concerned with the actions of Christians in the world around us. They do things and say things that give us and Jesus a bad name.

And it doesn’t matter that we reject their bad theology and bad actions. The world looks at us the same. And it reflects negatively on Christ.

We have a responsibility to be different.

So yes, your thoughts, words and actions can reflect positively or negatively on Christ and His church.

And let’s face it, there are going to be things that we say that our offensive to the world because the Gospel offends.

Even calling sin, sin, will rattle the cages of the world because the world cannot tolerate us standing for what is right.

Saying Jesus is the only way to heaven will also rattle the cages of the world…often because they don’t understand how hateful Christians get to go to heaven, while non-radical peaceful muslims don’t.

One, I’m not sure if being hateful, you can be a Christian because Jesus also said that a tree is known by it’s fruit. Is a Christian that doesn’t bear fruit a Christian?

We’ll have to let God sort that out.

But I’ll end with this.

Whether you stand or fall, you stand before your God. And while we must encourage, rebuke and challenge one another in the church when we see someone going astray, at the end of the day, it’s your responsibility to make sure you are doing what you are supposed to do.

So guard your heart, protect your eyes, control your hands.

Follow Jesus.

If you want to know more about following Jesus, I’d love to tell you more. You can find me after the service or stop by the church office during the week.

I’m rooting for you as you pursue Christ at any cost!

Let’s pray.