July 02, 2023
Matthew 5:27-30
Genesis 2:21-3:1

The title of the sermon is “Lust: the character of an adulterer”

OUTLINE
1 The sin of lust explained.
2 The highest resolve to change.
3 A plan for the others.

In the Matthew’s first sermon, The Sermon on the Mount, we see Jesus getting to the root of the Church’s sin problems. Problems with thinking. Jesus is warning His audience against stinking thinking. Jesus’ teaching was in sharp contrast to the teaching of His day. Jesus taught has already taught us that anger is the root sin of murder. It’s easy to see --right away-- that, Jesus is concerned with the hidden character of His people. Jesus is pointing to and desiring His audience to have the utmost concern for their "internal dispositions."⁶ ¶ There are many types of lusts in the Bible, but today we will be focused exclusively on sexual lust Jesus taught about. We hope to grow and mature in the area of sexual purity and to take serious action agaist our lustful thoughts towards other people. For lustful thoughts are what makes us adulterers in God’s eyes. ¶ That is why we see that it is a primary teaching to the Church in the New Testament: we are to rid ourselves of sexual immorality; this includes sexual immorality taking place in our minds. ¶ If you remember when we studied James, James had a sharp rebuke to his audience when he explained to the Church that “each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (James 1:14-15 NASB). God wants to save every word, thought, and deed for His glory. If we refuse to gaurd our minds, we are ignoring the greatest commandment of all: Love the Lord God with all of you heart, soul, strength, and mind.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

• No physical adultery was the standard in first century Judaism.
• Jesus again focuses His audience’s attention on the “tap root” of sin, the mind.
• "What is rattling around in our minds is who we are. That is our character.
• Jesus said if lust is in the mind, Guilty! is the charge and verdict.
• The English translation to “lust” here means to "set one’s heart upon a thing, long for, covet, desire (LSJ); to seek things forbidden. (Thayer)
• AGAIN: setting one’s heart on a thing
• When we look at a person we are not married to and desire sex in our mind that is the lust of this passage.

APPLICATION: 2 The highest resolve to change.

29 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 that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

• If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.
  • “Pluck it out!” “Cut it off!”
  • Jesus is teaching that our eyes and hands are the primary vehicle for lust.
  • Eye and hand here are anthropomorphisms. They are personified as something outside of us that would trip us up.
  • Right eye (causes)
  • Causes = Greek, skandalizō = the history of the root word came from what "was used of the baited, triggering mechanism of an animal trap. (Utley; cf. Etymology and Strong)
  • In Jesus’ day skandalizō literally meant = stumbling block, to cause to stumble, give offence or to give scandal (LSJ; spelling retained)
  • In fact we get our English word “scandal” from this Greek word. And lust is scandalous to God. We offend God becasue we set out hearts on other things! We worship a human body instead of Him. That is at the core of sexual lust.
  • Here Jesus divorces people of faith from their traps and stumbling blocks.
  • However, we are allowing ourselves to be trapped. We are responsible.
• Lust is a base nature. The lowest for of sexual desire and expression.
  • God’s ideal for humans is one man one woman for life for sexual intimacy. THAT IS THE ONLY STANDARD.
• “Humans have been affected by Genesis 3. We are not [completely] what we were created to be.” (Utley; edited for accuracy)
• Since all humans are affected by sin (different ones for different individuals), we must take personal responsibility to remove ourselves from places/things/occasions of temptation." (Utley)

Reason is in 30b: For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

• The repetition for the eyes and hands dismemberment, “in identical terms, of such stern truths” should drive all doubt away from a casualness towards sin. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)
• In the Mosaic Law there was one provision for dismemberment: Deuteronomy 25:11-12, “When men fight with one another and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.
  • But self-mutilation was forbidden in Deuteronomy 14:1, “You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. (Cf. France, p 205 in note 94)
  • But here again we see Jesus setting a new standard and here He calls for dismemberment.
  • “The footnote in George M. Lamsa’s translation of the Peshitta into English, p. 955, states that “cut it off” is an Aramaic idiom for ‘stop stealing.’” (Utley)
  • We too have an idiom about cutting. Have you ever heard, “Cut it out!”
• A literal interpretation of this verse would mean that every person of the human race should self cripple themselves, so most commentators consider this to be hyperbole statements.
• Wilkin wrote and Constable agreed, that these are hyperbolic statements “designed to make a point by overstatement.” , Jesus’ point was that His disciples must deal radically with sin." [539, See Robert N. Wilkin …] (Constable)
• Blomberg agreed when he wrote, “Eyes and hands are primary offenders in sexual sin,” but “self-mutilation in not Christ’s objective.” (p 109) Staying away from sin at all costs is.
• Very, very few are going to call for a literal plucking and cutting here.
• So Derrett stood out here. >>
• In his book Jesus’s Audience, Duncan Derrett went into great detail of the common practice in the cultures of the orient of chopping off hands and feet as punishment for property crimes, and he also pointed to a culture of 650 BC that demanded both eyes for adultery. He is right to point these things out. (pp 201-204; cf. France, p 205 in note 94) >>
• But to his point, I too am not convinced that Jesus was being hyperbolic.
• Some might say, “Well Monte that puts you in a super slim minority. Do you know what you are saying?” I know; I know … it’s not the first time. >>
• Always stand ready to change your mind if you see the evidence.
• So a quote you need to remember in Bible studies, “What your proof text?”
• I’m glad you asked. Turn to Matthew 19:12, For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
• 99.9999999999999999% of people are not willing to do these things for their sin.
• So very few what? Will recieve this teaching of Matthew 19:12.
• The early Church leader Origen, who was born in the 2nd century, castrated himself.
• When I see Jesus in Heaven, will He say this passage is literal? I leave the possibliltiy --yes even the probibility that Jesus was leteral here.
• No one will argue that a bling person would lust less.
• But again, most take these sayings of Jesus as hyperbole. I’m not going to die on that hill.
• Either way, we need to make clear here. These teachings of Jesus show us just how serious sin is. >>

On hell … First I want to say, that I agree with Constable and Wilkin here, “Clearly this is not a condition for salvation but for discipleship.”[539, See Robert N. Wilkin …]

• I’m not sure how Jesus could have put it in a sharper way: sin is serious.
• Again we see Jesus use hell to drive the point home in 5:29 and 30.
• Valley of Hinnom = Gehenna
• “This is obviously hyperbolic for emotional impact! Sin is dangerous and its consequences eternal!” (Utley)
• Hell is Gehenna, the final place of punishment for all the wicked.[541, Scharen, p. 337] Its mention here does not imply that believers can go there. It represents the worst possible destiny. It, too, is hyperbole here, though hell is a real place. The loss of any body part is preferable to the loss of the whole person, is the point. (Constable)
• Again, this would be a passage Catholics would point to for the idea of purgatory.

Things to remember

• Unfortunately, the American Church has apoted the lower standard rather than the higher. We have not heeded Jesus’ teaching and the American Church if filled with lust and it’s pornographic images! This ought not be so!
• Our imagination has a force for good and is given by God. We use our imaginations for every imaginable good thing —no pun intended. But on the other side of the coin, our imaginations can be used for evil. Imagination and lust are a force for all kinds of depravity in our society. (Carson, “Matthew,” p. 151)
• Couple of lengthy quotes here:
  • Barclay wrote, “To some extent every man is a split personality. There is part of him which is attracted to good, and part of him which is attracted to evil. So long as a man is like that, an inner battle is going on inside him. One voice is inciting him to take the forbidden thing; the other voice is forbidding him to take it.” >>
  • “If any man is harassed by thoughts of the forbidden and unclean things, he will certainly never defeat the evil things by withdrawing from life and saying, I will not think of these things. He can only do so by plunging into Christian action and Christian thought.” (Barclay)
  • Constable wrote, “It is extremely important for us to monitor our thoughts carefully because of the depth, and power, and subtlety, and perverting nature, and effect, and danger, and pollution of sin (cf. Rom. 8:13-14; 1 Cor. 9:29; Col. 3:5).”
• Teenagers, men, and women will lust after each other at some point in their lives. And most of us are familiar with how powerful sexual lust can be. In America, we invented the adage “sex sells,” but nothing for humankind is new under the sun. Our fallen makeup coupled with temptations on the internet and TV 24/7 calls for God’s people to remain vigilant for any hint of lust in our lives. (Robinson, online ver.)
• The internet has brought more death than anything in my lifetime. It has brought serious addiction to the lives of millions and millions.
• Sexual lusts have long-term potential for acute addiction. It has been said that it is as addictive as crack cocaine.
• This is due to what is being called the ‘triple A’ influence. Pornography and lust is accessible, is affordable, and provides a level of anonymity).²
• We each possess a bottomless pit for the lusts we carry within our hearts (cf. Romans 1:18-32).
• Ferrar said, “sin takes you farther than you want to go, keeps you longer than you want to stay, and costs you more than you want to pay.”⁴
• The deeper we follow lust, the higher the cost.
• Waheed said lust “is the kind of thing that eats you and leaves you starving.”― Nayyirah Waheed

This is old news that we need to remember.

• There are numerous studies on the internet—scientific and otherwise—of the effects that pornography has on the human brain and the addictive power it has over millions. (Robinson, online ver.)
• Think about it again: What has the lust of mankind cost the world? Name all the ways!
• It increases the odds of teenage pregnancy.
• It hinders sexual development.
• It raises the risk of depression.
• It creates distorted expectations which hinder healthy sexual development.¹

ILLUSTRATION to kick off the 3rd point: A plan for the others.

Mennonites in Ohio and Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn

• We NEED TO GET SERIOUS WITH OUR SIN THOUGHTS. Lust in the office, at school, at home, DON"T TOLERATE IT! CUT IT OUT!

• Jesus calls for perfection! Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect!

• Whatever it takes! Be perfectly holy!

• We need to stop lowering the bar.

• Our cultures work against us. COMMENT 11-25 puberty.

• The attitudes toward pornography and lust cause a lowering of the bar in other ways too. Many Christians are now seeing illicit sex outside of marriage as “the consolation you have when you can’t have” marriage.³ However, sex outside of a marriage is no consolation. It’s death masquerading as the next best thing. The idea of “Sex is okay outside of marriage” is a thinly veiled belief to ease the conscience and give the flesh what it desires.

• “The fact that fornication that takes place in the brain has fewer bad consequences than fornication that takes place on a bed does not made this truth less serious.” (Constable)

• Christians need to reaffirm God’s divine plan for sex: one man, one woman married for life.

• That’s the standard

• At the core, a sin problem is always a thinking problem.

• We simply allow WAY, WAY too many unchecked thoughts.

• Holy to the very core.

• Mozley said it well, “We are to cut off ourselves as strongly and decidedly as possible from all avenues and approaches to our particular sins.” Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 1.

• Colossians 3:5, Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (emphasdis added.)

• Hear it? Sexual immorality is idolatry.

• We align ourselves against God in defiance with a sin entertained in the mind as much as a physical one. Sins of the mind ignore God’s “authority as much” and “contradicts His will” just as much as any violation. When we refuse to bring our mind into submission to holiness we say with our lives "‘God shall not reign over me.’"¹

Overcoming Lust

• An unbeliever wrote, "All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret.”⁵ >>
• For the Christian, this should not be true. Instead all these realms should match up in holiness.
• Who we are is most clearly stated in our thought life.

Plan

1. Often we just need to respond and do something.
2. Fast for three days, confess and repent.
3. Go on a weekend spiritual retreat, get serious about holiness anew, and God will equip you for victory.
4. There may be times where one needs to seek out professional counseling due to one’s willingness to lust.
5. Often, accountability is needed. A close friend that will “get in your grill” while holding your confidences may be needed.
6. Start writing prayers to God in a notebook and ask Him for His help.
7. Stengthen your realtionship with Jesus is always the answer for sinful thoughts.

• Romans 13:13-14 reads, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (emphasis mine, NKJV). The passage explains that we should “make no provision for the flesh.” The Greek word for “provision” means to give “forethought” to or to “give care to.”
• Sin stays a part of our lives because we care for it; we feed it. In some cases we even nurture it.
• One reason we see others and ourselves struggling with lust is because we allow small amounts of it at first—thinking that,“A little is okay.” It isn’t. By giving in to lust in small ways, we immediately start to feed it; it then begins to occupy more of our thoughts and takes root in our hearts. Lust takes ground very quickly.
• We must act immediately in our thought life if we struggle with lust. We must intentionally drive out lustful thoughts and replace them—again—with thoughts of “… whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy …” (Philippians 4:8).
• There is no shortcut. The answer to all things spiritual is found in relationship to the God of our faith—Father, Son, Holy Spirit. >>
• Paul taught the church in Galatia how to overcome the lusts of the flesh: “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:16, NKJV).
• James taught the same thing when he wrote, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded” (James 4:8).
• In cultivating our relationship to God, God will pull us from the lusts that entangle us.

Notes

^{Notes from above may not be in numerical order.}

¹ Author unknown

² Weir, Kirsten. “Is Pornography Addictive?”. (April 2014) accessed April 8, 2020, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/04/pornography.

³ Partial quote and adapted from Gabriel García Márquez, accessed April 8, 2020, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/51938-sex-is-the-consolation-you-have-when-you-can-t-have.

⁴ Ferrar, Steve. As quoted from Sermon Central, https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/23034/sin-takes-you-farther-than-you-want-to-go-by-mark-krieger.

⁵ Welton, Emma. “Gabriel García Márquez in quotes.” 2014, The Guardian, accessed July 1, 2023.

⁶ Harrington, p 91

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and sometimes include other citation information from Constable.

Other Works Cited

^{Note: Not all of these resources listed below were used in this particular sermon outline.}

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom)

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/2up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, Online ver.

Chan, Francis. Crazy Love. David C. Cook, 2008.

Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/2up)

France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Platt, David. Follow Me. Tyndale, 2013.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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