The Filling of the Law #2 - You Shall Not Commit Adultery

- the LORD placed Adam & Eve in the garden in Eden / eat of any tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good & evil, do not eat - in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die.

Serpent - did God really say you can’t eat of any tree in the garden? - twists God’s words / Eve - corrects serpent’s twisting of the truth /

Genesis 3:4–5 ESV

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Eve -

And listen carefully to verses 6-7 -

So when Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ( ESV)

Later, in the book of Judges, when things turn very, very dark, after the tragedy of Samson, a refrain starts to pop up here and there starting in chapter 17: In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

When you flash forward to 1 Samuel, realize - more than just a statement about governance. When Israel comes to Samuel, the last of Israel’s judges, to demand a king, God tells Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”

To do what is right in your own eyes is to reject God as King, and to reject His Kingdom for an earthly one.

This is why says

Proverbs 3:5–7 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

pro 3.

Compare Joseph in the house of Potiphar v Samson?

Joseph

He recounted the truth to himself and to her - “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

She grabbed his cloak, he left it behind and fled the house

Samson

Like Joseph, Samson was blessed by God far beyond his deserving. Everything he set his hand to succeeded

Like Samson, Joseph was chosen by God to preserve His people Israel when they were endangered

Joseph - wisdom, prophetic dreams, administrative brilliance, saved Israel from famine when they came to Egypt

Samson - strength, victory in battle, saved Israel from the Philistines & brought God’s judgment against them for their oppression

Unlike Joseph, Samson did not save Israel out of love but (mostly) because it agreed with his selfishness

Nazirite from the womb - - special vow for both men & women (usually temporary, to separate yourself from normal life in certain ways in order to consecrate yourself to God - like becoming a temporary monk) - No alcohol, or even fresh grapes

For the whole period of his vow, no razor, no cutting of the hair

Will not go near a dead body, and if he does, he shaves his head and sort of “resets”

and at the end of his vow, he shaves his head

Samson also

And of course, Samson was still under God’s law in every other way. The Israelites were commanded not to marry the Canaanites and Philistines - God made it clear in - to marry someone who was not in covenant with YHWH, to serve Him only, would draw the people away from the Lord & endangered their children, too

But the first thing we hear about Samson is that he saw a Philistine woman and desired her. His parents tried to dissuade him, but he said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

After his first wife died in tragedy, Samson took a second wife who proved to be his undoing. Deli

He didn’t get to keep the eyes, by the way.

Nature of marriage and sex, nature of the eyes

Q. What is at the heart of the command, “You shall not commit adultery”?

I. Adultery begins in the heart (27-28)

As we’ve seen in the previous weeks, one of the ways that the Lord Jesus fulfills the Law is by

<<READ>>

EXPLAIN:

Exodus 20:14 ESV

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

In the period leading up to Jesus’ earthly ministry, the interpretation of the seventh commandment took on a very specific character

In the period leading up to Jesus’ earthly ministry, the interpretation of the seventh commandment took on a very specific character, and it wasn’t a very pretty one. Just like we saw last week, the scribes & Pharisees lifted God’s commands out of His context and put them in the context of their own systems.

Just like in the case of murder, the result here was actually a loosening of the Law.

The most permissive understanding was that it wasn’t adultery for a married man to have a sexual encounter with a prostitute or a slave or an unmarried woman. It was only adultery if the woman was another man’s wife - a man couldn’t violate his own marriage, only another man’s. So there was this gigantic double standard for men and women. And some even said it didn’t count if the woman was a Gentile.

Not only that, some interpreters narrowed it even further. says

Deuteronomy 22:22 ESV

22 “If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

The tradition looked at those last two words “from Israel” - and decided that it wasn’t adultery if the woman was a Gentile.

Without the heart of the Law, the Covenant between the Lord and His people and their calling to one another, the Law becomes empty, but easy to "keep”.

Into this historical background, Jesus speaks the words,

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.

At the heart of the Law was the seriousness, the beauty, the sacredness, and the goodness of marriage. God created Adam and Eve to be together, to help one another, to build each other up, and to enjoy sexual intimacy with one another as both the foundation for building a family and as the bond of the covenant. The depth of a covenant is often reflected in the depth of the physical sign that enacts it. A handshake is appropriate for an agreement among friends. A sacrificial offering often accompanied the forging of a covenant

Notice that Jesus drops all the technicalities.

The look directed by a lustful intent - whether you’re married or not, whether they’re married or not - springs from a heart that violates the commandment. Jesus is not saying that noticing someone’s attractiveness is the problem. To look with lustful intent is to deliberately satisfy sexual desire with your eyes.

The look directed by a lustful intent - Jesus is not saying that noticing someone’s attractiveness is the problem. To look with lustful intent is to deliberately satisfy sexual desire with your eyes.

First, he takes all their technicalities and excuses and dumps them in the trash. The one who looks with lustful intent - everyone who does it, married, unmarried - and looks on a woman - and notice he doesn’t say “another man’s wife”

The one who looks with lustful intent - everyone who does it, married, unmarried - and looks on a woman - not another man’s woman, but any woman - has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

not another man’s woman, but any woman - has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

The seventh commandment is the starting point for all the rest of the Mosaic Law’s commands about sexual purity. At the heart of the Law was the seriousness, the beauty, the sacredness, and the goodness of marriage. God created Adam and Eve to be together, to help one another, to build each other up, and to enjoy sexual intimacy with one another as both the foundation for building a family and as the bond of the covenant. The depth of a covenant is often reflected in the depth of the physical sign that enacts it. A handshake is appropriate for an agreement among friends. A sacrificial offering often accompanied the forging of a covenant in the ancient world - the death of the animal reflected the seriousness of your commitment, and you were essentially saying, “If I break my end of the deal, may God do to me what I just did to this animal.”

When Jesus

But the covenant of marriage is sealed and enacted through sexual union between husband and wife. From the very beginning of Genesis, this holy and beautiful picture of marriage is lifted up, and celebrated,

No other sexual activity is honored or declared to be holy in the Bible except between husband and wife.

All the other laws in the Old Testament about sex come back to the holiness of sex within marriage. So when men were coming up with definitions of adultery that got them off the hook for everything except one specific kind of sexual activity, Jesus returns to the truth of the Law -

Everyone, married or not, has already committed adultery in their hearts when they look with lustful intent. Notice that word “intent.” Jesus is not talking about merely noticing human beauty. He’s talking about a look intended to indulge or arouse sexual fulfillment with someone other than one’s spouse.

Everyone who looks with lustful intent, married or unmarried,

Jesus fills up the Law by showing us that the holiness & beauty of marriage calls us not just to avoid technical violations of the word “adultery,” but to hold marriage in such high regard that every one who looks on any one with lustful intent has violated the law in their hearts.

And so our culture is repeating the mistakes of every generation before us - experimenting with open marriages and sexual friendships and every other empty, broken innovation that leaves people empty and broken.

Because adultery doesn’t start with sex, or even with the eyes, but with the heart.

Jesus fills up the command in a second way by demonstrating that adultery doesn’t start with sex, or even with the eyes, but with the heart.

The heart is the Bible’s way of talking about your true self, your deepest, hidden you, that nobody else can see. Your heart is the wellspring of your behavior. It’s where desire and willpower live.

The heart is the Bible’s way of talking about the core of who you are - your true self, your deepest, hidden you, that nobody else can see. Your heart is the wellspring of your behavior. It’s where desire and willpower live. When desire overmatches willpower, we do what we know we shouldn’t. When willpower overcomes desire, we do what we know we should but don’t want to.

The heart is where sin begins.

Matthew 15:18–19 ESV

18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Matthew 15:18 ESV

18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.

Matthew 15:19–20 ESV

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

Matthew 15:19 ESV

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV

23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

But God has designed us for something so much more beautiful than the emptiness of immorality.

The word “lust” means a longing or desire for sexual fulfillment.

Jesus is not saying that if you happen to look at someone and happen to find them attractive or beautiful that you’ve committed adultery in the heart. The word “intent” is important. To look in order to lust is for lust to direct your gaze.

The word “intent” is important. To look with lustful intent is

The heart that longs for purity directs the eyes away from temptation, but the adulterous heart recognizes temptation and goes as far as it dares.

The difference between adultery of the heart and adultery in action is a matter of degree.

God has designed us for something so much more beautiful than the emptiness of immorality.

Before trusting in Christ, every one of us was a willing slave to sin. Our hearts were enslaved to sin. Our desires and our wills were warped around the darkness inside us like light captured by a black hole.

Without Christ, some of us tried to live a so-called good life, and adjusted the rules when we couldn’t measure up, or lied even to ourselves that we were truly good people. And the darkness inside made us despair, because we knew better.

How often have people said, “I

Without Christ, some of us indulged the darkness inside, and attempted our best to cauterize our own consciences, hoping that enough exposure to enough hedonism would drown out the voice of the image of God within us.

But without Christ, none of us has ever broken the shackles of sin.

I remember a good friend who was a recovering alcoholic, 20 years sober when I met him, who attended AA meetings regularly, and found Jesus when he couldn’t break free of his addiction. He said to me that every once in a while he’d meet someone who claimed to have the secret to overcoming alcoholism. One guy said that the secret was gambling. He said that he had it completely under control now. As long as he went to the track every week, he didn’t drink. And he thought he was free.

Another man several years later, after the advent of the internet, told him that the secret was pornography. Did you know that in 1895, the Bayer company started selling a new drug that was designed to replace morphine as a less-addictive cough suppressant? That drug was heroin.

My friend tells me that in all his years of sobriety, this pattern showed up again and again. People replaced one addiction with another one. Unless they came to Christ, they just traded one set of chains for another.

Sexual sin is just as destructive as addiction. And it has its own chains.

Purity begins with major surgery

But Jesus called us to something better. He says “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Purity of heart is the answer to adultery of the heart. Instead of lust,

1 Timothy 1:5 ESV

5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

1 tim 1.6

The answer to lust is a heart transplant. And that brings us to our second major point this morning:

Romans 6:4 ESV

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 6:6 ESV

6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

God does in Jesus Christ what the law, weakened by the flesh, could never do.

Romans 8:3–4 ESV

3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

And that brings us to our second major point this morning:

rom 8.3-

The best that human effort could do to keep the commandment was dumb it down till it was easy. But Jesus fills it back up and shows us the standard that we are all called to - the standard of wholeness, of true shalom - peace with God and peace with one another - and makes it clear that we’re not getting anywhere near the righteousness that surpasses the scribes and the Pharisees without new hearts. And that brings us to our second major point this morning:

II. Healing begins with major surgery (v28)

Adultery is the perfect picture for Israel’s rebellion against God because it was a betrayal, a violation.

Adultery is the perfect picture for Israel’s rebellion against God because it was a betrayal, a violation. In the days before Israel fell to Assyria, the Lord called to them, but they kept turning their backs on Him. God even used the prophet Hosea’s life as a picture of His patience and love for them. Hosea pursued his wife in spite of her adultery, even redeeming her out of slavery to bring her home. And the Lord said to Israel,

Hosea 2:16 ESV

16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’

hos 2.1

Then God told of a day when He would betroth Israel to Himself in faithfulness, and they would know Him. But in the meantime, they rebelled, and refused, and continued their unfaithfulness.

In the last years before Nebuchadnezzar carried the people of Judah off into exile in Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah had a word from God:

And Joshua’s next words are shocking: “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God."

And for 800 years, they proved him right.

In the last years before Nebuchadnezzar carried the people of Judah off into exile in Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah had a word from God:

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

jer 31.31-34

God fulfills this promise to you and me in Jesus Christ. Like Israel enslaved in Egypt, God has come to set you free from slavery to sexual sin. He has promised that in the New Covenant, enacted by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, you don’t have to do what sin commands anymore.

And the purity that you long for is now your possession because Jesus is yours forever. At the moment you repented and believed, the LORD performed major surgery - He replaced the stone-dead heart of sin with a heart of flesh. A beating heart. A pure heart. A heart for Him.

<<BREAK>>

But the

But the battle for your heart continues. So he says in verse 29 and 30, whatever causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it in the trash with all the excuses you used to make for your sin.

This is figurative language, because cutting out one eye won’t stop you from sinning with the other one. But this is not exaggerated language. The extreme solution requires us to evaluate our priorities. If my choices were blinding myself or lusting, would I really do it? What if my job, or my position in life, or my choices of entertainment regularly exposed me to temptation? Would I sacrifice ambition for purity of heart?

What if your prosperity were the “eye” you had to tear out?

What if your “right hand” was a friend group? Jesus says “If your right eye or hand causes you to sin, throw it away.” Someone who bears the name of “brother” or “sister” in Christ who entices Christians to stumble, who indulges your temptations, is a trap to you and it is for your spiritual good that you perform some surgery.

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

2 Timothy 3:1–7 ESV

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Elsewhere Paul says: "Do not be deceived: Bad company ruins good morals.” And “A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough. Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.”

2 tim 3.1-

Elsewhere Paul says: “A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough. Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.”

There is a $97B industry driven by indulging sin, deepening depravity, encouraging addiction, damaging souls, ensnaring hearts, dulling ethics. It’s the online porn industry. They want to capture you, and the reality is that pornography is having devastating effects on every age group.

Matthew 18:6 ESV

6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Kids, I’m thinking specifically about you for a moment. If there’s someone around you who has shown you bad things on the internet or wants you to look at porn or naked people, you need to tell your parents and ask for their help to stay away from that stuff. It’s really hard to talk about things like that, but it’s important because those things trap us, and Jesus wants you to grow up without being stuck in all that stuff.

Parents, they are not waiting for your kids to get older.

Kids, I’m thinking specifically about you for a moment. There are friends in your life whose influence is always for the worse. In their presence, you find yourself going along when they lie or cheat or hurt others. Kids, if there’s someone around you who has shown you bad things on the internet or wants you to look at porn or naked people, you need to tell your parents and ask for their help to stay away from that stuff. It’s really hard to talk about things like that, but it’s important because those things trap us, and Jesus wants you to grow up without being stuck in all that stuff.

The things you look at as a kid are hard to get out of your mind when you get older. Mom and dad, I want you to ask your kids if someone has shown them pornography. If they’re young, just ask if someone has shown them “naked people.”

Online porn is a $97B industry driven by indulging sin, deepening depravity, encouraging addiction, damaging souls, ensnaring hearts, dulling ethics. They are not waiting for your kids to get older.

10% of 7th graders now report they’re afraid they’re already addicted to pornography. Secular internet security company Bitdefender says that children under 10 years old now make up 22% of porn consumption by those 18 and under. That same group - under 10 years old - now makes up 10% of all visits to porn streaming sites.

Mom and dad, ask your kids if someone has shown them pornography. If they’re young, just ask if someone has shown them “naked people.”

Warn them away. Be honest with them if you’ve struggled with pornography. If they’ve got a phone, you look at that phone. If they don’t have a phone yet, start now making sure they know that the phone or laptop or iPad they use while they’re under your care as children is not private.

Warn them away. Be honest with them if you’ve struggled with pornography. If they’ve got a phone, you look at that phone. If you’re not there yet, start now making sure they know that the phone or laptop or iPad they use while they’re under your care as children is not private.

Teens, hear me on this - even if you’re almost out of high school, actually the worst thing you can want is for your phone to be private. I know it’s hard to even imagine, but whatever you’ve looked at online, whatever you’ve said to your friends in Messenger, I promise it’s unlikely to shock your parents. They also said things they shouldn’t have when there were no adults around. They also looked at things they shouldn’t have. Your phone is now such an integrated part of your life, a private cell phone for a high schooler makes as much sense as your parents giving you your own apartment and never being allowed to check in on you.

Now, you say “Pastor Aaron, you don’t understand, you’re so out of touch, that’s crazy, if my parents saw what I do online, my house would be like the final battle in Endgame.” Maybe. But let me ask you this: Are you worried you might be addicted to porn? How are you going to tear it out and throw it away if you don’t ask for help?

And parents, if your kid comes to you and says “I need my phone not to be private anymore,” before you freak out, before you worry about how you’ll react, stop and thank God that your kid came to you.

Here’s another thin

Teens, think for a moment about the nature of the temptation to lust.

But obviously, pornography is not the only temptation to lust. It’s a big one today. But how about temptations to actual adultery?

Let’s get really specific for a moment. Early in my ministry, when the internet was still a mystery to most people, a pastor told us about the dangers of those on-demand movie boxes in hotels. Businessmen who were faithful at home were falling to the temptation of pornography on business trips. The pastor said call the front desk and have them block the box. If they won’t do it, unscrew the cable and leave it on the lobby counter. If you continually lose the battle, he said, find a job that doesn’t require travel.

Active adultery always starts with adultery of the heart. Kingdom People, in Christ you have powerful weapons at your disposal in the battle against the sin that still clings so closely and desires to have you.

The first is that you know first-hand that sin lies. Lust promises intimacy, but you know it delivers fleeting pleasure and death in its wake. When you recognize temptation, give it a name. Liar. When your peripheral vision tells you to look, and your heart says that you’ll be so fulfilled if you take a mental snapshot of whatever’s there, you call the temptation a liar. It gives no true joy. Direct your gaze and your thoughts elsewhere.

Kingdom People, you have another weapon at your disposal. You know the Lord. tells us the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life. It says that we will be satisfied when we remember Him and what He’s done for us. When you’re tempted, recall and declare the promises of God. Call upon His Name - He is your Lord. You know that the joy He brings outshines any fleeting sinful pleasure.

One popular women’s ministry blog has an article titled, “Women and Sexual Temptation: Learning to Talk about Lust.” The author says, “[p]lenty of women, myself included, have lusted for the pursuit and intimacy of a husband way before it was ours to have. We might not struggle in all the same ways as our brothers do, but every one of us knows the pull of lustful temptations. For most women, the lust battle is birthed in the emotions. Give us a gushy romantic comedy or a sensual book like The Notebook, and it can do us in.”

If the resources I found are any indication, for many of you, lust often happens when you feel an emotional connection in a look, whether he’s looking at you or someone else, because the sexual content is put in the context of that look.

And it seems that Jesus had this in mind in , as well. When he says “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent” the language encompasses both someone looking in order to imagine sexual contact and a look that entices someone else to imagine. Not every lustful look is the same, but Jesus understands our hearts.

So whatever stirs in your heart to lust, name it what it is. It’s a liar. You know temptation is a liar.

Do you

You might say that many men experience lust as a drive to look and ; and many women experience lust as a drive to

Kingdom People, you have another weapon at your disposal. You know the Lord. tells us the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life. It says that we will be satisfied when we remember Him and what He’s done for us. When you’re tempted, recall and declare the promises of God. You know that the joy He brings outshines any fleeting sinful pleasure.

when a look becomes a gateway to a fantasy relationship, do you recognize it and

You also know what you’ve been saved from. You were dead in your sins and trespasses, but He made you alive. Sin was your brutal master, worse than Pharaoh, worse than Nebuchadnezzar, and I know many others who still languish in the false-life of running after every sin-broken passion. When temptation comes, remind yourself that He has given you a new NAME. You are His beloved child. I have been united with Jesus Christ. By His wounds, I’ve been healed. And Paul says “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” I’ve been rescued. With God’s help, I will never return to that kind of slavery.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night

Thine eye sent forth a life-giving ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light

My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

I was once enslaved to sin, and I know many others who still languish in the false-life of running after every sin-broken passion. But I have been united with Jesus Christ. By His wounds, I’ve been healed. And Paul says “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” I’ve been rescued. With God’s help, I will never return to that kind of slavery.

Kingdom people, here’s another weapon you have in the battle for your hearts: You have one another. In , when Paul says

Ephesians 5:3 ESV

3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

eph 5.3

He follows it up with the how in verses 18-19 -

Ephesians 5:18–21 ESV

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

-19

When you start to feel noticed by someone, and you like the way they look at you, or you imagine yourself in another relationship,

that you know what you’ve been saved from

Some people will commit active adultery, but most people do not. The regular struggle against the old ways of the flesh is usually a struggle against lust. It’s a struggle against looking at someone in order to indulge a sinful sexual desire.

But we’re far past that world now. The smartphone has changed things beyond our understanding.

No one in this room is meant to fight alone. Life Groups, Sunday School, small group Bible studies, these are just ways to get men and women in the same place where they can open God’s Word, lift one another up to Him, and strengthen one another for the journey. If you’re struggling against temptation, bring it into the light.

A final word on temptation. I asked a brother what advice he would give to teens struggling with lust and particularly pornography, but I thought his words were incredibly helpful for anyone at any age.

The

First, be honest with yourself about it. We are very good at telling ourselves half-truths. We’re afraid to admit when we’re out-of-control, or trapped.

Second, remember that Jesus responded to temptation with Scripture and prayer. Knowing the Word of God equips you to stand when you are tempted.

Third, take thoughts captive to Christ quickly. Paul says in ,

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 ESV

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

When temptation arises in your thoughts, don’t wait - immediately call it what it is and answer that thought with a clear statement of God’s truth.

Third,

Fourth, when you struggle against temptation, and you fear you’ll never fully kick it, do not despair: If you belong to Jesus, you will be victorious. The empty tomb is proof that He finishes what He starts. And He who began a good work in you WILL bring it to completion.

He has promised you a new heart, He promises to dwell with you and He promises that you will be conformed to His image.

Fifth, when you struggle against temptation, and you fear you’ll never fully kick it, do not despair: If you belong to Jesus, you will be victorious. The empty tomb is proof that He finishes what He starts. And He who began a good work in you WILL bring it to completion.

Finally, here’s something that I would encourage everyone to do: No technology should be totally private. Accountability programs like Covenant Eyes can be very helpful if you’re really committed to them, but there’s always loopholes, always a way around them. Even better than accountability programs and web filtering alone is open communications, honesty with the ones we love, and a common commitment - a covenant - to help one another use technology in God-honoring ways.

Teens, ask your parents to help you cultivate a mind set on the things of God instead of the things of the world.

Adults, engage with small groups and trusted friends about your struggle. And pray for one another, for healing and freedom.

Here’s something that I would encourage everyone to do: No technology should be totally private. Accountability programs like Covenant Eyes can be very helpful if you’re really committed to them, but there’s always loopholes, always a way around them. Even better than accountability programs and web filtering alone is open communications, honesty with the ones we love, and a common commitment - a covenant - to help one another use technology in God-honoring ways.

Now, as we prepare for the Lord’s Table, let’s take a look at the reason why Jesus counts this issue of such importance.

III. Jesus calls us to a decision (vv29-30)

Loss of limb over loss of eternal life

In both of the applications in verses 29-30, he has the same refrain - "For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.”

This brings things into perspective. Jesus is not kidding when he says the word “hell.” The word we translate as “hell” is actually a vivid word picture. Gehenna was a valley outside Jerusalem where during the darkest days of Israel’s sin, God’s people went and worshiped the Canaanite gods Molech and Baal, even burning their own children in demonic worship. When King Josiah began purifying Israel from its idolatry, he shattered the altars of Molech and Baal, and scattered human bones and filth where these things had been done, to defile them. tells us that God has his own burning place, but the false gods that demanded human sacrifice and the kings who made those sacrifices were the ones who would end up there. Unlike the valley outside Jerusalem, though, the burning place of God’s judgment is eternal.

And Jesus is not kidding when he says the word “hell.” The word we translate as “hell” is actually a vivid word picture. Gehenna was a valley outside Jerusalem where during the darkest days of Israel’s sin, God’s people went and worshiped the Canaanite gods Molech and Baal, even burning their own children in demonic worship. When King Josiah began purifying Israel from its idolatry, he shattered the altars of Molech and Baal, and scattered human bones and filth where these things had been done, to defile them. tells us that God has his own burning place, but the false gods that demanded human sacrifice and the kings who made those sacrifices were the ones who would end up there. Unlike the valley outside Jerusalem, though, the burning place of God’s judgment is eternal.

It’s not fashionable to talk about hell, but it is necessary. This is the second time Jesus has mentioned hell in the Sermon on the Mount.

Sin dooms us to eternal judgment.

“whoever believes in Him is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

He also tells us that our sin dooms us to eternal judgment. The only

We treat lust very casually in 2019. We treat it as an inevitability. A nothing. Or worse, we treat the very thing that enslaves us as something good and worth celebrating.

Jesus says if your right eye brings you spiritual ruin, tear it out and throw it as far from you as possible, because lust may very well ruin you. Eternally.

It is dangerous to indulge, and tolerate the things that cause us to fall into sin precisely because sin brings death. To cherish something that causes spiritual ruin is dangerous.

Rosaria Butterfield, author of the book The Gospel Comes with a House Key, relates a similar conversation with someone. She responds something like, “If God really is morally perfect, and if He designed sex in the first place, and He made you, why would it surprise you that He would have a specific purpose for sex?” And I would add, if we’re not morally perfect, why would it surprise us that his purpose is different from our sophisticated and liberated ideas?

It is dangerous to indulge, and tolerate the things that cause us to fall into sin precisely because sin brings death. To cherish something that causes spiritual ruin is dangerous.

The 17th century Puritan John Owen said, “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.”

Romans 8:13 ESV

13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The dividing line between those who are saved and those who are condemned is this: If you have been born again by faith in Jesus Christ, then when He says, “Whatever causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away,” your new heart says, “Lord, help me tear it out.” If you say, “Nah, it’s not a big deal,” then consider what that says about your heart.

No one will enter

“You shall not commit adultery,” comes back to this: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

And that brings us back to the goodness of the Law. Lust divides people, turns love to ash, destroys marriages, and empties sex of its covenantal meaning, its holiness and beauty. It makes us ashamed to look up to God and estranges us from one another. But God has promised redemption to all who believe in Jesus Christ. He’s promised to replace shame with celebration. To replace brokenness with wholeness. To replace hell with shalom.

In stripes across His back, in nails,

He, pierced in hand and foot travails

To offer “Blameless” now the blamed

And christen “Honored” now the shamed.

He frees our wills from bands of sin

And slaves of righteousness we then will name ourselves

With joy, for He has named us children, even me.

This is for our good, this is for completeness. Shalom, not bondage & slavery.

Related Media

Related Sermons