Tear Cut and Throw Away

INTRO:

Today we will be in the book of Matthew chapter 5 which is part of the Sermon on the Mount which is the longest recorded sermon of Christ recorded in the Bible. Jesus covers several topics but they all focus on how we as members of the Kingdom of Heaven should live our lives.

Today we are in a section of the Sermon on the Mount know as the antithesis or interpretation of the moral law.

An antithesis statement is when someone uses opposites to prove a point. Jesus made six antithesis statements in verses 21-48 and they make reference to and expounds upon the ten commandments.

Jesus is making a point that His followers are required to live more righteously than the scribes and Pharisees so much so that in

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.

Like the Mosaic law the Holy standard of living which Jesus is teaching us in the Sermon on the Mount highlights how we could never achieve holiness apart from Him. It is by His sacrifice on the cross and our faith in Him as our Savior and our God that we can be made righteous in His sight and receive the gift of His Grace, the true knowledge of His Word and the power of The Holy Spirit.

With that being said, Jesus still expects us to do our best to live holy lives and to repent when we fall short. Too many today have an attitude that the Lord must accept them for who they are even if they never change and that is simply not true. While the Lord does call all unrighteous people to Him so that they may be saved and become righteous the Lord still expects us to learn and live out His word.

Jesus knows that we will never reach absolute perfection while we are in our human flesh but we are to make our best effort and to repent when we fall short and keep moving forward meditating on His word and walking in His ways.

In today’s Scripture reference Jesus gives us two examples of extreme measures to prevent and eradicate sin. While they are not intended to be taking as literal action as some have taught because they are hyperbole meaning they are exaggerations used to make a point, Jesus is saying to us that as His people we should be vigilant in avoiding sin, making every effort to remain pure.

Today our Scripture reference is

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.

There is Sin in Meditating on the Devil’s Lies

The first thing that stands out to me in verses twenty seven and twenty eight is that Jesus is telling us there is sin not only in action but in thought.

Many people have been taught that there is no sin in being tempted but only in the action of following through on the temptation.

But upon reading this passage we learn that it is not always true.

The situation is simply this which is that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. He is always seeking to kill and destroy everyone especially God’s people. And as a deceiver, one of the primary tactics the evil one uses is that of mind control.

There is no doubt a point in every persons life where the devil tries to put a thought in our mind or feeling in our heart that is not from the Lord and not reflective of reality.

It is at that point by the power of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of God’s word that we recognize that thought or feeling is not from the Lord so we take it captive, bind it and cast it down in Jesus name.

Matthew 16:19 ESV

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

You see as followers of Jesus Christ, He has given us as the church the authority over evil spirits to bind them or loosen them. With this power comes tremendous responsibility.

My point here is that all believers have the power to capture ungodly thoughts from satan, bind them and cast them down. When a believer is operating in this fashion the moment the thought enters them and they decide not to act on it there was no sin and this is what is meant when people say there is not sin in being tempted but rather acting on it.

However, when a Christian is not following the instruction of Jesus and exercising our authority over the evil spirits that is sin because the person is making a choice to listen to the evil one instead of listening to the Lord and using the awesome power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Jesus is plainly telling us that the sin of lust is not only in the action committed which is adultery in this case but it is also in meditating on ungodly thoughts which in the example given is looking lustfully at someone because at that point you have committed adultery with them in your heart. Said differently the ungodly thoughts people meditate on is in fact sin the eyes of God.

Meditating on lies from the devil is one the most significant sins in the church and it is damaging individuals, families, church bodies and unfortunately countless other people.

Hear me today brothers and sisters the Bible is the literal living word of God and He says what He means and He means what He says. We are to study, the word, apply it to our lives and our faith will increase. Then by the power of what Jesus did for us on the cross and the power of God’s word and the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us as believers we can in fact walk in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit which is what Jesus is calling us to do.

When we do this not only are we remaining sin free but also there is not a demon in hell that can do anything to harm us because we are equipped, anointed and appointed to do the work of the Lord in the time in place in which we are planted.

Praise be to Jesus Christ Amen!

Tear it Out

In verses 29 and 30 Jesus is instructing us to take extreme measures to prevent and eradicate sin in our lives. Christ is making it perfectly clear to all believers that we are to be vigilant in avoiding sin and make every effort to remain pure in our walks.

In verse 29 Jesus teaches us that if our right eye causes us to sin that we are to tear it out and throw it away. The Lord is not telling people to literally tear out our eyes but rather He is using the eye as a metaphor for something that triggers sin in our lives.

The offending eye captures information which the mind may then meditate on. The Bible gives many examples of this principal but just to name a few

Proverbs 4:25–27 ESV

25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Psalm 101:3 NLT

3 I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them.

1 John 2:15–17 ESV

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

The Bible is clear to warn us to keep our focus on God and meditate on His ways and to protect and turn our eyes away from sin.

Jesus is teaching us in verse 29 that like our eyes which are very valuable and intended by the Lord for good yet can be corrupted by the devil to turn our focus away from Him and introduce ungodly thoughts into our minds there will be other things in our lives which are very valuable to us which we may not believe we can live without yet if they cause us to loose focus on Him and turn our focus towards meditating on sin must be torn out and thrown away.

The words torn and throw are action words and Jesus is telling us that we need to powerfully remove this catalyst for sin and not allow it to return.

And where does our power come from it comes from the Lord! Amen!

So by the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God we are to take action to tear anything which makes us think about sin instead of about loving God and loving people.

Examples of things which can seem good but become corrupted are far and wide. One example I see regularly is that of relationships. Someone will say I am praying for a godly person to come into my life. And the next thing I know they are either getting into a relationship with a non believer with the thought that they will change them or worse yet they do find a godly person and the both of them corrupt the blessing the Lord has given by them by having sexual relations before marriage.

How in the world does someone think that this is is the Lord’s will let alone that He will bless it. If your mate is really a gift from the Lord and really does love you they will help you grow in your relationship with the Lord and not require your primary attention to be towards them or lead you to sin. If they don’t understand that Jesus comes first even before the relationship then as painful as it may be they either need to change or you need to remove them from your life because as Jesus said it is better for you loose one of your members that your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Said simply the right eye is that person, place, thing or idea that introduces sin into your life either by thought or by action. Tear it out throw it away and enter heaven and do not allow it to sin against the Lord or stop serving Him all together.

Cut it Off

In verse 30 Jesus tells us that if our right hand causes us to sin to cut it off and throw it away.

As we discussed the eye is symbolic of those things which introduce sin into your life or sin in your thought life.

The hand is symbolic of anything or anyone that not only causes you to sin not only in your mind but also in your flesh.

The example Jesus was teaching on as we discussed earlier was adultery. And while He was demonstrating that true holiness of a believer means that mentally lusting for someone is sin the physical action of sexual immorality still remains a sin as well.

This is an example of what Jesus means when He says that He comes not to abolish the law but rather to fulfill it. Those things in God’s word and in particular the Ten Commandments and the Mosaic Law not only still apply to us as followers of Christ but so much more. The difference for us is the grace of God that when we make a mistake and sin that through our faith in Christ and by His atonement made for us at Calvary’s cross we are immediately forgiven and made right once again with the Lord when we are genuine about our request and do not defend our sin as a lifestyle choice.

As in verse 29 where Jesus used the word tear and throw away in verse 30 He uses the words cut it off and throw away which again is a command for an action on our parts.

I have said this time and time again but as someone who is born again there are some places we shouldn’t go and some people we should not hang around because they will not only bring their sin into our lives but will increases the chances of us sinning as well.

There are numerous examples but if you were an alcoholic then you probably shouldn’t go to the bar. If you had a gambling problem then the casino or the track are places you should never go. If you used to buy drugs at a certain part of town then take another way home. If you gossip or backbite others when you are with a certain group of friends then get a new group of friends. Hello?

Now don’t confuse what I am saying we are to share the Gospel with everyone. We are to be kind to everyone and show the love of Christ with everyone. Also we are to be open to people coming to the Lord and being changed and seeing them in a new way. Even Jesus ate with the sinners and many of them became His followers.

So what I am saying is that we minister to all people but if you have a weakness in a particular area you need to make sure that you have been completely healed for quite some time or the devil will try to use your weakness in that area as a trigger point to lead you back in to sin.

For example our hands are gifts from the Lord and something that most of us cannot possible imagine living without but if they cause us to stumble they have to be cut off and thrown away. And as direct as this may seem to some of you there are some things and some people and some places that you have allowed in your life for way too long. They are not drawing you closer to Jesus but farther away. They are not helping you to be the best you can be but lead you to sin.

Hear me saints, it is time that you cut off those things in your life that are not from the Lord and causing you to stumble because if you do not you are playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette with your salvation. Jesus directly tells us that it is better than you lose one of your members than your whole body go into hell.

Yes you may have some heartache or pain in the process but the promises of the Lord to be with Him in paradise and to have your best life in all the ways that really matter here on earth far supersedes anything you could be possible holding onto.

You may be saying Pastor Rich but they or it is not all bad. Listen to me today if anything is causing you to sin you must remove it from your life. Then turn to Jesus and do not look back. Your life depends on it.

Prayer

Our Joy Come From Jesus