The Attitude Behind Adultery, Part 1

Father, we thank you for today. Lord, we are so blessed to be

here and we just ask that you would teach us much this evening

that we might grow on a walk with you.

We thank you Father for the word of God that teaches us how to

live for the glory of God. We thank you for the word of God

that shows us the beauty of your presence and who you are and

what you do. So we just thank you, Father,

that we could be here and pray, Lord, that you'd open our eyes

that we might behold the beauty of the Lord in Jesus name, Amen.

Take your Bible and turn with me to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 5. And last time we were together,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

we asked you, have you murdered anyone lately?

Some of you took great offense to that.

Well, if you did, you'll take greater offense this evening

because I'm going to ask you, have you committed adultery with

anyone lately? Now you say, well, wait a

minute, pastor, you're getting over, over the top here.

Why would someone want to come to our church if you call them a

murderer and adulterer? Well, listen, I don't do that.

I just read what the Scriptures say.

And So what we're looking at in the Bible is something that

Jesus explains to us about the essence of the law.

And I think that for most part, we don't understand the law of

God. Christ came to fulfill the law.

He didn't come to abolish the law.

He came to uphold the law of Moses and the prophets.

That is very, very important. So when he says, I did not come

to abolish the law, but I came to fulfill the law, that speaks

volumes to the audience on the hillside of the North Shore, the

Sea of Galilee, because they might be thinking, who is this

guy coming and saying the things he's saying, speaking with

authority? Who does he think he is?

So we begin to explain to them the essence of the law of God.

And in our section tonight in Matthew chapter 5, he says these

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

words in verse #27 you have heard that it was said you

should not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone

who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed

adultery with her and his heart. If your right eye makes you

stumble, tear it out. Thought far from you.

For it's better for you to lose 1 of the parts of your body than

for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it

from you, for it's better for you to lose 1 of the parts of

your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Now if you're on the hillside there in the Sea of Galilee, you

hear those words, you're you're kind of taken back for, for a

moment because if Christ says you have heard that it was said

you should not commit adultery, everybody would say Amen.

We understand that's the 7th commandment.

We understood the 6th commandment.

You should not murder. And we say Amen to that.

But Christ is concerned not so much about the deed, but the

desire behind the deed, not so much about the ACT, but the

attitude behind the act. This is very, very important.

We live in a, in a nation that is enamoured with marital

infidelity, sexual promiscuity. In fact, it's, it's literally

out of control and not only out of control in our nation and in

the world, but unfortunately out of control inside of the church.

And Paul would address that in the church, the Church of

Thessalonica, the church at Corinth, because it is very

prominent. In fact, our Lord created the

heavens and the earth. Genesis chapter 1 Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention Genesis 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 sin entered in chapter 3 and by the time you come to

Genesis chapter 6, God is going to destroy every living thing on

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

the planet. Why He tells us.

Genesis chapter 6 verse #5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the

thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And that's very, very important how that is stated, that every

thought, every evil intent of the heart was wicked.

He didn't mention the acts of those who live on the planet.

He mentioned the hearts of those who lived on the planet.

And So what did he do? He destroyed everyone except for

Noah and his family. God decided to grace Noah and

his family. 4500 years later, here we sit and the Lord and his

patience and his long-suffering and his mercy has not destroyed

the planet. One day He will.

Second Peter chapter 3, the Book of Revelation tells us how our

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

Lord is going to destroy this planet.

But God has been gracious, He's been merciful to a society that

has turned their back on the Lord.

And so you you come to the teaching of Christ in Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 some 2000 years ago, helping people to understand

what is the true attitude behind the act of adultery.

Because it's the attitude that dams your soul, not the act

that's so important to understand.

Because way before you ever do the ACT, there's a desire and an

attitude in the soul, in the heart that moves you to do that

action. And so the Lord wants them to

understand the intent of the law of God because somehow they

missed it. Somehow they would think, well,

I don't murder, so I'm righteous.

I don't sleep with my neighbor's wife and she doesn't sleep with

anybody else. So therefore, we're not

adulterers, We're righteous. We're we're on our way to

heaven. And the Lord wants to make it

very clear that that is not the essence of the law of God.

It goes much deeper than that, and the Bible is replete with

warnings. We studied it when we looked at

First Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 3.

1 Thessalonians 4:3

For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that is,

that you abstain from sexual immorality, any kind of sexual

act outside the realm of marriage.

This is the will of God for your life.

If you want to know what God wants for you, this is it.

He wants you pure, He wants you holy, He wants you seeking His

name. He says that each of you know

how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in

lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God,

and that no man transgressed and defraud his brother in the

matter, because the Lord is the avenger and all these things,

just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.

For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in

sanctification. So he who rejects this is not

rejecting man, but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

Now Paul is writing to the Church of Thessalonica.

There is no greater model of a church than the Church of

Thessalonica. It is the model church and yet

he's already said I've warned you already about this.

I'm going to warn you again because I want your walk to

excel even more. This is the will of God.

Even your sanctification that you abstain from any kind of

sexual activity outside the realm of marriage.

So important fact, Solomon, say it this way.

Drink water from your own cistern.

Proverbs chapter 5, verse 15. And fresh water from your own

Proverbs 5:15

well. Should your springs be dispersed

abroad, streams of water in the streets, let them be yours

alone, and not for strangers with you.

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your

youth as a loving hind in a graceful dough.

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times.

Be exhilarated always with her love.

For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress,

and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he

watches all his paths. His own iniquities will capture

the wicked, and he will be held with the cords of a sin, and he

will die for lack of instruction.

In the greatness of his folly he will go astray.

So whether you're the Old Testament or whether you're the

New Testament, there is a plethora of warnings all

throughout the Scripture to help you understand the importance of

honoring and glorifying the Lord.

The purpose of sex in marriage is confirmed in First

Corinthians 7. The perversion of sex outside of

marriage is condemned in First Corinthians chapter 6.

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

And the persistent pursuit of sex, whether in marriage or

outside of marriage, can be corruptive.

So we need to understand that. In fact, turn with me in your

Bible to 1st Corinthians Chapter 7.

This is the the purpose of sex in the realm of marriage.

It's for pleasure and for protection.

The Bible is very clear about this.

It says the 1st Corinthians 7 and verse #3 the husband must

fulfill his duty to his wife and likewise also the wife to her

husband. Other words, you have

responsibility as a man to fulfill the needs of your wife

and vice versa as a wife to fulfill the sexual needs of your

husband. Why?

The wife does not have authority over her own body but the

husband does and likewise also the husband does not have

authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Stop depriving one another except by agreement for a time

that you may devote yourselves to prayer and come together

again. Said Satan will not tempt you

because of your lack of self-control.

So Paul says the purpose of sex and marriage is to fold pleasure

and protection. That's why your body is not your

own, but it's your husband's or your wife's.

And don't refrain from having sexual intimacy in your marriage

except only for the purpose of prayer, because if you do, you

will open the door for Satan to take advantage of you and to

tempt you and move you away from the purposes of God.

And then at First Corinthians chapter 6, Paul goes from the

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

purpose of sex inside of marriage to the perversion of

sex outside of marriage. He says this.

All things verse 12 are lawful for me, but not all things are

profitable. All things are lawful for me,

but I will not be mastered by anything.

Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God

will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for

immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.

You see, this is again the Church of Corinth.

He's speaking to people in the church.

He's not talking to people outside the church, but people

who who profess Christianity inside the church.

And he tells them, look, sex is more than biological.

We look at it that way. Well, that's why they use the

phrase, well, food is for the stomach and the stomach is for

food. Sex is for the body and the body

is for sex. No, no, sex is not more than

biological. Why?

Because your body is for the Lord, that's why he redeemed

you. You need to understand that.

So he says now God has not only raised the Lord, but will raise

us up through his power. Do you not know that your bodies

are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the

members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?

May never be. Or do you not know that the one

who joins himself to a prostitute is 1 body with her?

For he says the two shall become one flesh, but the one who joins

himself to the Lord is 1 spirit with him.

Flee immorality. Flee Tornaea.

Any kind of sexual activity outside the realm of marriage,

run from it. For every other sin that a man

commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his

own body. In other words, there's

something about sex sin that's different than every other kind

of sin because sexual sin effects not just you physically,

but it affects you mentally, it affects you emotionally, it

affects you spiritually, it can end up affecting you

financially, It affects every aspect of your life.

So, so understand that your body is for the Lord, and when you

take your body and join it to someone outside the realm of

marriage, you're joining the Lord to that prostitute, you're

joining the Lord to that harlot, and therefore you've defiled the

name of the Lord. So he goes on to say, excuse me?

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy

Spirit who is in you, who we have from God, and that you are

not your own if you've been bought with the price?

Therefore, glorify God in your body.

In other words, your purpose for your body is that God be

glorified, that God be honored, that God be magnified in your

body because He indwells you, He lives within you, and you want

to be careful about what you do with the body where God himself

dwells, because sex outside of marriage just perverts

everything about one's life. And then look what Solomon says

in the book of Proverbs, the 6th chapter, verse 23.

For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light, and

he proves for discipline of the way of life to keep you from the

evil woman. Wow, why do you study the Bible?

Why do you read the Bible? Why do you memorize the Bible?

To keep you from the evil woman. It says from the smooth tongue

of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your

heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

For on account of a harlot 1 is reduced to a loaf of bread, and

adulteress hunts for the precious life.

Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?

Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?

So was the one who goes to his neighbor's wife.

Whoever touches her will not go unpunished.

Verse 32 The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking

sense. He would destroy himself,

doesn't wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will

not be blotted out for jealousy and rages a man, and he will not

spare in the day of vengeance. He will not accept any ransom,

nor will he be satisfied, though you give many gifts.

Again, that the Bible is just replete with warnings about

sexual sin because it is so damaging, not just to you

personally, but to your family, to your friends, to your church,

basically to anyone you come in contact with.

And so you come to a place where you begin to ask the question,

what is it about this pursuit of passionate pleasure that is so

prevailing in the lives of people?

Well, unless a heart is transformed by God, that passion

will rage uncontrollably. But even though the heart has

been transformed, the temptations for the believer are

great. That's why James says these

words. James chapter 1, he says very

James 1 · chapter mention

clearly that no one say verse 13 when he is tempted.

I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil,

and he himself does not tempt anyone.

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by

his own lust. Then when he lust has conceived,

he gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings

forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved

brethren, because it's so easy to be deceived.

We think that we can sin without consequences, but you can't

because the result of the consequences of sin is a death

like existence, A lifeless existence.

And so Christ comes along because the Pharisees believe

that if you didn't do certain things, you were righteous.

If you don't murder, if you don't steal, you don't lie, you

don't cheat, you don't commit adultery, you're righteous.

You're on your way to glory. All you got to do is make sure

you accomplish the right feat, do the right thing.

And to some degree, look at us. We tend to think, oh man, I

would never, never sleep with another woman, or my wife would

never sleep with another man. Oh, that's just so perverted,

so, so evil, so wrong. Well, that was the attitude of

the Pharisees. They had the same attitude it

should be, except for the grace of God.

There we go, right? But the Pharisees had this

attitude. Look at us, we are pure and holy

and righteous because we don't murder anybody, we don't lie to

anybody, and we don't sleep with anybody outside of our own

family. And that was how they

accomplished their righteous behavior and thought that that

would get them into glory. But Christ comes along and says

you have heard that it was said. He didn't say you have heard

that Moses said no, he says you have heard that it was said by

who? By the ancients of old.

He says that over and over here 6 times.

He says that because he gives, he begins each illustration with

the same phrase. You have heard that it was said

by by the ancients of old, by the by the rabbis of old.

This the tradition that you've been taught.

But I came to tell you the truth and the truth Trump's tradition.

So you must understand the essence of the law of Moses

because I came to fulfill that law.

You see, everything that the Pharisees, Pharisees did was

external. But what Christ does is

internal. Christ deals with the inside of

a person. They, they would say we are

righteous because of what we don't do or what we do do.

And Christ says you're not righteous because there anything

you do or don't do, you have to be righteous on the inside.

Your heart must be cleansed. Jesus is showing them, oh why

you might not murder someone physically.

You hate them in your heart. You slander them, you speak

against them, and while you might not sleep with your

neighbor's wife, you lust for her in your heart.

And because you lust for her, you've already committed

adultery in your heart. So it's not the act of adultery

that dams your soul, it's the attitude of adultery that dams

the soul. It's on the inside, not what's

on the outside. You see, they could, they could

stop themselves from committing the act of murder.

They could stop themselves from committing the adulterous act.

They can do that externally, right?

But they could not stop what was on the inside of their hearts,

the hatred, the lustful thoughts, because they were

powerless to do that. They were hopeless to do that

because they were godless, therefore they could not conquer

the enemy of their soul. So Christ comes along and says,

You have heard that it was said by the ancients of old, but I

say unto you, you have misunderstood the law of Moses.

When God gave the 10 commandments, he wasn't just

talking about things you don't do.

The commandments of God go much deeper than that.

So let me show you how that works.

Let me explain to you what the Bible really says about the law

of God, because in today's day and age, this is what we say.

Well, the Old Testament is about the law of God and the New

Testament is about the grace of God.

But I'm afraid we've got that wrong.

Not that a New Testament doesn't teach about the grace of God.

It does. Not that the Old Testament

doesn't teach about the law of God, because it does.

But we've forgotten the purpose and the meaning of the law of

God. So let me say it to you this

way. The Old Testament begins with

the Pentateuch, the law of Moses, right?

And so the law that God gives is initiated in the Pentateuch from

the Pentateuch. Yet the prophets, the prophets

will elaborate on that. What that which was initiated in

the Pentateuch and then you have the New Testament and Jesus

comes and he consummates what was elaborated on based on what

was initiated in the Pentateuch. You need to understand that, for

instance, all throughout the Old Testament you'll hear the phrase

the Law of Moses stated, or as Moses himself taught us, that 15

times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New

Testament, there's a reference to the law of Moses because

Christ did not come to abolish that law.

He came to fulfill the law of God.

And so in the Pentateuch it ends with a specific book.

That book is called the Book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy could probably be the most important book in the

entire Old Testament, and the book of Deuteronomy, which is

the second law, or it is literally the reiteration of the

law of God. The nation of Israel is about to

embark on the promised land, and so Moses is going to reiterate

everything in the law. They got to get it.

Can't miss it. You have to understand it.

You're about to embark in a Pagan land, and everything I'm

going to say to you is a reiteration of what's already

been said. But I need to make it very clear

and plain to you. So he does.

He's preparing them to enter into the promised land.

Did you know that Jesus quotes the book of Deuteronomy more

than any other Old Testament book?

Did you know that the New Testament writers quote the book

of Deuteronomy more so than any other New Testament book?

Why would they do that? Because it's the most important

book in the Old Testament 80 times.

In the New Testament, the book of Deuteronomy is quoted 80

times. So important to realize what the

book is all about. In fact in Deuteronomy chapter

Deuteronomy 31 · chapter mention

31 every seven years this was to be read at the feast of

Tabernacles. What the book of Deuteronomy it

says in verse 10 of Deuteronomy 31.

Then Moses commanded them, saying, at the end of every

seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at

the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before

the Lord your God, at the place which He would choose, you shall

read this law in front of all Israel.

In their hearing assemble the people, the men, the women, the

children, the alien who is in your own, your town, so that

they might hear and learn and fear the Lord your God.

And be careful to observe all the words of this law.

Their children who have not known will hear and learn to

fear the Lord your God as long as you live on the land which

you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.

Remember why Israel went to Babylonian captivity for 70

years? It's because he didn't keep the

sabbatical, the sabbatical year, like God intended.

And because they didn't, they didn't read the book of

Deuteronomy and therefore they did not understand the law of

God, which is rooted in God's love for his people.

It's no wonder they went into captivity.

So the book of Deuteronomy is a summation of, of the Pentateuch.

It's a summation of basically all of the Old Testament because

the prophets would elaborate on what the Law of Moses stated.

And in the Law of Moses there is one verse that is a summation of

the book of Deuteronomy, which is a summation of the entire

Bible, making Deuteronomy the most important book in the Old

Testament. Aren't you glad you came

tonight? Because you probably would have

never guessed that one. And that that verse is a very

familiar verse. It's Deuteronomy 6 verse #5

which says you shall love the Lord your God with all of your

heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.

That that is the summation of the law of God.

You should love the Lord your God.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord of God is 1 And that that that is put

inside the the Mezusa and the mezusa is just another word for

doorpost. And inside that mezusa is the

law of God, is the the great Shema to hear, hear what about

the Lord? God is 1.

And you shall love him with all your heart.

And you, you're going to a Jewish Home, and you had that

mezuzah hanging on the door. And the Jewish person will walk

in and he'll just put his hand over the mezuzah, or maybe he'll

lick his lips and kiss his lips and then touch the mezuzah.

Because the Lord is the guardian of that house and the guardian

of their doors, and they look at it as protection.

And it becomes the, the pivotal plastic of Scripture for

families. Because it goes on to say these

words. These words which I am

commanding you today shall be on your heart and you shall teach

them diligently to your sons and shall talk to them when you sit

in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down,

when you rise up, shall bind them as a sign on your hand.

And they shall be as frontals on your forehead to write them on

the doorpost of your house, on your gates.

That's why there's the Mezusa, that's why they wear the

phylacteries. That's why they hang this law

from them and they take it literally that they shall wrap

it around them so that when they walk and they talk and no matter

where they go, it's always about loving the Lord your God.

Because you see, that's what the law of God is all about.

It's about learning to love the one true God.

You see, God was primarily into a relationship with Israel.

God redeemed Israel. God chose Israel.

God loved Israel before he ever gave them the law.

Why? Because the law of God regulates

how you love God. Need to understand that the law

of God was given after the love of God for His people to show

the people how it is they would love God with all their heart,

all their soul and all their strength and all their might

see, and that's exactly what the 10 commandments, the moral law

of God is all about. It's about demonstrating how it

is I truly love God and love my neighbor because in the book of

Deuteronomy, that's the emphasis all throughout the book.

Loving God and loving your alien neighbor.

If you love God, you'll love your brother, you'll love your

neighbor. In fact, isn't that true that

Jesus says these words? And Matthew chapter 22, when the

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

Pharisees came to him and said, Lord, what's the greatest

commandment? What's He say?

He says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and

with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Deuteronomy 6 verse #5 So, So the Lord's asked the question,

what's the greatest commandment? He didn't say You shall have no

other gods before me. Didn't say that.

Don't you say remember, remember the Sabbath day and keep it

holy? No, says you should love the

Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

This is the great and foremost commandment.

The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as

yourself. And then comes verse #40 That's

what it says. On these two commandments depend

the whole law and the prophets. On these two commandments hang

the law of Moses and the prophets.

Everything is about loving God and loving your neighbor.

And if you love your neighbor because you love God, you won't

commit adultery, you won't murder, you won't steal, you

won't covet. Why?

Because you love God and you love him so much you love your

neighbor so you won't defraud your neighbor.

The reason people steal and lie and commit adultery is simply

because they do not love God. Therefore they cannot love their

neighbor. See, and here were the Pharisees

claiming righteousness based on the fact that he didn't do this

or didn't do that. But that's not the purpose of

the law of God. And so the Lord would explain

all that He means. The law did not 'cause Israel's

relationship with God. The law was the result of

Israel's relationship with God. Oh, by the way, that's the exact

same way it is in the New Testament.

Did you know that? Sure it is.

What's the Bible say? We love him because what?

He first loved us. And So what did Christ say?

If you love me, you will do what you will.

Keep my commandments. See, if you love me, you'll obey

me. And how will I obey you?

By understanding all that you say.

And follow me through on that. If you go back to Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, listen to this verse 12.

Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you?

That's a good question, right? Moses is asking Israel, the

nation, What does the Lord require from you but to fear the

Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and love Him, and to

serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your

soul, and to keep his, the Lord's commandments and His

statutes, which I am committing you today for your good.

See, the regulations only come after the relationship, for the

relationship is 1 of love. Therefore, the way we love God

back is demonstrated to Him by obeying all that He says, and

therefore the demands of the law become the delights of 1's love

for their God. That's so important to

understand. It says behold verse #14 to the

Lord. Behold, to the Lord your God

belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that

is in it. Yet on your Father's did the

Lord set his affection to love them, and He chose their

descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this

day. The Lord loved you.

The Lord chose you. The Lord redeemed you.

The regulations never came until there was redemption.

They were purchased, bought out of slavery in Egypt.

So he says in verse 16, here's the key.

So circumcise your heart. God wants the heart cut away all

the the, the frivolity and cut away all the the hypocrisy and

cut away all the the immorality and cut away all those things

that keep you from loving God. God says, circumcise your heart.

I want your heart to be solely devoted to me.

That's what God wants. He wants the heart.

So when Christ comes along and says, you have heard that it was

said, do not commit adultery, but I say unto you, it's all

about the heart. It's what's happening on the

inside. The Pharisees were into the

external show, but I'm into the internal soul.

Big difference. And Christ says this is what's

important. You need to understand this.

And so it goes on and says these words of verse 17 of Deuteronomy

10. For the Lord your God is the God

of gods and the Lord of Lords, the great, the mighty, and the

awesome God, who does not show partiality or take a bribe.

He executes justice for the orphan and the widow and shows

his love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.

See. Love the Lord your God with all

your heart, and love your brother.

Love the alien. Reach out to them, care for

them. So show your love for the alien.

Verse #19 For you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

You shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve Him, cling

to Him. You should swear by His name.

He is your praise and He is your God who has done these great and

awesome things for you, which your eyes have seen.

Chapter 11 verse #1 You shall therefore love the Lord your God

and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and

His commandments. You see the order, It's always

love Him. And how do you know you love

Him? You keep His commands, you keep

His statutes, you keep His ordinances.

He gives them to you to regulate how it is you truly love the

Lord. He has shown you how to love Him

and how to love your brother because you love Him.

He has spelled it out very clearly for you so that there's

nothing for you to even think about.

God did it all for you. Verse 22 of Chapter 11.

For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am

committing you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in

all His ways and hold fast to Him, then the Lord will drive

out all these nations from before you, and you will

dispossessed nations greater and mightier than you, But you got

to love the Lord. Then you come to Deuteronomy

chapter chapter 31, excuse me, chapter 30 and verse 15.

Moses says, see, I have set before you today life and

prosperity, death and adversity, in that I command you today to

love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways and to keep His

commandments and His statutes and His judgments.

You see, the order is always the same.

Love the Lord your God. How do you love him?

By keeping His statutes, by keeping His commandments, by

keeping His ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that

the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are

entering to possess it. But if your heart turns away,

you see it's all about the heart.

God's always been concerned about the internal, not the

external, because if the internal changes, the external

will by nature change. But you can live a life of

hypocrisy on the outside because there's been no transformation

on the inside. That was the Pharisees.

That's how they live their lives.

But God's always been concerned about the heart.

But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn

away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you

today that you shall surely perish.

You will not prolong your days in the land where you are

crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today.

And I've set before you life and death, the blessing and the

curse. So choose life in order that you

may live, you and your descendants.

How? How will you live?

By loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by

holding fast to Him. For this is your life and the

length of your days, that you may live in the land which the

Lord swore to your father's to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give

to them. So important to understand the

law of God. The law of God was given to

regulate how it is we love the God who has already put us in a

relationship with him. God never gave the the, the 10

commandments for to, for us to just to blindly obey and have no

heart behind it. That that's just hypocrisy that

means nothing to God. God's not looking for the

external show. He's not looking for the life

that looks good on the outside. Man looks on the asset.

God looks at the heart, and So what he is doing in Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, saying, Look, this is what you say.

You have heard that it was taught by the ages of old.

You should not do this. You should not do that.

But I say unto you, the great but ologies of Scripture, but

ologies give you the greatest theology.

But I say unto you, But I say, He is going to reiterate the law

of Moses. He's going to reiterate the law

of Moses that was giving out of a love for a people that would

obey their God and serve him freely, openly, and only so

important to understand the sum of the Old Testament is simply

love God. The sum of the New Testament is

simply love God. It's all about loving the Lord

our God and God. God wanted to make sure that

they just didn't go through the motions of obeying.

Remember the rich young ruler? What must I do to inherit

eternal life? Evidently he realized he was

missing something. Evidently he had missed eternal

life in this ruler, this scribe, this, this rich man came to

Christ and he asked them, you know, Lord, what must I do to

inherit eternal life? And Christ says to him in Mark's

account, Why do you call me good?

For only God is is good. And so he comes to the Lord, and

the Lord says these words, if you wish to enter the life, keep

the commandments perfectly, keep the mall without exception.

Then he said to him, Which ones? What do you mean which ones?

You know which ones there are? Which ones?

So Christ says he gives him the loving your brother ones, the

easier ones, the simpler ones. He says you should not commit

murder. I haven't killed anybody.

Should not commit adultery. I don't sleep with anybody else

but my wife. You should not steal.

Why should I steal? I'm rich.

Should not bear false witness. I don't lie.

I need to lie about anything. I have everything.

Honor your father and mother. Well, I've done that.

That's why I'm rich. They got their inheritance.

And you shall love your neighbor as yourself, which, by the way,

the summation of the law, Love God, love your neighbor.

The young man said to him, All these things I have kept, What

am I still lacking? Oh, see, even though he kept

them all in his own mind, he was still lacking.

You see, what the what the the religious establishment did was

was just lower the standard of the law.

If if I can relegate the law to what I don't do and what I do

do, then I can keep it. I'll be good, I'll be righteous,

I'll go to heaven. But that was never the intent of

the law. Intent of the law was to

determine the condition of the soul and what's happening on the

inside of a of a man. So Jesus said to him, if you

wish to be complete, if you wish to be perfect, if you want to go

to heaven because you have a perfect life, a sinless life, go

sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have

treasure in heaven and come follow me.

What did Christ do? He drove him to the 1st 4

commandments, the ones that dealt with his relationship with

God and the very first one. You shall have no other gods

before me. But he did.

What was the God? He had himself His riches, they

were more important to him than the one true God.

But when the young man heard this statement, he went away

grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

He was unwilling to surrender to the one God who rules the world.

He was an idolater in his heart. And even though he would say I

never murdered anybody, I'm sure he hated somebody.

And even though he never committed adultery, I'm sure

there there was lust in his heart after someone else, but he

never saw that. He never understood that he

didn't really love his neighbor as he loved himself.

And by the way, Jesus would change that in John chapter 13

John 13 · chapter mention

when he would say a new commandment I given to you a new

command, say a new one, another one.

We got enough. Why are you going to give us a

new one, A new commandment, not in number, but in quality.

That is a new commandment I given to you, that you love one

another even as I have loved you.

See that no longer loving your brother as you love yourself.

No longer is that any good. Doesn't work.

Why? Because there's a selfishness

there. I want you to love one another

as I have loved you. A selfless, sacrificial kind of

outreach and ministry to your brother.

Because you love me. That's what I want.

That's the new commandment. That's how you shall now live.

So Christ comes along and says simply this I, I, I, I just want

you to love me. That's it.

I love you. I redeemed you, I chose you, I

called you. I I just want you to love me

with all your heart, and that's what the law of God is all

about. It's about loving God with all

your heart and, and demonstrating that thou shalt

have know the God before me. That's the singularity of love,

right? Know the Gods before me.

None. There's one God, and I love him

because He's my God, and I will worship him because he's the one

I love. Thou shalt have no other gods

before me. That's the singularity of love.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any carved image or any likeness

of anything that is in heaven above, that is in the earth

beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

And thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.

For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the

iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and 4th

generations of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto

thousands to them that love me. This is the loyalty of love.

Love is very loyal, love is very faithful.

So God says, this is the singularity of love, and this is

the loyalty of love. This is how you know you love me

with all your heart. Thou shalt not take the name of

the Lord thy God in vain. This is the sublimity of love,

the great exaltation of the name of God.

In not ever defaming the name of God or treating it as if it

means nothing. You remember the Sabbath day and

to keep it holy, that's a sanctity of love.

The Sabbath day was never a day just designed, Forrest.

The Sabbath day was designed for one reason, for you to be holy.

And you love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your

mind. You never say to God, you know,

I know there's a day to worship you, but I'm going to go to the

beach. I'm going to go to the party.

I'm going to be with my friends. Why?

Because you love him. It's called the sanctity of

love. And then he says, honor your

father and mother. This is the respectability of

love. Respect.

Honor the parents that God gave you.

Thou shalt not kill. That's the dignity of love.

Why? Because man is made in God's

image. He's an image bearer.

You treat him with dignity and respect.

Thou shalt not commit adultery. That's the purity and the

fidelity of love. It's singly minded so that it

doesn't pursue someone else outside the realms of marriage.

Thou shalt not steal. That's the generosity of love.

You're generous to give, not to take from someone else because

you're selfish. Thou shalt not bear false

witness against thy brother. That's the integrity and honesty

of love. And thou shalt not covet thy

neighbour's house, the neighbour's wife, manservant,

his maidservant, his ox, his ass, or anything that is his

neighbour's. Why do you do that?

Because that's the serenity of love.

I'm content with what I have. I'm at peace with what I have.

I don't need what you have. I don't even want what you have

because I'm at peace with what I have.

Because what I have is what God has given to me.

And God says these 10 commandments are strictly about

your love for me and your love for your brother.

And those who love me will follow me and obey me.

Remember the words of Christ when He said this in Luke 16.

He said you, the Pharisees, are they who justify yourselves

before men, but God knoweth your hearts, for that which is highly

esteemed before men is an abomination in the sight of God.

That's just a tremendous indictment against the

religiosity and hypocrisy of the religious establishment.

What you, what you do for a show on the outside that everybody

oohs and awe is about, that's an abomination to me.

Because your heart doesn't love me, you only love yourself.

That's your God, not me, and therefore all your acts are

truly an abomination. John said this way in first John

24. The one who says I've come to

know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, is a

liar, and the truth is not in him.

You can't say I love God and disobey His word.

God says, that's just an abomination to me because if you

love me, you will keep my commandments because the

commandments are the regulation of how you love in a

relationship with the true and living God.

I've spelled it out for you. I made it very clear to you.

And so the Lord comes along and, and here he is on the, on the,

the north slope of the Sea of Galilee saying, Oh, I know what

you've heard. I know what you've been taught.

You've been given all these traditions, but I'm here to give

you the truth behind all the commandments that I've given

because I've come to fulfill the law, not abolish the law.

I am the embodiment of the law. I am the, the, the consummate

truth of all that Moses said people would say, well, I don't

love the Lord. And the Pharisees knew they

couldn't love the Lord with all the heart, soul, mind straight

anyway. So they they relegated the

commandments to something that they that looked made them look

good on the outside. Because the place I I can't do

that. I don't.

I don't love the Lord with all my and I don't love my neighbor.

And now God got you right where he wants you because you have

the inability, the impossibility to ever do what he asks.

So he says, unless your righteousness exceeds that it

describes the Pharisees, you'll never enter the Kingdom.

Like, whoa, I guess we're not getting in.

What do you mean? Because the righteousness that

Ioffer, it's the only thing that gets you there.

And my righteousness can be yours.

But you got to come to me my way.

You got to come on my terms. You got to come humbly before

me. See, Christ is driving into a

point of desperation, a point that says, man, oh, I can't do

that. I can't love you like I should.

My heart is deceitful, it's desperately wicked.

There is lustful ideas and perversions within my heart.

I hate my brother. I want to murder my brother.

On the inside I don't commit the ACT, but on the inside I can't

stand him. And I want my neighbor's wife.

So what do I do? Christ has come to me, all you

that labor and have you laid and I'll give you rest.

Come to me and I will transform your inner man.

I will save your soul. He's driving them there.

But isn't it interesting that when the greatest preacher

preaches the greatest sermon ever recorded, nobody repents.

Nobody. Nobody is that convicted that

says, Oh Lord, save me, Lord, I cry out and beg for mercy.

No one does, are they marvel at his words.

Never a man spoke like this man spoke, but nobody repented of

their sin. Isn't that amazing?

I just, I just I marvel at that. I read this.

I think I am so convicted. But evidently they weren't

convicted. Needless to say, our Lord came

to present the truth. Next week we'll we'll dive more

into the text itself. But I thought it'd be good to

set the tone for what is Christ is saying when he says, look,

this is what you've been taught, but this is the truth behind the

law of Moses. This is what I always want.

I love you enough to redeem you. I love you enough to choose you,

I love you enough to call you, I love you enough to Commission

you, I love you enough to indwell you, and if you love me,

you'll keep my commandments. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for today and the things you've taught us

and so much to to study and so much to learn.

I, I pray for all of us that Lord, you do a mighty work in

our hearts. Help us see the intent of all

that the law means and how all you've asked is that we love the

Lord our God with all of our hearts, soul, mind, and strength

and teach them to our children. They walk by the way and they

sit by the side. Somehow we would invest in them

the truth of loving God, the God who was the Redeemer of man's

soul. There's someone here tonight

that doesn't know you. We pray for them should work in

their heart cause him to come to a place of repentance.

The crowd for mercy and say, Lord save me from my sin, that I

might serve you only I pray in Jesus name, Amen.