1. We’re going through the Sermon on the Mount in our series Following Jesus, and today we hit a tough passage. It’s on adultery and lust and some of what we discuss today may be inappropriate for younger audiences. So, here’s the deal – if you’re ready to answer the question “What is adultery or what is lust”, then keep your kid in here. If not, you may want to check them into the Edge.
2. By the way, I’d say most of the time what we do in here is PG-11. It’s appropriate for Middle School and up. But I’m mainly speaking to adults about adult things in adult ways. So, if you’re 3rd or 4th grader is in here, that’s fine, mine’s not! I have a hard enough time explaining this stuff to adults, I don’t need an 8 year old tugging on my shirt asking what a. is.
3. OK, since you already know it’s going to be juicy and exciting, let’s dive right in and read the text. Matthew 5:27-30.
4. This is another one of those compare and contrast teachings, like last week where Jesus says, Here’s what you’ve been taught and here’s what you’ve been doing…but I want you to understand not just the letter law, but the spirit of the law: the heart of God. What Jesus was dealing with was kind of like the legal system in our country today. A lot of dumb laws and interpretations of God’s law that totally missed the spirit of the law.
5. (Dumb laws – Pinecrest: Permit to operate a burglar alarm. Pensacola: Fine for electrocuting yourself in the bathtub if using beautification products. Sarasota: $78 hitting pedestrian. If you’ve got $100 and good ins…I could do a couple/month) That’s what was going on in Jesus’ day. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were the interpreters of the law. And while they got the letter of the law, they often totally missed the spirit of the law. And in some areas they made it too legalistic, made it too liberal in others. But they interpreted it in a way that best suited their purposes.
6. It’s what people do w/ the Bible today; in light of our culture, we’re going to interpret it the way it most makes sense to us. It’s what Satan did in the Garden. He reinterpreted God’s Word… like a skilled lawyer w/ Eve, “what did God say?” Surely God didn’t mean that…you won’t die. It’s not as bad as God said, or as important as God made it seem.)
7. But Jesus comes and he says, I’m putting the bar back in the place God intended it! We can’t just obey the law, we need to obey the spirit of the law. We need to understand the Heart of the Father so we can Follow Him. Not just make it say what we want it to say. He says, You’ve heard that it was said do not commit adultery. Now, that’s the law. It’s one of the 10 commandments. They knew it well. Not only heard it said, they had to live by that command or be stoned to death.
8. If you remember the story of the woman caught in adultery, they were literally about to kill her with large rocks for violating this command. There are dozens of OT commands and warnings about adultery/sex outside of marriage. It’s totally forbidden, totally against God’s law and punishable by death. And they knew that - they knew the law.
9. But Jesus says while you know the law, you’ve missed the spirit of that law. You guys have made it a legalistic thing about an outward physical act, and you’ve forgotten that it’s all about the heart. Just like murder, adultery starts in the heart. The offense that’s punishable by death is outward, but the sin starts right here.
10. (James 1:14, 15. 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Sin starts in the heart. You don’t just jump into bed w/ people, you make little choices, you have urges, desires, thoughts that need to be dealt with in here & here; not just on the outside.
11. Now, I want to at least give the Pharisees credit. At least they were dealing with the outside issue. While they weren’t teaching and dealing with the affairs and attitudes of the heart, at least, at least they didn’t have the gall to parade their sin in front of everyone. I wish I could say the same about God’s people today.
12. ILL> Earlier this year, we had a guy here who left his wife and kids to be with another woman, a couple months later brings her to church and introduces me to her. You talk about an awkward moment! Having to stand there and say hello to this women while I was trying to figure out a way to Scripturally justify punching her boyfriend in the face. (by the way, if you find one, I’ll give you a get out of tithe free card.)
13. I had to confront another Christian man with a large family who confessed to having at least a two-year affair with some younger girl. After tons of counseling, repenting, soul-searching, crying, the whole thing, decided it was wrong and needed to move back home. Then, as a dog returns to his vomit, went back to his adulterous love affair, left his entire family and moved in with this other woman. It gets worse.
14. Since his life choices were deliberately rebellious towards God, we weren’t excited about having him worship here at Real Life. As we’re told in Scripture, you have to expel the immoral brother so that he will repent – that means change and turn back to God. Well, not what happened. Instead, he and his live-in adulterer girlfriend now happily attend another church together and have the stickers of that church all over their cars. (If you’re here and you’ve got a similar situation, will you at least not put Real Life stickers on your car? I’m starting a new ministry – it involves deacons and ski masks…that’s all I can tell you.)
15. Man, we’ve got some nerve. Not only do we violate the commands of God, but we do it blatantly, openly, publicly and right in the church. Let me just say, that’s not following Jesus. That kind of life is a sham, a joke, a hypocrisy that leads to death. It offends God and makes Jesus and the church look stupid. Live however you want and go to church to feel better about it – that is NOT following Jesus. (while Jesus didn’t stone the adulterous woman, he did tell her to go and stop sinning)
16. Jesus says be extreme about sin. Deal visciously, ruthlessly, forcefully with sin. Don’t excuse it, allow it, justify it, Jesus says get rid of it. In fact, deal with it before it even becomes a sin. Even if it’s just a thought in your head, deal with it right then and there; take every thought captive to Christ! Before it turns into something you can't control. Deal with it, confess it, repent of it. Kill it in the heart before it ever happens in the flesh.
17. As Jesus is teaching here, he’s not really even addressing adultery. He says you guys have already heard that. You know not to commit adultery, that’s a duh…I tell you if anyone looks lustfully at a woman he’s already committed adultery w/ her in his heart. The percentage of men guilty of adultery just went up to right about 100. Jesus says the real battle isn’t adultery, its lust. It starts in the heart. It starts with a glance, a look, a double take, a trip on the internet, a Victoria’s secret comm, a catalogue ad. If you look at it and you want it, you’ve already sinned. You’ve already started down the path to adultery.
18. Now Jesus is specifically addressing men looking at women, but women lust too. I’ve heard women talk about men in ways that would make a stripper blush. Women lust too. But men REALLY lust. This is THE sin for most guys. That’s why the aptly titled book, “Every Man’s Battle.” B/c as men we struggle with lust. We are visually stimulated, we love to be seduced, we enjoy nudity. I don’t even think Adam liked fruit, but the lady handing it to him was naked so…he liked fruit that day.
19. Ladies, if your man says he doesn’t struggle with lust, he’s never looked at another woman, that’s fine – this isn’t his problem. His problem is homosexuality. Just kidding. No, there are some men, who thanks to God’s help, have really overcome this temptation, but it is every man’s battle. It’s a tough temptation to fight. And we can NOT talk about it, hide it in the closet, pretend like it’s not there and get killed by it…or, we can bring it into the light and get some help. Amen?
20. So, lust. Guys, how do we handle this one? Ladies, I will say this – you can help us. First of all, if you’re married to us, make it easy. Don’t overcomplicate the admissions process. We’ll do dishes or whatever, but just make it easy for us. We need that release. We need that fulfillment. We need that intimacy. God made us to need it. Also, ladies, if you’re not married to us, you can help us by putting some clothes on! I know it’s hot in Fl, but it’s hotter in Hell – wear a sweater! Help a brutha out.
21. When you’re getting dressed, just think about this – how would you feel if you came to church next week and I was preaching with a big scabbed up hole in my face where my eye used to be b/c you just had to wear that red mini-skirt. Please dress and act appropriately around us! (Guys, while the ladies can make it easier for us, let’s also accept that it’s our responsibility to obey Jesus no matter what!)
22. But Jesus says take this stuff seriously! He uses some of the most extreme language he can use to make his point. He says this kind of sin is so serious and will take you so far/ so fast, that you need to do whatever it takes to deal with it. (the effects of sex. sin – yourself, your kids, wife, other person) So flee from sexual immorality! Get away from it! RUN!
23. Jesus says if there’s something in your life that’s causing you to sin – cut it out now! Identify it and deal with it. You have to be ruthless, reckless and radical, even if it means taking extreme action. Your boss flirts with you and you kind of enjoy it. QUIT! Today. Pray, ask God to get you another job, but QUIT. Cut that part off. Your computer causes you to sin – you’re on the internet looking at porn. Throw it in the LAKE. Burn it. Cut it off. Better to be the only guy in heaven w/out internet access, than to go to Hell with an iPhone! There’s a woman at church that wears stuff that’s fun to check out every weekend – don’t even look. Do what Job did in Job 31:1. I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl. Make a deal with your eyes – prepare in advance.
24. But even if it catches you off-guard, just know that wherever there’s temptation, there’s an escape. 1 Corinthians 10:13. 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
25. Don’t cop out and say, I can’t stop, I can’t help it, I can’t control myself – look for the way of escape and run to it. Ask God for the help you need and it will come. For some of you, this issue, lust, is such a big deal in your life, it’s an addiction. It’s controlling you. I want you to know there’s help. You’re going to have to admit it and ask for help, but it’s there. We have leaders specially trained to help you overcome addictions and compulsions and our Celebrate Recovery ministry is an awesome place to get help from other people who struggle w/ maybe the same thing you do. There’s no shame in that – the shame’s in not getting help.
26. This is one of those issues for me, where I know I need help. As a younger man I violated the spirit and the letter of the law in regards to sexual sin. I crossed the lines. And along with most guys, I looked at a lot of pornography. So here I am a 35 year old Lead Pastor and I have to have tracking software on my computer to keep me accountable so that I don’t go where I shouldn’t. Like a lot of guys in this room, I’m weak and easily tempted in this area.
27. And Satan wants us to feel so shameful and dirty about our temptations that we bury them and act like they’re not there. But I love what God tells us in Hebrews 4:15,16. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
28. God says don’t hide from me b/c you’re weak. Don’t run from me b/c you’re tempted. I get it. I lived this life. I understand what it is to be a man. You’re following a God who gets it! I’ve been there. And I also beat it – I conquered sin, I conquered temptations, I controlled my desires…and I can help you do the same thing. I can be your strength in weakness. If you’ll admit you’re weak. I can provide a way of escape – if you’ll run TO me not away from me. I can lead you out, if you’ll follow me.
29. We have a God who loves us not B/C of what we’ve done, but in spite of it. God demonstrated his own love for us in this way – while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That’s what we want to remember as we take the bread that represents Christ’s body broken for us. And the cup representing His blood poured out for our forgiveness. I’m going to pray, then as the emblems are passed, hold it and take it together.
