Introduction:
2 Kings 18:4 – He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery (Matthew 5:27-30):
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Adultery Is a DEVASTATING SIN. (Matt 5:27–28)
Matthew 15:19 – For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Titus 1:15 – To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
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Adultery has DIRE CONSEQUNECES. (Matt 5:29–30)
1 Corinthians 6:9–10 – Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
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Adultery requires DRASTIC MEASURES. (Matt 5:29–30)
Romans 13:14 - But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 – And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Adultery Is a DEVASTATING SIN. (Matt 5:27–28)
Matthew 15:19 – For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
Titus 1:15 – To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
Adultery has DIRE CONSEQUNECES. (Matt 5:29–30)
1 Corinthians 6:9–10 – Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Adultery requires DRASTIC MEASURES. (Matt 5:29–30)
Romans 13:14 - But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 – And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:04
Open up those Bibles to Matthew chapter 5.
00:07-00:14
If you're visiting with us today, we are going through the Sermon on the Mount verse by verse.
00:19-00:21
And happy Mother's Day.
00:23-00:42
The title of today's sermon is "Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery." We go where the text goes, okay?
00:44-00:44
That's what we do.
00:46-00:48
We go where the text goes.
00:49-00:50
So let's do that.
00:50-00:56
I'd like you to bow your heads please and just pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word.
00:57-01:09
And I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what is an extremely challenging passage.
01:09-01:10
Let's pray.
01:17-01:21
Father in heaven, we thank you for your Word.
01:23-01:25
We're not going to shy away from it.
01:26-01:33
We just heard two testimonies of the way that your Word has transformed lives.
01:34-01:37
We're going to hear at least four more in the next service.
01:40-01:47
That's why we just want to go after your Word, God, because we believe that your word does your work, because that's what you said.
01:49-01:51
And that is certainly what we've seen.
01:52-02:01
So Father, I pray for all of us here today, all those who are gonna be listening, watching the stream or downloading the podcast.
02:02-02:11
Father, I pray that you would bring revival in each and every heart in a way that greatly glorifies your name.
02:12-02:14
We pray in Jesus' name.
02:14-02:18
And all of God's people said, Amen.
02:18-02:18
Amen.
02:19-02:20
Matthew chapter five, are you there?
02:21-02:31
In Numbers chapter 21, you have Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land.
02:32-02:37
And Israel complained and grumbled against God, against Moses.
02:37-02:45
And the Lord sent these fiery serpents who, And these serpents bit some of the Israelites and many of them died.
02:47-02:48
Well, they repented.
02:49-02:57
And God told Moses to put a bronze serpent on a pole.
02:58-03:06
And if the Israelites, when they were bitten by one of the snakes, if they looked at this bronze serpent, they would live.
03:08-03:19
Well then fast forward, Israel in the land established and they had kings, some kings were very bad and some kings were just not as bad.
03:20-03:22
All right, can you relate to that at all?
03:25-03:32
And Hezekiah was a king who was not as bad and he brought a lot of reforms to Israel.
03:34-03:37
Here's one, we put this verse up from 2 Kings 18.
03:38-03:45
Hezekiah says, "He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah.
03:45-03:50
And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made.
03:51-03:55
For until those days, the people of Israel had made offerings to it.
03:57-04:02
It was called Nahushtin." See what happened?
04:03-04:04
You see what happened?
04:04-04:17
people took a blessing that God gave them for their benefit, and they turned it into an idol.
04:21-04:26
And that's exactly how it is with physical intimacy.
04:29-04:43
It is a gift that God gave to people those in the covenant of marriage, but we have turned it into an idol.
04:45-04:51
So in your outline today, this is it.
04:52-04:55
Thou shall not commit adultery.
04:58-05:00
I want you to write some things down.
05:02-05:05
Number one, write this down.
05:05-05:07
Adultery is a devastating sin.
05:10-05:12
Adultery is a devastating sin.
05:16-05:18
Now just that statement alone, it's a hard sell.
05:20-05:24
Because we are a sex-obsessed culture.
05:25-05:30
We've taken this gift from God, and we've perverted it, and we worship it.
05:32-05:36
I mean, do I have to point that out at all?
05:37-05:43
Like, look at all the homosexuality madness, all the transgender stuff.
05:46-05:48
And you're like, "Yeah, you know what, Pastor Jeff?
05:48-05:48
You're right.
05:48-05:49
You're right.
05:50-06:03
It's bad out there." And I would say, "Church, it's bad in here." I was reading some polls for what they're worth.
06:04-06:10
But according to one poll, one half of self-identifying Christians believe that casual sex is okay.
06:13-06:15
Consenting, but not in a relationship.
06:15-06:16
They believe that's okay.
06:16-06:19
Half think that's all right.
06:20-06:20
What?
06:23-06:25
I read a poll about pornography use.
06:26-06:30
Among non-Christian men, 65%.
06:33-06:35
Like, yeah, that's pretty bad.
06:36-06:39
Christian men, 64%.
06:45-06:49
In the same poll, lest you think, yeah, creepy men, right?
06:50-06:53
Creepy men, same poll, 51% of women.
06:56-07:02
And you know, at this point, you could be like, well, look, look, Jeff, we're only human.
07:02-07:03
Everyone does it.
07:04-07:05
It's not hurting anyone.
07:09-07:14
Well, according to Jesus, it's a devastating sin.
07:15-07:17
Look at verse 27, Matthew 5.
07:18-07:25
Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." Stop there.
07:26-07:28
Adultery, what is adultery?
07:29-07:34
Well, the technical term is defined as intercourse with another person's spouse.
07:36-07:42
But it's become a catch-all term for relations with anyone who is not your spouse.
07:42-07:49
And you're going to see in this passage, it's very clear that that's how Jesus was using the term in the most general sense possible.
07:51-07:55
You go to Exodus 20 in verse 14, you see that it's the seventh commandments.
07:56-08:05
You go to Deuteronomy 22 in verse 22, you'll see that under the law in Israel, adultery was punishable by death.
08:07-08:09
And I don't have time to get into it this morning.
08:10-08:12
We've done a whole sermon series on this by the way.
08:13-08:23
But I just encourage you, if you're ready to just brush it off as all church people just making a big deal out of nothing, Read Proverbs 5, 6, and 7 sometime.
08:24-08:28
And you will see that adultery is a devastating sin.
08:31-08:34
I heard one pastor this past week call it a sin for fools.
08:35-08:37
And I think that's a very good description.
08:39-08:42
Adultery, it's devastating.
08:43-08:49
I mean, it wrecks you, destroys your reputation.
08:50-08:54
It affects your relationship with your spouse, relationship with your kids.
08:55-08:57
Oh, and the other person, what about them?
08:57-08:58
It affects...
08:58-09:01
Now, if they're married, it affects their relationship with their spouse.
09:01-09:06
If they have kids, it affects their kids and what it's done to their reputation.
09:06-09:13
But the devastation of adultery is way deeper than that.
09:14-09:15
Look at verse 28.
09:16-09:40
Jesus says, "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Do you notice verse 27, verse 28, Jesus said, "You have heard, but I say to you." What was Jesus doing?
09:40-09:42
Pastor Taylor talked about this last week.
09:42-09:43
Same thing with murder.
09:44-09:45
Same thing.
09:45-09:52
Jesus was contrasting their definition of sin with God's definition of sin.
09:53-09:57
Because their definition of sin in Jesus' day was all about externals.
09:58-10:05
So when they hear adultery, they're thinking only in terms of the physical act with another person, that's it.
10:05-10:07
That alone is adultery.
10:08-10:16
And Jesus says, "No, you're not." You're not taking it far enough in your understanding.
10:16-10:20
It's a heart issue, like murder.
10:21-10:25
You don't have to actually kill someone to be considered a murderer in the eyes of God.
10:25-10:27
Jesus is saying the same thing about adultery.
10:27-10:34
You don't have to physically be with another person to be an adulterer.
10:40-10:41
Look at verse 28 again.
10:42-11:11
He says, "I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Now you have to understand this looking with lustful intent, It's not an accidental glance.
11:12-11:13
Okay?
11:14-11:21
This is literally in the process of continuing to look.
11:23-11:30
It's looking in such a way that you are fueling your sexual imagination.
11:35-11:38
And when that happens, the deed's already done.
11:40-11:42
Adultery has happened.
11:44-11:51
Now, listen, I don't want you to misunderstand, because it's even worse than you think it is.
11:52-12:07
Listen, Jesus did not say, Jesus did not say that looking at a woman with lustful intent causes you to commit adultery in your hearts.
12:11-12:19
Jesus said looking at a woman with lustful intent means you already committed adultery in your heart.
12:24-12:35
Jesus is saying that you looked with lustful intent because it was already in your heart to commit adultery.
12:40-12:42
See, I think this is where a lot of people get this mixed up.
12:43-13:03
It's not, "Oh, I was going about my business "and I just stumbled across this woman "and I looked at her and that is what caused me to lust." That's not the extent of it.
13:04-13:08
It's this, I have an adulterous heart that's looking for a woman to lust over.
13:10-13:10
See the difference?
13:11-13:15
The look did not cause the lust.
13:17-13:21
It is the lust that caused the look.
13:22-13:23
Do you see the difference?
13:25-13:30
Look, look, I can't, there's no way I can overstate this.
13:31-13:33
that this is a real problem.
13:34-13:40
And this is a real problem that people sitting here have right now and are not dealing with it.
13:42-13:46
You're not an adulterer because of something you do, it's who you are.
13:46-13:47
It's a hard thing.
13:49-14:26
You see with adultery, like murder, as Pastor Taylor talked about last week, before it's an act, even if it doesn't become an act, act. That is what is in your hearts. This is the heart of the law. Jesus said in Matthew 15, 19, "For out of the heart, out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, Sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
14:26-14:27
You see that?
14:28-14:33
The sinful acts are symptoms of a sinful condition.
14:33-14:39
Committing the act of adultery, those are the leaves on the tree that has the root of an adulterous heart.
14:42-14:52
And if you're sitting here still somehow magnanimously saying in your head, "I would never commit the act.
14:53-14:56
I did not and I would never commit the act of adultery.
14:59-15:08
But if that sin is in your mind, if that sin is constantly in your imagination, you have a real problem.
15:11-15:14
That's why pornography is such a big business.
15:14-15:14
Why?
15:15-15:19
Because sinful hearts are literally searching for it.
15:22-15:33
And you have to understand that if that's your issue, the sin started even before you got online, because it's in here.
15:38-15:41
It's a devastating condition to live in.
15:44-15:54
You're unable to live a holy and upright life because when your heart is full of adultery, It just, it perverts everything.
15:57-15:58
Like consider Titus 1:15.
15:59-16:00
Look at this verse.
16:02-16:23
Paul says, "To the pure, all things are pure, "but to the defiled and unbelieving," meaning your heart is full of perversion and sin, "to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
16:24-16:25
Do you know what that means?
16:26-16:36
That means that when you're in that latter condition, you cannot look at another woman purely.
16:38-16:44
You cannot see another woman as a sister, as a mom, as even just another human being.
16:47-16:52
That when this is where your heart is, every woman that you encounter, you're evaluating.
16:55-17:04
And many become objects in your minds and hearts of fantasies, and lust just becomes all-consuming.
17:09-17:15
And the people that live in this defiled state don't even see a problem.
17:18-17:25
gift of marital intimacy has become an idol that you use to gratify your flesh.
17:26-17:31
So see, Jesus is telling us out the gate, this is a devastating condition.
17:33-17:44
Secondly, thou shalt not commit adultery. Not only is adultery a devastating sin, but adultery has dire consequences. Adultery has dire consequences.
17:47-18:50
Look at verses 29 and 30. These two verses kind of saying the same thing, but this is some of the most startling stuff Jesus ever said, in my opinion. He says, "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. 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." And you're like, "Man, gouge out your eye? Like cut off your hand? Like If that's the part you're focusing on, then you have completely missed the point.
18:53-18:55
Because neither of those things are extreme.
18:57-19:01
They're not extreme at all compared to hell.
19:03-19:07
Notice twice Jesus says, "Thrown into hell." Thrown into hell.
19:07-19:09
What's the obvious implication?
19:09-19:10
We get it.
19:11-19:12
We get what he's saying.
19:12-19:17
Jesus is saying here that people with adulterous hearts go to hell.
19:22-19:25
If you're still not convinced, Paul backs this up.
19:25-19:28
1 Corinthians 6, verses nine through 10.
19:28-19:38
He says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous "will not inherit the kingdom of God?" Meaning go to heaven, meaning go to hell.
19:40-19:43
He says, "Do not be deceived.
19:43-20:05
Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." Your priority in this life, more than anything, should be preparing yourself for eternity.
20:11-20:12
Are you doing that?
20:15-20:17
Because the Bible says your decisions in this life matter.
20:19-20:21
And someday you're going to stand before God.
20:22-20:31
So if lust is a problem for you, if lust characterizes you, and look, I can't answer that.
20:35-20:43
I can't answer that for you, but you know if this sin consumes who you are.
20:44-20:47
And if it characterizes you, there are consequences.
20:49-20:56
As we talked about before, here and now, apparently, obviously, easily seen, there are consequences for adultery.
20:57-21:02
But Jesus says there's also consequences when you take your last breath.
21:05-21:06
Adultery has dire consequences.
21:12-21:15
So let's talk about the other big thing in these verses.
21:15-21:20
Number three, adultery requires drastic measures.
21:23-21:24
Look at them again.
21:25-21:29
He says, "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.
21:30-21:34
For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
21:34-21:39
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
21:39-21:44
For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
21:46-21:51
Weren't you just blessed by the obedience of those who were baptized today?
21:52-21:54
Wouldn't you say obedience is a wonderful thing?
21:57-21:58
Awesome.
22:00-22:00
Who's first?
22:04-22:08
I mean, didn't Jesus just say, if your hand causes you to sin, to cut it off?
22:09-22:10
Who's first?
22:11-22:14
We're not gonna do it over the tub 'cause we get more baptisms in the next service.
22:19-22:21
And you're like, yeah, what about the other verse?
22:21-22:22
Oh, don't worry.
22:25-22:26
We can take care of the eye too.
22:29-22:30
We'll get Pastor Taylor up here.
22:30-22:31
We'll do them both at the same time.
22:34-22:35
You won't know.
22:37-22:40
You won't even know what's going on when both of them are happening at the same time.
22:43-22:51
And you're like, man, gouging out your eye and cutting off your hand.
22:54-22:57
Man, that sounds drastic.
23:00-23:02
Oh, it absolutely is.
23:04-23:06
Maybe even more than you think.
23:06-23:14
Because you see, Jesus was speaking to Jews, and the Jews viewed the right greater than the left.
23:15-23:20
Just as a general thing, if you're left-handed, I don't need any hate emails, okay?
23:22-23:24
That's just the way it was, right?
23:24-23:26
Sitting at the right hand, my right hand man.
23:27-23:29
The idea was right is better than left.
23:31-23:41
So your right eye and your right hand and the Jewish mindset, those were the two most important things that you own.
23:43-23:58
What Jesus is saying is this, there is nothing that is too important to eliminate from your life if it is causing you to sin.
24:02-24:04
Adultery is destructive.
24:05-24:06
It's enslaving.
24:06-24:08
It's condemning.
24:11-24:13
We gotta deal with that.
24:14-24:16
We have to deal with it.
24:16-24:16
Do you believe that?
24:20-24:21
Whatever.
24:24-24:37
Listen, whatever it is that feeds the lust in your heart, no matter how important that thing is, it has got to go.
24:40-24:41
It's gotta go.
24:47-25:18
If you're feeding your lust through your phone or maybe a tablet, smash them up. And you're like, "But Pastor Jeff, I have the newest iPhone, you know, I spent a lot of money for that." It's not worth hell. Is it your laptop? Smash it up.
25:22-25:28
Or take your laptop to the kitchen and only use it around your family.
25:30-25:33
You're like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, my family's really nebby." Good.
25:35-25:36
So glad to hear that.
25:38-25:39
It's not worth hell.
25:44-25:56
Maybe for some of you, it's your social media accounts where you're having inappropriate relationships, conversations with people online, or looking at things through those that you shouldn't be looking at.
25:57-25:58
Delete them.
25:59-26:01
Delete those social media accounts.
26:02-26:07
You're like, "But Pastor Jeff, that's how I stay connected." Join a small group.
26:11-26:17
You're like, "But Pastor Jeff, the social media, that's just my leisure time." Take up pickleball.
26:19-26:20
It's not worth hell.
26:25-26:27
You know what, maybe we'll just take care of all this.
26:27-26:31
Call and cancel your internet, if it's a problem.
26:32-26:38
If it's leading you to feed this lust, Jesus says it has to go!
26:38-26:44
And you're like, "But Pastor Jeff, I need the internet for my job." Get a new job.
26:45-27:08
I will find you a job where you don't need the Internet because it's not worth hell. Maybe for some of you as we are approaching summer, maybe it's a membership in a public pool. Like, you know what, I go there Pastor Jim and I look at the women there and I gotta tell you, what did Jesus say?
27:11-27:13
You've got to get extreme here, people.
27:18-27:25
Like, "But Pastor Jeff, my pool membership, that's just kind of our thing, like we do in the summer." Swim at home.
27:27-27:31
Like, "But I don't have a pool at my house." Do you have a bathtub?
27:37-27:38
It's not worth hell.
27:40-27:45
And I know people are like, "Okay, Pastor Jeff, I hear what you're saying, "but I'm gonna be honest with you.
27:47-27:53
"It's gonna be kind of embarrassing "to have to explain to people "why I smashed my phone and canceled my internet.
27:54-27:56
"I'm gonna have to explain to people why I did that.
27:57-28:22
"That's kind of embarrassing." I'll tell you what's gonna be more embarrassing than that is you not cutting off your sin, And someday you're gonna stand before God and God's going to say, "Do you remember the strangest Mother's Day sermon you've ever heard?" Why didn't you listen?
28:23-28:25
Why did you despise my word?
28:27-28:33
Why did you think following me was not worth cutting off the stuff that keeps you from following me with your whole heart?
28:34-28:35
Why did you find me not worthy?
28:40-28:49
Notice Jesus says, "It's better, it is better to lose your eye, lose your hand.
28:50-28:54
It's better." What's better than going to hell?
28:57-28:59
Literally anything.
29:02-29:08
Everything you have to lose for the sake of your soul is going to be worth it.
29:12-29:14
Romans 13-14.
29:16-29:16
Same thing.
29:17-29:18
Paul's saying the same thing.
29:19-29:23
Maybe not in as graphic terms as Jesus, but it's the same thing.
29:23-29:31
He says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.
29:33-29:34
Make no provision.
29:36-29:43
Take drastic measures to cut off anything that feeds the flesh.
29:46-29:48
It's like that old story I heard.
29:50-29:51
An old metaphor.
29:53-29:58
Maybe you've heard about the guy, He had a white dog and a gray dog.
30:00-30:07
And every time he put food out for them, the gray dog would whoop up the white dog, take all the food.
30:09-30:10
The white dog would get none.
30:12-30:17
After a while, the white dog not eating got weaker and weaker and weaker.
30:17-30:20
And the gray dog getting all the food got stronger and stronger and stronger.
30:21-30:38
guy said, "I gotta do something about this." So he put both the dogs on a leash, and for a month he only fed the white dog.
30:41-31:11
This isn't a real story, by the way. Don't call PETA. All right? But he only fed the white dog, the gray dog barely surviving. But after that time of only feeding the white dog and not the gray dog when he let them off the leash, now the white dog was strong because it was the one that got fed. And the gray dog was weak because it was the one that got starved.
31:13-31:18
And I think you see the obvious application.
31:21-31:24
The dog you feed is going to be the dominant dog.
31:27-31:30
And the dog you starve is going to be the weak dog.
31:32-31:36
See in this analogy, the white dog represents walking by the Spirit.
31:38-31:40
The gray dog represents walking in the flesh.
31:46-31:53
I think some of you are so weak because you're not feeding the Spirit, so to speak.
31:55-31:57
You're not into word.
31:57-31:58
You're not worshiping.
32:00-32:00
You're not praying.
32:02-32:03
You're not in fellowship.
32:05-32:08
You're not listening to good biblical podcasts.
32:11-32:12
You're starving that.
32:15-32:17
When instead you need to be starving the flesh.
32:18-32:21
Make no provision for the flesh.
32:22-32:26
Starve the adulterous heart by making no provision for it.
32:27-32:33
Whichever dog you feed is going to be the dog that is strong.
32:34-32:38
The dog that you don't feed is the dog that gets weak.
32:41-32:48
And you're like, man, Pastor Jeff, this sounds impossible.
32:52-32:54
Oh, it is, absolutely.
32:55-32:58
That's why, can we put Romans 13 back up there, please?
32:58-32:59
It is impossible.
33:00-33:14
Hence, the first phrase in this verse, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ." See, reformation is not going to work.
33:17-33:25
If your goal here is to just try to clean up your act, you're not going to get very far.
33:26-33:27
You need transformation.
33:29-33:35
You need the life of Christ in us to be able to make these choices.
33:37-33:44
Oh, and by the way, earlier we read, well, 1 Corinthians 6, we read verses nine and 10.
33:45-33:49
I'd like to go back and I'd like to look at the very next verse.
33:50-33:53
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
33:54-34:30
Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." But look at verse 11, "And such were some of you, that you were washed, you were sanctified, You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Spirit of our God.
34:33-34:43
I just want to ask you today, are you an "are" or are you a "were"?
34:44-34:52
Because today, today could be the most important day of your life, because today you can become I'm a worm.
34:54-34:56
I'd like you to bow your heads as the worship team makes their way back up.
34:58-35:00
I'd just like you to bow your heads.
35:02-35:03
And close your eyes.
35:04-35:06
Look, this is a between you and God thing here, alright?
35:13-35:17
There are some of you that have been trapped because you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
35:18-35:26
You don't have the power or resources this sin because you're living in the flesh, not by the power of His Holy Spirit, because you don't know.
35:30-35:35
Today can be the day that you receive Him.
35:35-35:36
And you know what?
35:36-35:37
We're baptizing in the next service.
35:38-35:46
Pastor Taylor would be thrilled to be able to baptize you because you've repented from your sin and turned to Jesus Christ.
35:52-36:52
But if you, heads bowed, eyes closed, if you're sitting here and you're like, "You know what, Pastor, I am a believer in Jesus Christ, but I'm honestly, I'm stuck in this sin." I just want to ask you, Christian stuck in this sin, why in the world would you indulge sin that Jesus died for. Today, Christian, you need to repent. Today, Christian, you need to do some cutting. Father in heaven, I just simply ask today that you open up the eyes of our hearts that we don't look at this sin from a worldly perspective because the world celebrates it. Father, let us see this sin from your perspective. It's a horrible sin.
36:56-37:43
Father, let us see the consequences that Jesus laid out for us. There is eternal separation from you for the heart that chooses to live in lust instead of walking by the Spirit. Father, I pray that you would give us the wisdom, you would give us the strength, and you would give us the faith to be able to cut some things today. It's ultimately going to bless us to be free from this bondage, but the end goal of all things, Father, is for the glory of your name.
37:44-37:59
So, Father, I pray that you would glorify your name through a work of your Holy Spirit, bringing people to you in repentance and bringing your people back from a willing bondage to sin.
38:01-38:03
We praise you, Father.
38:04-38:08
Let our life, our very life be an act of worship.
38:11-38:15
In the way we repent, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:27-30
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Explain Matthew 5:28 in your own words.
What did Jesus mean by gouging out your right eye and cutting off your right hand (Matt 5:29-30)? What are some practical ways to apply this teaching?
Is Jesus saying a believer who commits adultery will go to hell? Who exactly is “thrown into hell”?
What would you say to a professing believer who confesses that they can’t break free from lusting?
Breakout
Pray for one another.