Living Beyond the Law
Matthew 5:27-30
May 26, 2019 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I. Review
A. Jesus is teaching one of the greatest lessons on LIVING ever
B. We call it the beatitudes – the blessed life
C. It is how Christians live NOW in THIS world
D. Because we are no longer OF this world
1. We don’t get our marching orders from the culture that we live in, from the media, and not even from our own hearts
2. We live in a new kingdom – the Kingdom of God
3. And life in that kingdom is very different than expected
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What People Thought God Expected… What people usually focus on |
Jesus Calls Us Further, Deeper What a follower of Jesus must focus on |
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Thou shalt not kill (5:21-26) |
Deal with your anger, and seek reconciliation, not retribution |
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Thou shalt not commit adultery |
Deal with your own lust |
|
Divorce for any reason (5:31,32) |
Only divorce for extreme fornication |
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Forswearing (5:33-37) |
Make your Yes and YES, and your No and NO |
|
Seeking Revenge (5:38-42) |
Go the second mile |
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Hating your enemies (5:43-48) |
Love your enemies instead |
II. Background (Matthew 5:27-30)
A. Mat 5:27,28 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
B. Wow! In just 19 words, Jesus…
1. Drove a dagger deep into the heart of every person listening to Him that day
2. Spoke right to the point! Didn’t speak about the most awful sinners, adulterers. He spoke about something just as awful and wicked - LUST
3. Exploded the myth about self-righteousness – that there are so many “good” people because they had not committed adultery – well, that was not true!
4. Exposed the fact that lust was and still is a deadly problem in people in every country, in every culture, and in every age!
5. Explained the basic source of all marriage problems…
a. Not money problems
b. Not bad communication skills
c. Not gambling, or drugs, or drink
d. But discontent!
6. Warns why so many people will end up in hell for all eternity – just for a brief season of sexual pleasure
7. And lastly, He reveals why churches that are full of people, end up just like the world around them – cold, and dead, and cursed!
C. But He wasn’t finished
1. He then warned that lust was just as wicked as adultery, and MUST be conquered, at all costs!
2. Mat 5:29,30 And if thy right eye offend thee (CAUSES YOU TO SIN), pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
D. This was no easy truth to hear
E. Some of the most uncomfortable truths are going to be presented this morning
1. And if there is any kind of sermon to listen to, and pay close attention to, is it this one – the one where JESUS speaks to the whole world in Matthew chapters 5,6 and 7
2. If there is anything that should be taken seriously, it is your marriage; it is your preparation for a future marriage; it is your purity; it is the condition of your heart; it is the cleanness of your mind; it is what you allow your eyes to look at…
3. Because LUST will cost you everything you have and could ever have, including your sanity and your health
III. Message
A. The Sin of Adultery
1. Jesus takes it for granted that we all know and deeply believe in the wrongfulness of adultery
2. Jesus quotes the 7th Commandment… Exo 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
3.
Pretty clear instruction…
DON’T EVER INTERFERE IN WHAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER – get your own wife or
husband, NOT another person’s!
4. Most everyone would have agreed it was and is a wicked sin
5. Adultery is one of the most frequently listed sins in the Bible, and severely condemned. Adultery is specifically mentioned 52 times, throughout both the Old Testament, all four Gospels, and several places in the rest of the New Testament.
a. Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
b. Heb 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
c. Lev 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
d. Gal 5:19-22 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
6. Do people even know what adultery IS?
a. Adultery is physical union between two people who belong physically and sexually to someone else
b. It is when you violate your marriage partner’s ownership of your body, that you promised would be THEIR’s and THEIR’s alone for all your lives!
c. Adultery is also when you violate A FUTURE SPOUSE’S ownership of your body – when you TAKE what belongs probably to someone else and claim it for yourself, thus robbing your girlfriend or boyfriend of a clean, unused body
d. Adultery is a destructive, wicked, destroying sin
e. And the truth is, most people are numb to its presence in society today!
B. The Reality of Adultery
1. Adultery is a rampant epidemic scourge throughout the world
a. It is a real sin – its hasn’t ever become acceptable to God
b. It is just about everywhere – most everyone has been affected by adultery in their family
c. And it is still spreading
2. It is Throughout Society
a. Everything is sexualized. It has now been woven into just about everything…
1) There is not much good and wholesome about people anymore
2) Everything and everyone has to be beautiful, sexy, and perfect – from the cars we drive, to the very fruit and vegetables we eat – they all have to be perfect!
3) If you watch the weather, the female reporter has to look the bomb
b. A person's value from the earliest age comes only from his or her sexual appeal or sexual behaviour, to the exclusion of all other characteristics.
c. Research has linked the sexualization of young girls to destructive consequences. Just the viewing of music videos, of perfect female bodies in magazines and in movies contributes to body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, self-hatred,
d. Children nowadays, who are aged 12 years and under are dressed, posed and dolled up in the same way as sexy adult models. And all by the request of their MOTHERS usually!
e. So, by the time young men and women start getting together, they only see each other as sexual – and it doesn’t matter if someone is married – their happiness is more important
f. So most movies, TV programs, novels, magazines, and almost 30% of the internet (1/3rd) are all designed to only excite people’s lusts – not their thinking, not their maturity, not their joy
g. And so no one is getting married today, and most marriages are hell on earth, and end in separations and divorce
3. It is Spreading and Infecting Christianity
a. According to a ChristianNet poll reported by Marketwire.com, August 7, 2006:
1) 50% of all Christian men and 20% of all Christian women are addicted to pornography.
2) 60% of the women who answered the survey admitted to having significant struggles with lust;
3) 40% admitted to being involved in sexual sin in the past year;
4) and 20% of the church-going female participants struggle with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
b. According to Christian News Wire, June 11, 2014 68% of Christian men and 50% of pastors confessed to viewing porn weekly in a recent survey.
c. With the prevalence of sexual immorality amongst Christians, it is no wonder so many Christians are weak and lack the spiritual strength and victory that they should have.
d. And it is no wonder we are not turning our world upside down, and we are losing our kids!
4. Adulterers in the Bible
a. God didn’t sugar-coat adultery in the Bible
b. The obvious, King David and Bathsheba (2Samuel 11:2-4)
1) 2Sa 11:2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
2) 2Sa 11:3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
3) 2Sa 11:4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
c. The Woman of John 8, caught in the very act (John 8:3,4) And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
d. Thank God for JOSEPHS! Who fled from the trap of adultery! (Genesis 39:5-13)
1) Gen 39:5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
2) Gen 39:6 And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
3) Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
4) Gen 39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
5) Gen 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
6) Gen 39:10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
7) Gen 39:11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
8) Gen 39:12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
9) Gen 39:13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth
5. But it should NOT be this way!
C. The Source Behind the Sin of Adultery
1. This is the whole point of Jesus’ words…
2. Do you know where the physical act of adultery sprouts from?
a. People had not considered what actually CAUSES adultery?
b. Where does it begin?
c. It would be great if we could just blame the devil for all the broken up marriages, all the fightings in homes, and all the adulterous acts committed throughout time
d. But we can’t mainly blame the devil
e. He is involved, but he is not to blame!
3. It is in everyone of us
4. The sin of adultery lies dormant / asleep in every human heart until something stirs it, awakens it, activates it
a.
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to
lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in
his heart.
(NOT WILL, BUT HATH ALREADY COMMITTED ADULTERY)
b. Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
c. Adultery begins in ME and in you!
5. It is born in Lust
a. Isn’t it awful that most everything today in our culture FEEDS our lusts, never our contentment?
b. Lust is defined as “a passionate desire or craving for some thing, or some one”
c. It is usually for wrong things, and wrong people
1) When you covet a neighbour’s WIFE, it is lust, and will lead to physical adultery if not overcome
2) When you intensely desire for success, and riches, it will lead to spiritual adultery, where you will worship possessions and riches more than God
3) Lust is not always wrong – it is not wrong to thirst for God, to lust for godliness, and intensely desire to know and fellowship with Jesus Christ!
4) But usually, lust is for all the wrong things
5) And every sin I ever do, first begins in MY heart
6. It is THE most powerful emotion next to hate!
a. Sometimes it is more powerful than hate, or love, or happiness
b. And it seeks to consume its victim – it never allows just a taste, or just a glance – it is never full, and never satisfied!
c. It is why Pornography makes more money than Apple and Google combined!
D. The Scope of Adultery
1. As I said, it cannot be tasted, or sampled – it consumes its victim (Proverbs 6:25-29)
a. Pro 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
b. Pro 6:26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
c. Pro 6:27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
d. Pro 6:28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
e. Pro 6:29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
2. Adultery can take place in any or all of a person’s life
a. Physically – as a brazen act of violation of the vows of marriage
b. Emotionally – people can become emotionally attached to other people than their husband or wife
c. Spiritually – you do not have to commit the ACT of adultery, to be spiritually an adulterer against GOD and against your family!
3. It infects and affects everyone in some way.
E. The Cost of Adultery
1. Adultery is the violent breaking of the physical, and emotional union between two people who had at one time been one
2. And it always has consequences
3. It is a very high price you will and should have to pay
a. It destroys you! (Pro 6:32) But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
b. It will KILL you
1) James 1:14,15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin (ADULTERY): and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
2) Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death
3) Pro 7:21-23 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.
c. It drags you down to hell (Proverbs 9:13-18)
1) Pro 9:13 A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
2) Pro 9:14 For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
3) Pro 9:15 To call passengers who go right on their ways:
4) Pro 9:16 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
5) Pro 9:17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
6) Pro 9:18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
d. Adulterous thinking and adulterous actions have never fixed depression; never satisfied a dissatisfied desire; never built any home or family; and never was anything but hell in the end!
4. Adultery truly is a ‘highway to hell’
F. Here’s the Facts
1. Jesus just made it very clear that lusting in our hearts for another man’s wife, or another woman’s husband, or for someone NOT your wife or your husband, is JUST AS WICKED as getting into bed with them!
2. Lust is not just a man thing anymore
a. Most of you will easily look around in your mind at OTHERS and think what an awful sin is going on in THEM, while ignoring your own sinfulness and participation in the sin of lust and adultery
b. It is a rapidly growing awful addiction in girls and women
3. Everyone battles with something wicked in their heart… 1Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
4. Your heart will justify THIS sin if you let it!
a. “It doesn’t actually hurt anyone”
b. “It isn’t real”
c. “It is normal” – REALLY? So what?
1) The truth is, Jesus never said you are not to have passion, and desire
2) But Jesus said to have it towards the right things: toward your wife, and husband
3) And to have it towards your God!
4) But to lust after a passing woman, or a man on a laptop screen is NOT justifiable
5. Lust never fades away - it must be defeated
a. Or it will defeat you
b. Seek not to just be forgiven but to be clean cleansed purged and that the sin would be burned out in your heart
6. God will judge adulterers and porn addicts (whoremongers) Heb 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
7. The Cost of Lust in your life is just as much as that of committing Adultery
8. We need a generation that loves and honours and protects…
a. The Biblical model of marriage – one man, and one woman, sacrificially loving each other for life!
b. The beauty of purity and godliness
c. And the value of our bodies AS made by God
9. And we need a new generation that hates anything that interferes with any of the above
IV.How to Overcome Lust
A. Jesus is not giving anyone a reason to give up. He is clearly saying THIS a battle worth fighting. Just START fighting the real issue!
B. Is THIS how you want to live dear Christian? (2Peter 2:12-14)
1. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
2. And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
3. Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
C. Let me give you some brief suggestions on how to break this stronghold (1Cor 6:9-11):
1. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
2. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
D. Get caught. It will prob be the best thing for you.
1. You will be
2. If you are NOT caught, then it just shows you are NOT a child of God, but of the devil, because GOD will not let you go on and on for very long in ANY sin without being caught and chastened!
3. Quit hiding your sin – it will only become worse
E. Get honest
1. With yourself – you are wicked, and you know it
a. Just as wicked as the devil
b. Quit justifying your sin – “Well, my wife is not showing me any affection…” “Well, my husband is just always angry…” “Well, stress is really getting to me and I can’t help but gravitate to pornography!”
c. Your lustful, wondering eyes are just as wicked as if you were jumping into bed with someone physically
2. With God
a. Start confessing this sin to God BEFORE your next episode
b. Admit you might be living a lie – and be lost and on your way to hell, and in need of Jesus SAVING you from the punishment of not just lust but from all sin
3. And with your spouse
a. There is nothing wrong with getting some counselling
b. Getting to the place where you can be open with your spouse about your heart’s failures
4. Satan LOVES to keep things in the dark, hidden
5. The devil CANNOT dominate the life of someone who lives in the LIGHT
6. So be brutally honest
F. Get serious
1. Jesus Christ died to free you from the grip of lust and porn
2. Pay whatever price NOW to get free from lust and its ever tightening grip
a. If your eye won’t stop looking, yank it out!
b. If your hand won’t stop touching, cut it off
c. Destroy pictures that you allow yourself to see (Num 32:52) Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
3. Why?
a. Because staying clear of adulterous thoughts is more important than having two hands or two eyes!
b. Because lust will lead to adultery, and adulterers do not enter the kingdom of God
c. Because it will keep you out of the Kingdom of God!
d. Lust does not lesson with time and with age
e. It does not become easier to resist
f. Its consequences do not go away
1) Num 32:23 ...be sure your sin will find you out. (POINT YOU OUT)
2) Gal 6:7,8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
G. Get Afraid - Fear God
1. Fear being caught in lustful thoughts as much as in the very physical act
2. Gentlemen, Fear the consequences of your own lustful eyes
a. You could lose your wife, your family – no trust
b. You could very possibly end up alone for the rest of your life
c. You could lose you peace and joy
d. You could lose your job (the METOO movement is a reaction to WICKED MEN’S ATTITUDES ABOUT WOMEN’S BODIES)
e. You could lose God’s blessing and help
f. Fear the judgment of GOD
3. Ladies, fear the consequences of your own LOOSE flirting
a. What are you telling me by your clothes and you flirty attention that you show men who are NOT your husband?
H. Get interested
1. 1Jn 3:1-3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him [JESUS] PURIFIETH HIMSELF, EVEN AS HE IS PURE
2. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, BUT IN HOLINESS
3. 2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, LET US CLEANSE OURSELVES FROM ALL FILTHINESS OF THE FLESH AND SPIRIT, PERFECTING HOLINESS in the fear of God
4. 1Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so BE YE HOLY IN ALL MANNER OF CONVERSATION; Because it is written, be ye holy; for i am holy
I. Get running - Flee fornication
1. Reject the attitude that you can get away with…
a. Touching
b. Double and lingering Looking
c. Comparing
d. Fault-finding – it will result in the devil always providing someone “better” and more like you need
e. Flirting
f. Submitting to and obeying and being super nice to someone other than your spouse (that’s why it is dangerous to have so much closeness with your co-workers when you are married – you might end up gladly submitting to your boss, or to you co-worker, instead of to your husband, or your wife)
2. Practice looking AWAY when women bend down and are not dressed modestly – honour the opposite sex
3. Eph 5:1-3 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4. Did you hear those words? “let FORNICATION not be once named among you, as becometh saints”
J. Get away especially from sinning brethren
1. 1Co 5:11,12 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
2. People say, you shouldn’t judge. Well, there are some times to draw the line – especially in a church!
3. Wicked “Christian” friends are just as bad for you as wicked unsaved friends
K. Get Wrestling
1. Lust is a deeply demonic issue.
2. Fuelled by anger, and wrath, and the worship of things and pleasure
3. Fasting is a powerful weapon to break the stronghold of lust.
4. Have a powerful, consistent prayer life and petition, even beg, God to help you overcome or take away your addiction.
L. Get married
1. People only look forward to sex
2. When God designed you with a desire for one person, for life in marriage
3. So, if you are not married ask God to make you worthy of a wife or husband
4. And then ask and beg God for a godly spouse
5. 1Co 7:8,9 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
M. Get back to the Bible! Renew/recharge/repair your mind with the words of God (the Bible) continuously.
V. Final Thoughts
A. Be Careful of your self-righteousness
1. Rom 2:22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery?
2. THAT is a good question
3. Do YOU linger as you look?
4. Does your heart yearn for someone else than your own wife or husband?
B. Don’t be so quick to condemn anyone who is battling with lust, or with an adulterous past when they are seeking to get right!
1. Because the person trying to get clean and right should be YOU!
2. Has the church ever committed adultery? Like, daily?
3. So, how can a Christian husband say to an adultery-committing wife, "You did it, and that breaks it! It's over, and so I'm going to divorce you at the court." I just don't see how any Christian husband can talk or feel that way - even if she isn't broken and repentant – God clearly says that he should wait and wait and pray and pray until there is no hope left at all for restoration.
C. Don’t treat lust different than the actual act of adultery
1. What goes on in your head is just as serious as the very acts of adultery
2. And that ought to terrify every believer in here!
D. Don’t think you can handle lust – King David couldn’t. Samson couldn’t.
E. Make overcoming this sin your highest priority
1. By the new birth
2. By the work of GOD in your life
3. By the patience of God, who is right now giving you and me maybe the last chance we will ever have to get right! Don’t blow it!