The Dangers Of Lust And Adultery

The Dangers of Lust and Adultery

Matthew 5:27-30

October 17, 2004

Introduction

Before I get started with this message, I just want to warn you that this message is not rated “G.” I’m going to discuss some things that fuel the fires of lust and adultery.

And while I’m going to be as generic as possible, you may not be comfortable with your children listening.

If that is the case for you, we have opened one of the classrooms down the hall, and we’ve got a VCR ready to show a children’s video. If you would like to take your child down there, this would be a great time to do that.

I’m going to make some very general comments here at the beginning so you won’t miss much.

Why am I doing this? Because these need to be addressed, and if you can’t hear it straight from a pastor, then where will you go?

I have an obligation to you and to God to shoot straight about the things that cause people to sin.

Jesus dealt with it, and He expects us to deal with it as well. I won’t cover everything there is to know about this, but I think you’ll get the picture clearly.

In this passage, like the one we looked at last week regarding murder, Jesus once again addresses the heart, not just the action.

He says that it’s not okay to want another person sexually, as long as it doesn’t actually make it to the bedroom. He says that when it takes place in your heart, it’s just like doing it physically.

What is lust, anyway? Lust is basically looking at someone with a desire to have them in a way only married couples are supposed to enjoy. And since we have little kiddos here today, that’s as explicit I’m going to go with that.

It’s one thing to recognize that someone is good looking or handsome, but it’s another to drool about it!

Today I want to just look at some things Jesus says to us in this passage, then end with some practical things you can do to help nip lust and adultery in the bud.

This is real life, folks, so please don’t tune me out because you think it doesn’t apply to you. It does.

Let’s start by looking at our need to…

Recognize the risks.

Folks, you have to understand something. This is not a game. This is a serious business.

Let me let you in a one of the biggest lies being perpetrated in the world today. Ready? Here it is: “It’s okay to look but not touch.”

But look at what Jesus said:

"You have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.“

Last week we looked at how Jesus defined murder, and He said that if you even hate your brother you are guilty of murder.

Where did the murder start? The heart. Where does adultery start? In the heart.

And from there, once it’s been done in the heart, it starts down a pathway that can lead to the physical act of adultery, and the pain it causes to everyone involved.

“What’s the problem with just a look, PB?”

First of all, it’s a sin, according to Jesus, and if you’re ready to call Jesus a liar, that’s your business. But don’t ask me to go along with it and pat you on the back, saying, “Well, Jesus knows the way people are wired, so I’m sure He’s okay with it. Just don’t do it too often, okay?”

Second, the more often you open your heart to lust, the easier it gets, and the harder your heart gets to living purely before God and your spouse.

Then the act dreamt up in your heart comes closer to being a physical reality in the bed of someone who is not your spouse.

Folks, I don’t know the statistics, but I can tell you that the number is huge of marriages that were destroyed by adulterous relationships that started by an “innocent” look.

Did you know that there is no such thing as “innocent” flirting between people who are not married to each other, particularly if one or both of the people flirting are married?

Flirt with your spouse all you want! I hope you do, especially in public!

But you don’t have the right to do this with someone you’re not married to, especially if one of you is already married.

I can tell you with all confidence that adultery is one of the top reasons for divorce in our world today.

One spouse becomes unsatisfied with the other for one reason or another, and starts looking for someone else to fill their needs.