Lust + Divorce

English Standard Version Chapter 5

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.

Divorce

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Main Idea - Jesus is telling the crowd that sexual sin is a heart problem.

Intended Response - Kill your sin before it kills you

Bottom Line - Jesus wants your heart

Big Question -

Recap from last week

Bottom Line - Indifference is the seed form of Murder

Treating someone as something other than what they are is murder

Tension

Big Question

What does it mean to be pure?

Exposition

English Standard Version Chapter 5

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.

What is adultery?

Does this apply only to men?

What are the implications for women?

What is jesus doing by saying “But I say to you?”

God gave the commandment in the first place, is Jesus saying that the law wasn’t good enough?

Man’s view of the commandment was wrong

The heart is the center of a person.

Heart = who you are

What is lustful intent?

Imagining or desiring a sexual relationship with someone other than your spouse.

Illustration - Cups

Volunteer - Yedi vs paper cup

To Jesus, someone who looks clean on the outside but isn’t on the inside has no value.

Last week - can’t follow commandment

Skip vs 29-30

English Standard Version Chapter 5

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Same thing as in vs 27-28

Why does Jesus care about this?

Covenant

Jesus is calling husbands and wives to stay as faithful as God is to us.

Men in this time period were allowed to divorce their wives.

Some because they wanted a better wife

Jesus is saying this is wrong.

In fact - vs 32

Jesus is telling the crowd that sexual sin is a heart problem.

Bottom Line

Jesus wants your heart

Its not about following the rules. It never was.

He wants you heart

He wants you to say, I used to love my sin but now I hate it

English Standard Version Chapter 5

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.

As someone who is changed by the Good news of Jesus, we must hate our sin.

We must do any thing we can do to cut sin out

not to get something

but because we now hate what Jesus hates

So, how can I become pure, if I ...

have had lustful thoughts

Have done something to make me impure

If someone has done something to me that makes me feel impure?

You become pure because when Jesus died on the cross, when He shed His blood for you, He washed you clean.

The Old Testament system was a babysitter for what Jesus came to do.

Jesus died not only to make us clean - dwell within us.

If we believe - we are pure

Sin is no match - Jesus’ Blood

You couldn’t make yourself clean in the first place

Cant make yourself clean after you sin now

This is what Jesus came to replace