Wayward Hearts, Wandering Eyes (Matt 5:27-30; Exo 20:14, 17) A. Text begins: Matthew 5:27-28 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 lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 1. You know the old saying, You can t prevent a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop him from building a nest in your hair. 2. We can t prevent the Devil from shooting his flaming arrows of temptation at us, but we can deflect them with the Christian armor (Eph 6:14-18). B. God has given us power to overcome lust. 1. He has given us the belt of truth to wear around the waist (Eph 6:14). a. The examples in Scripture of what lust can do to our lives: David (2 Sam 11). 2. He has given us the breastplate of right-eousness to protect the heart (14). a. Why would a soldier take off his breast-plate in a battle? That would be inviting death! b. Why would a Christian throw away the privilege of being right with God just to satisfy a momentary lust? 3. He has given us the Gospel of Peace to put on our feet & carry wherever we go (15). 1
a. If we re busy talking about salvation in Jesus Christ, if we are interested in souls, there ll be no opportunity to lust. 4. He has given us the Helmet (hope) of Salvation to put on the head (17). a. If we ve got our minds on Heaven, how can we be seduced by the lusts of this world? 5. He has given us the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (17). a. We can see the dangers of lust before it reaches us, because God has given us the knowledge to recognize it for what it is. 6. He has even given us Prayer & Supplication (18). a. We can ask God for help to overcome our lusts, before they get too strong & overcome us. I. WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LUST? A. Lust is an inward attitude. Mark 7:21 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 1. In Matthew 5, Jesus has been emphasizing inward attitudes that lead to sinful actions. 2. The Pharisees taught that the 7 th command against adultery (Exo 20:14) could only be broken by the overt act. 2
a. They apparently didn t connect the 10 th command to the 7 th (explain). 3. But Jesus explained the Law properly, He said the eyes can prompt sexual desire outside of marriage; AND it is the inward SIN that leads to the overt act. a. The inward sin is ADULTERY. b. So just like Anger can be Murder (Matt 5:21-22); Lust can be Adultery. B. Lust is an evil thought. 1. There are many kinds of lusts (Eve, Judas); Jesus addressed one kind of lust in our text. 2. And Jesus did not mean that looking at a woman is sinful. a. One may look at a woman to admire her grace & unique beauty (Pro 31). 3. And so the sin is not in the looking but in the reason for (intention behind) the look. [Lust causes a man to take something from a woman that she has no right to give him & he has no right to take from her. And vise versa a woman looking upon a man (and, yes, also anyone who might look on anyone else with a lustful eye.) This is an appropriate subject for this time of year, as people head out to the public pools with very little covering (and what they are wearing, leaves little to the imagination). Christians must consider the affect they are having on other s thoughts. And outward beauty really has nothing to do with how our mode of dress affects other s thoughts.] 3
II. WHAT IS THE HARM IN LUST? A. Jesus said lust transforms good into evil. 1. Your hands and eyes represent effective tools in doing the Lord s word. 2. Your RIGHT hand & RIGHT eye represents the best you have with which to serve the Lord. 3. But Jesus said that lust (evil thoughts) can turn what is good against you. 4. Just like there are certain desires that are good within a lawful marriage, those desires will transform into something evil (adultery) when directed toward any other person. [What is the harm in little lust?] B. Jesus said lust destroys. Matthew 5:29-30 29 If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out & throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off & throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. 1. These are words of DESTRUCTION. Jesus is telling us that lust destroys our influence for Him --- AND it can even destroy our hope of going to Heaven. 2. HOW does lust destroy our influence? a. First, when we refuse to say NO! to our lusts, then we re on our way to hell. How influential can we be on that road? 4
- How influential can we be for the Lord if we are like a search dog that picks up on every scent except the one he s been trained to trace? HOW does lust destroy our influence? b. Secondly, if we cut off the source of the lust (and Jesus tells us we may have to do that), then He indicated that we will have to cut off something good. - We may have to remove something that would have been helpful to us in His cause. - Jesus mentioned an eye or a hand; those are good things, & we need them to serve Him effectively. - But if we refuse to deny our lusts --- then out goes the eye, & off goes the hand, & we re not nearly as effective for the Lord as we could have been. Prov 6:26-29 For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; & an adulteress will prey upon his precious life. 27 Can a man take fire to his bosom, & his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? 29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent. 3. Not one of us knows the extent of influence we have (for Jesus Christ) in the lives of others, but when we pursue our lusts we drastically reduce our influence. a. It s like a right handed person trying to take care of himself with his left hand. b. It s like trying to perform our daily functions with only a left eye. - Now people can do these things, but imagine what they could have done with both hands & both eyes. 5
4. We will never know how many able bodied Christians cut their influence in half or less by refusing overcoming their lusts (& just sever relationships instead). a. Let s just make sure we re not one of them, because the Lord needs men & women in the church with two hands & two eyes to carry on His work. [What is the harm in a little lust?] C. Lust leads to forgetfulness. 1. What you think about, you become; if one uses his mind to lust, he will be an adulterer, Jesus said. Proverbs 23:7 7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. 1. Lust causes you to forget that your body is a living sacrifice to God. Romans 12:1-2 12 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living & holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good & acceptable & perfect. 2. Lust causes you to forget that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which must not be defiled by sexual sins. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 18 Flee [sexual] immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, & that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 6
[So what is the harm in a little lust? There s a lot of harm! There are no harmless sins. But a little lust can often do the greatest harm.] III. HOW DO WE OVERCOME LUST? A. Work at it. 1. In the next chapter Jesus teaches us to pray, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matt 6:13). 2. How could we in all honesty say those words to our Father, unless we were determined to stay out of Satan s way? 3. That may be partly was Jesus meant when He said, tear in out & throw it from you. 4. It takes a lot of work to overcome lust, to stay out of the path of temptation. 5. Many would say, What s the big deal, it can t affect you salvation. 1 Corinthians 9:27 27 but I discipline my body & make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. Colossians 3:5 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, & greed, which amounts to idolatry. KJV 5 Mortify [put to death] your members which are upon the earth; fornication [sexual immorality], uncleanness [impurity], inordinate affection [passion], evil concupiscence [evil desire, lust], & covetousness, which is idolatry: B. Remember God s presence. 1. Here s some good advice: What you are afraid to do in someone s presence, be afraid to think in God s presence. 7
a. And since God is ever-present, we should be afraid to think about lust. C. Refuse to feed the beast (the flesh). 1. And we feed the flesh through the eyes, the ears, & the lips. Romans 13:14 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, & make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 22 abstain from every form of evil. [Christians must be extra cautious & discerning these days in what they allow their little eyes to see. We are to live in the Spirit & walk in the Spirit, & when we do then we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal 5:16; Rom 8:9-14).] CLOSING A. One reason this instruction is so important, is because of what Jesus talks about next (Matt 5:31-32). B. If Christian Boys & Girls will learn to abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul (1 Pet 2:11). 1. That will go a long way in helping them choose the right mate. 2. And once chosen, they will have learned the discipline necessary to keep that person. C. The destruction of lust takes place in the mind, & when it is destroyed a whole new world opens up: Heaven 8
Psalms 24:3-5 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands & a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood & has not sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord & righteousness from the God of his salvation. D. A Christian can best overcome lust & bypass adultery by filling his mind with things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtue, praiseworthy meditate on these things (Phil 4:8, NKJV) 9