Jesus: Let me clarify this 'adultery' thing ...

Well, we have an epidemic plaguing the American evangelical church.

I'm not sure if you're too familiar with the statistics regarding pornography among brothers

and sisters in the evangelical church, but it is wreaking havoc.

Some statistics say that 80% of Christian men regularly dabble in pornography.

That 50% of Christian men are actually addicted to sexual sin.

20% of Christian women are struggling with pornography.

64% of Christian families have an acute porn problem in their home.

And 40% of Christian pastors regularly consume pornography.

If these are true, we've got a problem.

I was recently at a pastor's conference, and we get this alarming statistic that of those

pastors staying in hotels, there was this amazing renting of explicit sexual videos among these

men.

Do you know why pornography is such a problem?

It's true, pornography is widespread.

It is easily available.

You just have to click, and it's there.

The real reason why pornography is causing such a problem within the church is this.

We have an appetite for it.

There's something within us that craves pornography.

That craves what God forbids sexually.

There's a reason why pornography is so prolific.

It's because within the human heart, there is a radical problem.

Sexual lust is deeply entrenched in the human heart.

And what Jesus will tell us this morning is, a radical problem requires radical action.

Brothers and sisters, if it's not pornography, it's something else sexually that you may be

experiencing the devastating effects of.

But praise be to God, He addresses this.

He has grace for you.

He's not intimidated by this.

In fact, He wants to deliver.

He wants to transform.

And so let's turn back to Matthew 5, verses 27-30.

Matthew 5:27–30

And I'd just like to read through this passage one more time.

You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

Remember, this is Jesus at His inaugural address.

You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

But I say, I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

But 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 your whole body be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

For it's better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

This morning, what Jesus is telling us, if I just sum it up in one sentence, it would be this.

Our sexual lust, your sexual lust, my sexual lust is a radical problem requiring radical action.

And if what Jesus is saying is true,

then the majority of us in this room are adulterers at heart.

He gets right at it.

This morning, I want to make four points.

The first point and the fourth point are pastoral.

It's my love for you.

And then the second point and the third point are right from the text.

So the first point is this.

I want to give you kind of a big sweep of your Bible to kind of frame our sexual desires.

And then we'll go right to the text and see what Jesus has to say.

And he says, sexual lust is a radical problem.

That's the second point.

The third point is sexual lust requires radical action.

And then the fourth point is,

I'm going to make a plea this morning.

A pastoral plea to you.

So let's dig into this first point.

It's pastoral in nature.

It's the big sweep of Scripture.

I want you to know that your sexuality is good.

God created sexuality as a good gift.

And for us to see that,

you've got to go way back to Genesis 1.

If you turn back on your Bibles,

Genesis 1,

we read this in verse 26 and 27.

Then God said, let us make man in our own image.

And then down to 27.

So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, he created him.

Male and female, he created them.

And God blessed them.

And God said to them,

be fruitful and multiply.

Fill the earth and subdue it.

And so, when we do this sweep of the Bible,

I want to show you three things.

God created your sexuality.

Sin distorts your sexuality.

But Christ came to redeem your sexuality.

So God created it.

In Genesis 1.27, we read that God made male and female in his own image.

And then he tells Adam and Eve to go, be fruitful and multiply.

You've got to realize,

God didn't make a mistake in the formation of the male body in the female body.

God designed our bodies the way they are,

both male and female.

And what I just want to make explicit is,

God formed us male and female.

And he doesn't value one over the other.

He doesn't think that the male body is better than the female body.

The female body is better than the male body.

Both male and female were created in the image of God.

Therefore, we have equal value in God's eyes.

But as we all know,

there are some major differences between men and women.

And in this point,

I just want to show you that our bodies,

the male body and the female body,

are intentionally designed,

and God created us as sexual beings.

It's not a mistake.

He designed us this way.

And that we're both image bearers of God.

And so by the end of the sixth day,

God looks at Adam and Eve,

what He's created.

Do you remember what He says?

That's good!

He's not embarrassed by our sexuality.

He designed our sexuality.

It's a gift to us all.

And later in Genesis 2,

God provides the only context

for human beings to enjoy sexual fulfillment,

and it is called marriage.

Remember Genesis 2?

God says to Adam,

it's not good to be alone.

He puts him in a deep sea,

pulls out a rib,

forms Eve,

and then in the first wedding ceremony,

God brings Eve to Adam,

and He hands her over to him.

It's like a dad walking a bride

down this aisle to the groom,

and God hands this bride over to Adam,

the first groom,

and He says,

she's yours.

You enjoy.

And it's in Genesis 1,

Genesis 1:24

verses 24,

that we read the institution of marriage.

Chapter 2, verse 24.

Adam receives the woman from God,

and God flips around,

and He's the first pastor,

marrying the first couple.

And He's saying,

what I have joined together,

let not man separate.

This is good.

And so we read in 2.24,

therefore man shall leave his father

and his mother,

and hold fast to his wife,

and they shall become one flesh.

God has given humankind

the institution of marriage

as the exclusive place

to enjoy sexual fulfillment.

And just to clarify what marriage is,

we need to be circling back

to this regularly in our culture.

Biblically speaking,

marriage is an exclusive,

lifelong union

between one man and one woman

for life.

And it's all before God.

An exclusive union

between one man and one woman

for life

before God.

And it's in that context of marriage,

in that relationship alone,

God says,

enjoy this good gift

I've given you

called sexuality.

What I want you to see

from Genesis 1 and 2

is that from the beginning,

God designed sexuality

to be something to enjoy

and something that served

a wonderful purpose,

and God said it was good.

And He provided marriage

to enjoy it.

But we're all wondering

what went wrong.

What happened?

Why is there pornography?

Why is there sexual exploitation

of various kinds?

Why is there rape?

What went wrong?

Well, God created sexuality,

but sin distorted our sexuality.

When Adam and Eve sinned,

Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

they ushered into the human experience

sin.

And it infiltrated every aspect

of the human experience.

It didn't make us as bad

as we possibly can be,

but it affected everything

that we do

and everything that we think,

including our sexuality.

So here's what happens.

When someone, a sinner,

rejects God,

they're going to want

to live for something.

And oftentimes what happens

is this good thing called sex

takes the place of God

in somebody's life.

And so in Romans 1, verse 24,

Romans 1:24

when God hands people over

to the desires of their flesh,

that's what happens.

God is rejected.

Something else will be worshipped.

And something that is enjoyable

is often worshipped.

And so you see this distortion

of God's good gift

that sin brings about

on our sexuality.

This is why there are things

like pornography.

This is why there are

this deep lust in our hearts

to want things that are forbidden

by us, by God for us.

Sin is in our experience.

It's ushered in.

This is why we have to fight.

That's not the end of the story,

biblically speaking.

God created our sexuality.

Sin distorts our sexuality

with devastating effects.

But Christ came to redeem it.

Jesus came not only to forgive

the penalty of our sin,

but to rescue sinners

from the power of sin.

To transform them.

To transform a sexuality

that was lived for sin

and now to exercise a sexuality

lived for the glory of God.

If you want a really good place

in your Bible to go,

Romans chapter 6

Romans 6 · chapter mention

is a wonderful treatment

of how we are to fight sin now

as believers.

But what I want to do

just with this little step

is to help you to think

about your sexuality.

As a Christian,

your sexuality is a good gift from God,

but your sin distorts it.

But your Savior is looking to redeem it.

And so every Christian in the room,

you can count on it,

God is looking to sanctify your sexuality.

He wants to make you more and more holy

in your sexuality.

And as you get more and more holy

in your sexuality,

there's more and more joy.

You experience God's goodness

in greater and greater measure.

So that is the first point

I wanted to make.

The big sweep.

Your sexuality is made by God,

distorted by sin,

and being redeemed by Jesus.

But now,

let's hear what Jesus has to say

about sexual lust.

Would you look at

Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5:27–28

verses 27 through 28.

You've heard that it was said,

you shall not commit adultery.

But I say to you

that everyone who looks at a woman

with lustful intent

has already committed adultery

with her in his heart.

He's preaching the Sermon on the Mount.

This is his inaugural address.

And if you remember,

chapter 5, verse 17

is the main point of the sermon.

And he's saying,

I came not to abolish the law

and the prophets,

but to fulfill them.

The Old Testament's about me.

And I came to make sense of it all.

And he goes on to say

in chapter 5, verse 20,

he calls his followers

to live a righteousness

that exceeds that of the scribes

and Pharisees.

And what follows

is what that looks like.

What that looks like

when it comes to murder.

And this morning,

what that looks like

when it comes to adultery.

And so last week,

he talked about

the sixth commandment.

This week,

he's addressing

the seventh commandment.

And the seventh commandment is,

you shall not commit adultery.

And Jesus,

as in his messianic role,

is saying this to us,

let me clarify for you

this adultery thing.

What we're going to see here

is that Jesus

is going to say

that the seventh commandment

not only forbids

the physical act of adultery,

but it forbids

the sexual lust

at the root of adultery.

The seventh commandment

addresses the radical problem

of sexual lust.

And so we see that

in verses 27 and 28.

Jesus making a huge clarification.

Jesus even correcting

the teachers of the day.

The Jewish teachers of the day

were limiting the scope

of the seventh commandment

to just the physical act of adultery.

It was what they were doing

with murder as well,

just limiting it

to the shedding of blood.

And Jesus came to knock

down the walls

that were built up

around that commandment.

And so what Jesus says here,

he's not denying

the sinfulness

of the physical act

of adultery.

That's wrong.

And by the way,

what makes adultery,

the sinful act,

the physical act sinful,

is that it breaks

the marriage covenant

between a man and a woman.

It breaks that exclusive

lifelong union

between one man

and one woman.

So when a husband

seeks sexual gratification

with someone other

than his wife,

he separates

what God has joined together.

He breaks the exclusive union

between one man

and one woman

before God.

And so Jesus isn't denying

the seriousness

of the physical act.

He's actually upholding that.

What he's doing is

he's taking his 10-pound

messianic sledgehammer

and he's smashing down the walls

people build up around it

to say this only applies

to the physical act of adultery.

He's saying no, it doesn't.

The seventh commandment

gets at the root cause

of adultery.

It's much,

it goes much deeper.

But I say,

whoever looks at a woman

with lustful intent

has committed adultery

with her in his heart.

Jesus is shining

the piercing light

of the seventh commandment

into the deep depths

of our hearts,

even into our imaginations.

So if you're following Jesus here,

what he's doing is this.

He's locating

the root cause

of adultery

not outside of us,

but inside of us.

He's exposing

our sexually explicit

and sinful thoughts.

He's exposing

our imaginations.

When Jesus says,

whoever looks at a woman

with lustful intent,

he's locating sin

within us,

in our desires.

in our hearts.

Now remember,

a Jew living

in the ancient Near East

thought of one's heart

as the seat

of your emotions

and your thinking

and your will.

It was the control center

of your life.

And so for Jesus

to say these words,

the heart includes

your imagination.

We tend to think

of our imagination

between our ears.

Jesus would locate it

in the heart.

So the lustful intent

that Jesus is talking about

is an outworking

of your heart.

It includes

your imagination.

The lustful intent

Jesus is speaking of

is sexual lust.

And when you sexually lust

after someone

not your spouse,

you commit adultery

with your imagination

in your heart.

Years ago,

I gave a talk

on this subject

at a church.

And after the service,

I had a man

in his mid-80s

come up to me.

And he was unable

to physically enjoy

sex with his wife.

But he came up to me

and he said,

do you know what

the most powerful

sexual organ

of the human being is?

And I was like,

what?

He said,

the imagination.

Your heart.

Your heart.

Let me make a couple

clarifications.

Sexual lust

is not simply

attraction,

being attracted

to someone.

It's very possible

to be attracted

to someone else

without lusting

after them.

That's not what

Jesus is talking about.

Another clarification

is this,

and this is something

you've got to cut

finally.

Sexual lust

is not

the temptation

to lust.

Let me talk about it

in terms of

taking a second look.

Have you ever been

somewhere

and someone

catches your eye

and you're kind of like,

if I look again,

it's not going to go well.

And so,

you're being tempted

to take a second look

and you're being

tempted to engage

someone with

your imagination

and bring them

to yourself sexually.

You know what I'm

talking about?

Taking the second look?

There is a difference

between being

tempted

to take a second look.

That's not lust.

And then actually

taking the second look.

That is lust.

You see the difference?

Sexual lust

is conceived

in your heart

when you

yield your

imagination

over to

gratify

your sinful

sexual desires.

That's when

lust takes place.

And if you're like me,

you're thinking,

that happens

much more

than I care to admit.

So Jesus is saying

that if there's a guy

who takes a second look

because he wants

to sexually engage

a woman with his

imagination,

that guy has just

committed adultery

in his heart

and he may be

on the highway.

He may be walking

out of Menards.

He may be walking

with his wife

into a restaurant.

It takes place

in the heart.

Are you

picking up

on the radical

nature

of what Jesus

is saying?

Are you feeling

this?

The word radical

comes from a Latin

word which literally

means

the root

of something.

The root cause,

the essential

nature of something.

And what Jesus

is saying here

is that

the essential

nature of adultery

is sexual lust

which resides

in the heart

of men and women.

Your imagination

generates

your imagination.

You need

to be careful

of what you set

your imagination on.

Because not only

are you aware

of your imagination,

your God

is aware

of your imagination.

So let me

say it this way.

Proverbs 5.21

For a man's

ways

are before

the eyes

of the Lord.

For a man's

ways

both externally

and internally

are before

the eyes

of the Lord.

God

sees

everything.

So think about

it this way.

At this moment,

our God

is completely

aware of

every thought

of every heart

of the 7.4

billion people

on the planet

right now.

He doesn't have

a hard time

processing things.

He's fully aware

of it.

He's fully cognizant

of it

right now.

He knows

the thoughts

of your heart.

And so what Jesus

is doing,

he's making

an extraordinary

claim.

He's saying

even

your thoughts

you will be

held accountable

for

before God.

Your imagination

will be held

accountable

on that day.

He knows

the ways

of your heart.

But here's

the good news.

He's in it

to purify

your heart.

Blessed are

the pure

of heart.

He wants

to purify

your heart.

And so

far

we just

looked at

sexual

lust

as a

radical

problem.

It's deep

within you.

Jesus is

exploring

our

imaginations.

But now

let's turn

to verses

29 and 30

where we

see

sexual

lust

requires

radical

action.

It's a

radical

problem

and it

requires

radical

action.

Look at

verses 29

and 30.

If your

right eye

causes you

to sin

tear it

out and

throw it

away.

That's

pretty

extreme

don't

you

think?

Look at

verse 30.

And if

your right

hand

causes you

to sin

cut it

off and

throw it

away.

That's

pretty

extreme

don't

you

think?

Is

Jesus

actually

calling

his

followers

to

self

mutilation?

No.

But he

is using

extreme

language

to make

a really

important

point.

And we

cannot

miss

that

important

point.

And so

what Jesus

is using

with this

very extreme

language,

these radical

commands,

is that he's

saying do

whatever you

got to do

in order to

deny sexual

lust from

taking root

in your heart.

Do whatever

you have to

do.

And so that's

the cut off

language.

That's the

gouted out

language.

That's the

throw away

language.

Do whatever

you need

to do

to keep

your heart

from

sexually

lusting.

From

breaking the

seventh

commandment.

This is

radical

and extreme.

The key

phrase here

is

cause you

to sin.

You see

that in

verse 29?

If your

right eye

causes you

to sin.

Verse 30,

and if your

right hand

causes you

to sin.

That word

cause you

to sin.

We get the

word scandal

from that

word.

Scandalized.

Scandalous.

And its

original meaning

was a

trigger to

a trap.

That's what

a scandal

was.

The trigger

of a trap.

And so what

Jesus is saying

here is don't

let your

right eye

trigger the

trap of lust

in your

heart.

Don't let

your right

hand trigger

the trap of

lust in your

heart.

Do whatever

you need to

do to keep

that from

happening.

The extreme

problem requires

extreme action.

Jesus is

saying don't

look at or

touch what

will cause you

to sin in

your heart.

In fact,

you've got to

get rid of

it.

He's soberly

recognizing how

our eyes and

our hands can

provide opportunities

for our hearts

to lust.

lust.

So let me

give you some

examples.

Let me help

start you

think, okay,

where this

might show up

in your life.

And I'm

going to ask

you to a

humble honesty

right now.

Be as

honest with

yourself as

you can.

Because that

is a poverty

of spirit.

It will result

in you mourning,

but you will

be comforted.

Have you

ever

thumbed

through and

looked at a

magazine or

a book that

is sexually

explicit, that

turns your

heart to

lust?

What Jesus

is saying is

get rid of

it.

Don't put

your hand on

it.

Don't put

your eyes on

it.

Get rid

of it.

Are you

pressing the

remote control

to go to

channels to

set your eyes

on things that

God forbids

and will just

entice you to

lust sexually

in your heart?

What are you

watching on

demand?

What are you

watching on

Netflix?

You got cable?

What are you

doing?

Where are you

going?

Get rid of

it.

If it's

causing you

to stumble,

get rid of

it.

That's what

Jesus is

saying.

Are you

clicking on

websites or

apps that

are pornographic

in nature or

that tempt you

to lust?

You know, it

might not be

explicitly

pornographic,

but you're

there and

when you're

there, it

stirs lust in

your heart.

Get rid of

it.

Be honest.

Get rid of

it.

What Jesus

is getting at

is this whole

idea of

starving out

sin from

your life.

Don't feed

it.

Don't give

it an

opportunity to

flourish.

Don't fuel

it.

Starve it.

And so if

these are

areas or

other areas

that you

know of,

you're going

to with

your eyes

in your

hand and

are fueling

lust,

get rid of

it.

This is

the radical

repentance

Jesus is

calling his

citizens to.

So starve

it out.

But there's

another thing,

another radical

act that I

want to point

you to right

now that has

another effect.

There's one

thing to

starve sin

out.

There's

another thing

to crowd

sin out

because your

heart is

delighting in

something wonderful.

And when you

delight in

something wonderful,

you start to

limit the

space for

lust to

take root.

And so in

order to help

you not only

starve sin

out, but to

crowd sin

out, I want

to point you

to another

radical action

that was done

for you.

If you think

gouging out

your eye or

cutting off

your hand is

extreme, how

about this for

extreme?

How about this

for radical?

The sinless

son of God

going to the

cross to bear

the penalty and

power of your

sin.

How's that for

extreme?

How's that for

radical?

That the

holy God of

the universe

would take on

human flesh and

die in your

place to set

you free.

That is an

extreme radical

kind of love.

In fact, that

is a radical

power unleashed

for people.

You may have

been sitting

here for the

last 30

minutes thinking,

Jesus, if

this is true,

if this is true,

what you're saying

about the nature

of sinful lust,

if this is true,

I'm undone.

I'm shown to be

what I am.

I'm an adulterer

at heart.

If that's you,

if you're

realizing this,

that even your

imagination

condemns you,

you need to hear

this.

Jesus died

for you.

Jesus went to

the cross and

he suffered all

of God's wrath

for all of your

sexual sin.

All of it.

And then he was

raised from the

dead to give you

the power to

overcome sexual

sin in your

life.

That is a

radical love

and it's a

radical power

unleashed by the

living God at

the cross.

His extreme

act of grace

on your behalf

enables you

to live

an extreme

life for

his namesake

regarding your

sexuality.

So in light of

this extreme

grace,

God has shown

us in Christ,

when you think

about giving up

cable or Netflix

or romantic novels

or seductive

clothing,

you start realizing

that's nothing.

If this means

walking in holiness

with Jesus,

getting rid of

that stuff is

nothing.

Get rid of it

and experience

the sweetness

and joy of

walking with

your Savior.

So we've

looked at the

problem,

the radical

problem,

we've looked at

the radical

action that we

must take but

what our God

took on our

behalf,

and now a

pastoral plea.

I know you're

out there.

I know you're

out there.

I know you're

out there

struggling with

sin,

struggling with

lust.

I know.

I know you

are feeling

distant from

your God.

That's the

fallout of

this kind of

sin.

I know that

you're afraid

of your spouse,

that you don't

know what to

say, that you

fear the worst.

I know.

I know that

if you have

children,

that this

area of

sexual sin

in your

life just

deflates you.

It limits

your influence

in your home.

You're like a

dog walking

around with a

tail between

your legs,

or you're

just grouchy

all the time.

I know.

And I also

know this,

that you tend

to live on the

periphery of the

church,

that you tend

to not get

involved because

you don't want

to be fully

known.

I also know

this, you're

miserable.

You're isolated.

You're ashamed.

And here's the

nub of it.

You're afraid.

You're afraid

that if people

find out who

you really are

and what you've

really been doing,

you're going to

be shunned.

You're going to

be cast out.

You don't think

that people will

love you and

accept you if

they know the

full truth about

you.

It's not true.

God doesn't

love us this

way.

And God

calls us,

His followers,

to love each

other with the

same extreme

kind of love.

love.

We've been

talking as

elders about

this for the

last couple

days.

And I just

want to let

you guys,

everyone know

on behalf of

them,

there are no

stones to be

thrown.

We want

those struggling

with sexual

sin to be

released from

their sexual

sin.

To find

freedom in

Christ.

Christ.

So if

you're feeling

isolated because

of your sexual

sin, if

you're hiding

because of

your sexual

sin, if

you've been

living in the

shadows because

of your sexual

sin, if

you've just

grown to

live with the

fear of being

found out

because of

your sexual

sin, think

about it this

way.

Jesus is

calling you

today to

say, come

into the

light.

Come out of

the darkness.

Come out of

the shadows.

come into

the light.

Let me

free you.

Let me

deliver you.

Come, be

honest and

find and be

met with

grace and

kindness.

There's a

proverb that

has served me

so well.

Proverbs 28,

13 says,

whoever conceals

his transgressions

will not

prosper, but

he who

confesses and

forsakes them

will obtain

mercy.

Brother or

sister, if

you have

been hiding

because of

sexual sin in

the darkness,

come into

the light

and find

mercy.

We're going

to close

this morning

by singing

two songs.

And during

these two

songs, I'm

going to ask

the elders to

come forward.

Dave Barnard

is out of

town.

He and

Leslie are

out of

town.

But I'm

going to

invite Lou

and Bev

as well as

Rick and

Jasmine to

come on

down.

Jenny and me

will be down

here.

Matt Sear and

his wife

Elise will be

down here.

Billy and I

and Jess will

be down here.

And we're here to

pray.

We're here to

welcome you.

And so as we're

singing, if you

are feeling God's

convicting work in

your life, that's

good.

So come on down.

We'll pray with

you.

We're here to

help you.

But I also know

this.

If there's just too

many eyes this

morning, if it's

too much for you

this morning, email

me.

Andy, do we

have my email

set up?

This is my email

address.

Email me.

Take the first

radical step by

emailing me and

put on the subject

line, help.

I'm ashamed.

I'm sick of this.

I want to walk in

the light.

We're going to

meet you with

help.

We're going to

meet you with

love.

We'll walk through

whatever we need to

walk through

together.

But I just want to

make sure you know

we love you.

We are glad you're

here.

We want to help.

So let me just

close by saying

this.

I'm going to

invite Matt and

the worship team

to come on up.

There's just too

much at stake.

There's just too

much at stake.

Brother or sister,

don't stay in the

shadows.

Come out into the

light.

We're here to help.

God's grace is all

powerful.

Let me pray.

God in heaven,

would you set the

prisoners free?

Whether it's right

now or throughout

this week or for

the months to come,

God, would you

unshackle men and

women shackled by

the sin of lust?

God, would you

free our brothers

and sisters who are

ensnared by

pornography?

God, would you

make a salt and

light in this city?

And would you

sanctify us so

that we are more

salty and shine

more bright?

In Jesus' name,

Amen.