Adultery, Lust, And Divorce

Title: Lust and Adultery Script: Mt. 5:27-32

Type: Expository series Where: GNBC 3-1-26

Intro: There’s a lot of literature or talk by a lot of people declaring that God gives us His law because He wants to make sure we don’t have any fun. It is truly sad that so many people have this idea of the Lord, for He is no killjoy. In fact, one of the purposes of the law is to provide boundaries that keep us from getting hurt when we transgress them. Used rightly, the law is actually a means to help us celebrate life (Ps. 84:11). The seventh commandment provides an excellent example of this principle. We need to look back to the very first marriage in history, between Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:18–25 explains that God made man and woman for each other, that He created marriage so that we would not be alone. In the marriage relationship, husband and wife come together as one flesh in a mystical union that illustrates the union of Christ and His church (Eph. 5:31–32). Marriage was created so that man and woman could be together and be naked and unashamed (Gen. 2:25). The sense of this verse includes not only physical nakedness but points also to vulnerability in a broader sense. God’s purpose for marriage is that we would have a relationship in which there is vulnerability w/ another person without fear or shame. God forbids adultery in order to safeguard this relationship. When sin entered the world, it affected everything, including marriage, and the lust that now arises in our fallen hearts can tempt us to break our marriage vows. If a husband or wife commits adultery, he or she destroys the environment in which his or her spouse could experience vulnerability safely and benefit from the most profound union two people can enjoy with one another.

Prop: Today we come to another area of Christ’s teaching that challenges us as well as our culture.

BG: 1. As we saw last week and again this week, the law of God is an essential diagnostical tool. Our attitudes toward it, our breaking or our keeping of it, are all indications of our true spiritual condition. 2. Again, need to remember that Christ is addressing life and expectations of those who are members of His Kingdom. 3. In this section, Christ addressing 2 common areas when don’t guard our hearts we cause lasting and often irreparable damage to personal relationships: anger and adultery. Last week addressed anger. This week, adultery.

Prop:

I. Jesus Clearly Teaches that All Forms of Adultery are Forbidden.

A. God Unconditionally Forbade Adultery in the 10 Commandments. (Ex. 20:14)

1. God’s Law Unconditionally forbade Adultery.

a. The OT penalty for adultery was death (Lev. 20:10) Illust- Probably Mr. Gates wouldn’t be so cavalier about his cavorting in the Caribbean had this been the penalty under which he had operated. Probably we wouldn’t either.

b. Dt. 24:1 – “If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house…” This was typically interpreted as some sort of sexually shameful behavior the husband became aware of after marriage. Modern day feminists often get triggered by such passages and yet don’t understand this verse was at root a protection for women against husbands treating them cruelly or capriciously.

2. Jesus Confronts the Rabbinical Teaching that was an Absolute Abuse of God’s Intention.

a. Vv. 21& 27 – Make no mistake about it, Jesus is intentionally “poking the bear”. “You have heard it said…but I say to you…” Jesus is claiming an authority that overrides the errors of rabbinical teaching. “I say” – ego – 1st per sing, for emphasis: “I myself say…” There is a two-fold battle going on here. One is the content of the message, but the other is authority to properly interpret that content! This claim to personal authority drove the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees apoplectic!

b. Rabbinical teaching that Christ was condemning, stated that a man could divorce his wife if he “grew cool towards her” or if he disliked her cooking! So, a law that was intended by God to safeguard the women amongst His covenant people was completely abrogated and manipulated into an escape clause for self-indulgent men!

B. Jesus’ Teaching on Adultery is Applicable to All Areas of Sexual Immorality.

1.All forms of Sexual Immorality are Addressed in God’s Word.

a. God’s Law, God’s standard requires more than just the avoidance of an activity. Rather, Jesus is saying here that it requires, and the requirement of Citizens of His Kingdom, that we demonstrate purity and integrity in our hearts and thoughts.

b. Although Jesus is specifically addressing adultery here, it is obvious that exposition is directed towards any form of sexual immorality. Jesus stresses that the root of sexual immorality resides in the same location where unforgiveness and alienation resides in the angry individual he previously illustrated: the heart! The man who looks at the woman lustfully commits adultery of the heart. Now, God made men and women to be attracted to each other, to need each other, and to want each other. Sexual relationships are part and parcel of God’s good gifts, and the supreme reason for that gift is in fact companionship! Illust: Back in the Garden of Eden, God brought Eve to Adam because it was not good for man to be alone. (Gen. 2:18) It was and is to be in that committed fellowship of family life that our sexual desires and instincts are to find their fulfillment.