This morning, I invite you to turn once again to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. This morning we read verses 27 through 32, considering just verses 27 through 30. Indeed, verses 31 and 32 are an outpouring, an outflowing from the text this morning. But I've decided, Lord, willing to consider that next time. Now again, as we have been saying all along, this section of the Sermon on the Mount flows out of what Jesus says in verse 20, For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Indeed, our Lord is teaching that the Pharisees' obedience, whatever it might be, and it's distorted. He shows us in these six sections that close chapter 5. But their obedience is meaningless. It will get them nothing. Only the righteousness of Jesus Christ brings one into the kingdom of God. But indeed, He shows us how kingdom citizens are called to live before Him in this world. Now last week, you recall, we said with regard to the previous section on murder that as we read it, probably it made us feel a little bit uncomfortable, squirming in our seats as we are reminded about hate, that hate is murder and how we are called to seek reconciliation with our neighbor, with our brother, before we come and try to worship our God. And the truth is, every one of these sections ought to make us feel a little bit squirmish, but that might be no more true than with this section on adultery. Kind of a tough subject even for a preacher to bring. Maybe toes will be stepped on, that's okay. Because God's Word is meant for rebuke, for admonition, as well as encouragement. And before we read this section together, just a reminder of what we read in Colossians 3 regarding these things. Picking up at verse 3, For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. And notice again what Paul begins with. Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed. All these things fit with adultery. And then notice what He says about them, which is idolatry. It is idolatry. Setting something up in the place of God. Keep that in mind as we read together beginning in v. 27-32. The Word of God says, You have heard that it was said, do not commit adultery, but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. It has been said anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce. But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness causes her to become an adulteress. And anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. May God add His blessing to the reading and consideration of His Word. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, with His, you have heard that it was said, But I tell you that Jesus speaks in these six portions of chapter 5. He is teaching the general truth that man is not sinful because he sins. But He is teaching that man sins because he is sinful. His is a sinful condition. From inside out, as Paul makes clear in Romans chapter 3, he talks about beginning with the throat, which is an open grave, and then the tongue, which practices deceit, and then the lips, which contain the poison of vipers. The root problem is a sinful heart described in Genesis 6. The Lord saw how great man's wickedness was on the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. A sinful heart from which come, as Jesus says in Matthew 15, many wicked things, including evil thoughts, murder, adultery, and sexual immorality. Adultery and sexual immorality. Now, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they would have said, no, man is sinful because of sin. It is the sin that he commits that makes him sinful. And at that, the outward sin that he commits. And therefore, just don't commit the outward act. Don't commit murder, as we considered last week. Don't commit adultery, and you'll be okay. Don't commit the physical act, and you'll be fine. And we must admit that when it comes to adultery and sexual immorality, we might wish that their interpretation was correct. that it's only the outward act. Because if their interpretation was correct, then most, if not all of us, I would hope, would be fine. And it would save us from many guilty feelings. And we could breathe easy. But once again, Jesus tells the truth. And this time about adultery. First of all, describing the hidden danger. You have heard that it was said, do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. You see, Jesus makes it clear, beloved, as we know that it is more than just the physical act. Now once again, the statement that they heard was true. You shall not commit adultery. And the interpretation of that statement was clear to the people of that day, at least when it came to the interpretation of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, which said that the only way that one could violate that command was by physical sexual union with the married spouse of another. Now we must understand at the very beginning here, beloved, that adultery is not limited to only men committing it. And as well, it's not limited to at least one of those involved being married. With the phrase, marital unfaithfulness, in verse 32, Jesus makes it clear that all sexual immorality, by anyone, is included. Now indeed, we know that the actual physical act is something which is damaging. It breaks the solemn covenant between a husband and a wife even before marriage. Young people, even before you know who your future spouse, if the Lord gives you one, is going to be, it is possible for you to break that solemn covenant with that one. Your actions now will affect your spouse and your marriage later. The physical act of adultery shatters people's lives. It disrupts and destroys families. It defiles one's body. It despises God. Yes, it shows a hatred for God. And in the Old Testament, we know that it was punishable by death. That's how much God hates it. The physical act, the actual outward act. And if so, how much more does He hate the root of it? Because even more damaging is the damage to one's soul which is threatened with hell. As Jesus describes the hidden danger dwelling deep into the heart. In Proverbs 4, verse 23, the writer says, Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. Or as another translation says, from it flow the issues of life. The heart, we know, is the command center of life. And with adultery, the sinful inclinations that are hiding there are aroused by what the eyes see. In Proverbs 15, verse 20, the writer says, a cheerful look brings joy to the heart. We know that to be true, but the opposite is also true. The negative is also true. A sad scene brings sadness to the heart. We've had a lot of that on TV with Haiti, haven't we? We see death and destruction and turmoil and children who are left without parents. And indeed, those scenes grieve us. They bring sadness to our hearts. What we see will affect us. And Proverbs 21, verse 4 also says then, Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, as if the writer says those things are the lamp of the wicked, are sin. Our hearts are fed through the eyes. When Jesus talks about whoever looks, that word looks there, is not talking about just a passing glance. For example, as I look around this room, He's not just talking about a passing glance, nor is Jesus speaking against the normal attraction that exists between men and women or a true appreciation for beauty with which God has made humankind. To be sure, Jesus teaches that the physical act of adultery is indeed wrong and so is intercourse outside of marriage. Marriage between one man and one woman. But he is not just picking on those who have fallen into open sexual sins as many have. And many have without apology and without shame. Instead, he makes it clear that this hidden danger is guilty before God. We know that because of the nature of the look. When he says looks again, and not just that passing glance, but it has the idea of to think about, to consider, to dwell on, to contemplate, to examine, to weigh carefully, to plan. He's talking about, therefore, a gazing and admiring, involving the mind. And the desire feeds the sinful inclination and leads that one to then thinking about and having and using the object of His look for that one's own selfish and satisfying purpose. One commentator describes what Jesus says this way, It is the deep-seated lust which consumes and devours, which in imagination attacks and rapes, which mentally contemplates and commits adultery. That is the result of the look, as Jesus says. He has already, one who looks at a woman lustfully or in order to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart without the actual physical act. And that doesn't mean then that one ought to have the attitude, well, since I'm guilty anyway for looking and thinking and planning, Since the damage is already done, I might as well act on it. No, that just compounds the sin before the sight of God. Our beloved, you know that this is promoted all around us. Society is filled with it. Every day, wherever we look, sex sells. It's kind of fascinating that whether it's cars or hair products or for men, hair transplants if you need it, or alcohol, or tobacco, or soda, or food, even furniture, or the most obscure thing, if you notice, the commercials or the advertisements always often seem to include an attractive woman to get the attention of the man. And you look at it and say, well, what does the woman have to do with the product? Not a thing. Simply to get the attention of the man. The suggestion, the nudge toward adultery is all around us in order to move the mind in a certain direction. Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And he is doing so in a seeming non-threatening way with the fruit of sinful desires. The suggestion toward adultery is on TV. It's in the movies. It's in lingerie commercials. It's in certain novels or magazines on billboards. We are surrounded by temptation. And the temptation towards sexual sin and the sin of adultery, beloved, is so dangerous because it deals with the whole person, the body, as well as the natural feelings and desires and attractions that were originally created good, yet are corrupted by sin. And therefore, Paul calls it idolatry. It's to serve another God. And therefore, some simply do not understand why, if it feels so right, How can it be wrong? They just don't get it. Beloved, those very words has already committed adultery in his heart. Should be enough to get our attention. Should be enough to get our concern. And it will for those who believe in Jesus Christ. Why? Because those with a transformed new heart by the grace of God They hear and understand, they make sense of those truths that Jesus teaches because their spiritual eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit to see and understand the sinfulness of sin. And kingdom citizens empowered by the Holy Spirit exercise a kingdom righteousness from the heart governed by that Holy Spirit. A righteousness that exceeds the outward righteousness of the Pharisees, which is a meaningless righteousness. and therefore the kingdom citizen by the grace of God hears Jesus in the second place calling for the pursuit of purity pursue it go after it don't just sit there be active as the beatitude says in verse 8 blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God He calls for the pursuit of purity, beloved, for ourselves. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Jesus teaches His people to be combating, going to war against heart adultery. Sounds drastic, doesn't it? And it is. Because unrepentant, unsatisfied, that is unpaid for sin, that is coveted and cherished and practiced in unbelief. And again, adultery consumes the entire person. For that, there's only one outcome and that is hell. The whole body, the whole person, in body and soul, to suffer in hell. Beloved, hell is indeed so terrible. So many think it really doesn't exist. They think it's just something said, taught to scare people. What ought to be scary? It's terrible. The Bible describes it in the worst ways we can imagine. The lake of fire. The worm does not die. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. A place of such absolute torture forever. Every moment of every second. I guess eternity doesn't have days, does it? Every moment. You see, we can bring relief to a place like Haiti. We can rebuild and give relief to those people, but in hell there will be no relief. Not even for a second. Not even a little bit of it. And absolutely no earthly sinful pleasure is worth it, even though it may feel like it at the moment. Jesus' instruction is to get rid of the right eye and the right hand. In Scripture, the right eye was considered to be precious. It was a dishonor to lose one's right eye. And the right hand in Scripture was considered to be the most indispensable, the most valuable for work. We read about the right hand of power. No offense to left-handers. One commentator suggests the eye is chosen because it has looked and lusted. The hand is chosen probably, he says, because adultery, even mental adultery, is a kind of theft. Now, I trust we all understand, boys and girls and young people too, understand that Jesus is not calling for physical mutilation here. He's not telling us to chop up our body. Some have taken this literally. Some false religions still do. We know that very simplistically because we have another eye. We have another hand. And truth be told, if we were to take this literally, there wouldn't be much left of us after we get rid of all that would need to be gotten rid of. The eye and the hand do not have a mind of their own. They do not act on their own. They fulfill the desires of the heart. They are instruments of the heart. The idea here is that of like an animal trap, a spring trap. The hand and the eye are like the stick in the animal trap that springs and closes the trap blocking in the animal. Jesus is talking about whatever traps you in. Whatever keeps you from being able to get out, to get away. His point is that the soul is so precious to God. And therefore, our souls are to be precious to us. That we would do whatever it takes to avoid, to flee temptation, get rid of whatever it is. Jesus said on another occasion, whoever loves his father or mother, brother or sister more than me is not worthy of me, He says. And therefore, whatever might come between us and the Lord, whatever might be harmful to the soul is to be hated, to be cut off. Whatever is most precious and most valuable to you and me in this life if it is a cause of sin. If it will trap us in. If it will cause us to stumble. Get rid of it. Do without it. It's much better to do without that temporarily than for the entire body and soul to suffer eternally in hell. Jesus is calling us to deal drastically with sin and temptation as people being renewed by the Holy Spirit. Do not pamper it. Do not flirt with it. Do not enjoy nibbling it, as we all do. Instead, hate it. Crush it. Dig it out. Put it to death, as Paul says in Colossians 3. Put the life out of it. Take away its life source. We ought to understand there's no substitutes here. You see, more prayer, more giving, more doing of mercy will not compensate for ignoring Jesus' command. The truth is, if you have a cancerous tumor, you don't wait. You can't remove that thing fast enough to save your life. And Jesus says, that's how you are to treat your spiritual life. Many here have seen that Fireproof movie, that Christian movie about a marriage. And if you have, you remember the scene where the primary actor finally grabs his computer, takes it outside, and uses his baseball bat yet on one more thing. Not just the trash can this time, but he beats up that computer. You see, no sacrifice is too great. And beloved saying, well, I can handle it. I can handle a smutty romance novel. It's interesting. I include that because one commentator suggests that reading something like that and engaging in the juicy details and the escapades of other people, even on the printed page, is really only committing adultery by proxy. I thought that was interesting. But to say that I can handle it, I can handle something like that, or I can handle a trashy magazine, or I can handle a heavily rated movie, I can handle a dangerous yet intimate social relationship with an unbeliever. To say that I can handle temptation and dabbling alongside of sin is dangerous. It is self-deception. And instead, the Bible calls us to be engaged in active combat against it. Not flirting with it. Now, the truth is we have to apply this to ourselves, don't we? because we all know our own weaknesses. What might be a weakness for one might not be a weakness for another. So each of us must apply this to our own weaknesses. But whatever it might be, beloved, switch the channel or get rid of the TV. Leave the theater. Make it a practice to look other people in the eye and not up and down the body. In the grocery store, this is kind of interesting to me, When you stand in the checkout line, the way it's set up is the natural way you're standing, waiting to be checked out. They've got the magazines here, the National Enquirers and the tabloids, the gossip magazines, and often with nice, big, glossy pictures on them that catch your attention. Turn around when you're waiting. You know what you're going to see? Candy bars. Tic-tacs. Life savers. Turn around. Cancel the internet. Find a prayer or an accountability partner to be accountable to. We are called to bear one another's burdens and this is where we may need it the most. Instead of hiding these things that will destroy you and I in our heart, hide God's Word in your heart as the Bible says that we might not sin against Him. Commit yourself to Psalm 101, verse 3, which says, I will set before my eyes no vile thing. Instead, as the psalmist says in another place, what is good and pleasing to the Lord. As Paul says in Romans 13, verse 14, clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how, do not meditate on how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Now beloved, we may struggle. We do struggle. Each and every day. But by the grace of God, we are empowered and enabled by the Holy Spirit who gives us strength. And He brings these things to our minds. He helps us to recognize them even when we fall into it for a season. He reminds us and draws us and delivers us from it. And therefore, we are not only to be seeking purity for ourselves, but also seeking purity for others. desiring and seeking the purity of others and for others. Love for your neighbor includes helping them to be pure, encouraging them in whatever way you're able to, but also not being a hindrance to them. In Lord's Day 41 of the Catechism, dealing with the Seventh Commandment, it says, God forbids everything that incites, we might say tempts, moves one toward, suggests toward unchastity, And it includes actions, looks, talk, thoughts, desires. For one thing, beloved, there's so many things we could say. I just want to mention a couple of things. Help others by not distracting them. Ladies, girls, young ladies of all ages, you have a responsibility to dress appropriately. So do men. So do men. But I think we all understand that the problem is more from the side of men, guys, boys, having a hard time taking their eyes off of females. You have the responsibility to dress appropriately at all times. You need to understand, for the sake of the men around you, the boys around you, You need to understand that low-cut tops, high-cut skirts and shorts, tight-fitting clothing, it draws attention. If it is your intention to draw attention, then you've got a problem. You are in error. And you may say, well, I have a right, you see, to dress pretty. Absolutely. It's my Christian liberty to dress how I want, yes and no. Not if it draws a guy into sinful thoughts of lust and adultery. You might then say, well, it's not my fault. And indeed, every boy and man is responsible for his own actions. But God will hold you responsible if you could have helped to prevent it. To act and to dress in a manner that provokes and stimulates another is a demonstration of a lack of love for God and your neighbor. And whether you are married or whether you hope to be one day, don't you want to save yourself for your husband's eyes only? Young people, I want to shift gears and talk just for a moment about dancing. And of course, I know that there are various opinions about dancing and whether it's good or bad or whether it should be done or shouldn't be done, some of the older people here can tell you about their experiences when they were younger, when it was absolutely forbidden. And it's not my point to talk about whether it should be allowed or not, but I want to talk especially for just a second about what's called grinding or other forms of dirty dancing in which you rub bodies together uncontrollably. And some of you know very well what I'm talking about. Some of you, and you know, you know that it affects you. You know that it affects the other. You know that it's dangerous. You know that it's sin. And therefore Jesus says, cut it out. Gouge it out. Get rid of it. Don't do it. At the beach, if you can't handle it, men and women, don't go. For all of us, very simply, it ought to be our desire to save ourselves for our spouse or our future spouse, if the Lord may give us one day. Men, for the sake of your wife or your future wife or your own soul or the honor of God, turn your heads. Women, for the sake of your husbands or your future husbands or your own soul or the honor of God, cover up. What a way to tell your spouse, I love you and under God you are the most important to me. What a way to tell your neighbor that you are more important to me than my own selfish desires, that I am willing to do anything to keep from cheating or from violating another in any way. What a way to say I love you. pursuing purity for ourselves and for others, but ultimately, I trust you understand, for God. He is to be the ultimate object of our affection, our holy and pure and righteous God. No sacrifice is too great if it keeps one from sin. And also, no matter how difficult obedience to a command may seem, God's honor and God's pleasure stands above it. It is to be worth it. Jesus teaches that we ought to rather depart with an eye or with a hand than depart from a command of God and offend Him. And especially as we consider Jesus in the third place briefly reminding us of the price of deliverance. That price is hell. You see, there is no greater incentive for the Christian to put sin to death than the cross of Jesus. The cross of Jesus where He suffered punishment of God, the wrath of God. He suffered eternal torment in hell. Body and soul, all of Him for you and me. The cross of Jesus where He delivered us, as the Bible says, from this present evil age where He redeemed us from all of our sin, even the sin of adultery, where He calls His own special people zealous for good works that we should be holy and blameless before Him. And therefore, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, 620, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. We still live with that tension, don't we, between the old man and the new man. Temptation still attacks us even of sexual sins and we still fall into sin. Yeah, by the grace of God, the new man, the one who is in Christ Jesus, who has been given new birth by the Holy Spirit, He is convicted of his sin. He is sorry for his sin. He desires purity. And we are to be encouraged because that points to a change of heart. We are to be encouraged as we catch ourselves and try to cut off temptation and avoid whatever offends and causes sin because that is evidence of the Holy Spirit living in me. It is assurance that Jesus Christ has rescued my whole body and soul from hell. It is evidence that I am a kingdom citizen. And that is for all those who repent of their sins and trust not in their own strength, which will fail, but only in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And the kingdom citizen then, part of that renewal includes praying for the continued strengthening of the Holy Spirit that you might seek the purity, that we might seek the purity that Jesus Christ lived for us and credited to us as our very own so that we will see God and enjoy Him forever. You may very well, maybe many times have committed sins of heart adultery and probably, sadly, still will. And maybe you cannot erase the consequences and must live with the consequences, But in Christ Jesus, be comforted that your sin is forgiven. Remember no more. And in Christ Jesus, you are pure in heart. And you will see God. Beloved, the Holy Spirit has made His home in our hearts. And therefore, may we strive to keep that guest house clean because love, the love of the cross, is so amazing, so divine. It demands my soul, my life, my all. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, we must confess that You have stared deep into our eyes, deep into our hearts this morning. You have uncovered things for each one of us that we are not proud of. Struggles that we face. Temptations that we give in to. Sins that we commit. But Father, You have also reminded us of our hope and assurance in Jesus Christ our Lord. who has suffered every bit of punishment that You had in store against sin for each and every one of Your people. And indeed, we are amazed that we consider that blessed truth and what we have in Him and who we are with You. And we thank You for Your Holy Spirit, for His renewing work. Continue, Lord God, through Your Spirit to renew us more and more day by day. that indeed we might reflect a little more each day the purity of Jesus Christ by which alone we are saved in Him. Father, hear our prayer for Jesus' sake. In His name we pray. Amen.