WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.540 Please take your seats and turn up Matthew 5, and we begin this evening at verse 27 for no 00:00:09.540 --> 00:00:14.939 ! other reason than it is the next section. As we go through, it follows where we were this morning, 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:25.120 ! if you were with us. Let's pray as we come to God's Word. Our Father, we ask in these moments that you 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:35.859 would speak and that we would listen, that we might be transformed more into the likeness of your Son. 00:00:36.760 --> 00:00:48.520 We pray this in His name. Amen. Well, the tabloid media love to unearth a scandal. They love it when 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:53.520 the scandal that they unearth is in the life of a public figure, and the bigger the profile, 00:00:53.520 --> 00:01:03.000 the more you can imagine the editor in his room just rubbing his hands or her hands. The bigger the 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:12.820 scoop, the more it gets them going. We can imagine when the news about Hugh Edwards came out that there 00:01:12.820 --> 00:01:19.379 were people just rubbing their hands, or that salacious expose about Matt Hancock. Do you remember 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:25.920 on the front of the Sun newspaper that awful image eighteen months, two years ago, whenever it was? And then 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:32.399 because social media takes that information, that story, to the ends of the known world and does it 00:01:32.399 --> 00:01:40.060 immediately, the pressure then is on the individual, and it drives the whole story to a crescendo known as the 00:01:40.060 --> 00:01:46.939 public statement. And whatever disgraceful thing they've done, there's usually a sullen face and some 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:58.019 platitudes that are really code for something like, this is really uncomfortable, and it's really 00:01:58.019 --> 00:02:05.479 unpleasant that I got caught. And then they'll often say something, but of course, this only involves their 00:02:05.479 --> 00:02:14.099 private life. There is, you see, as far as they're concerned, an area of life where they do the right 00:02:14.099 --> 00:02:21.180 thing and act in the right way, but there's also an area of their life where they set the rules. 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:29.419 And as far as the rest of us are concerned, that's none of our business. I'm not going to get into 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:36.620 the details of all of that, and we could talk about that in other contexts, but as we saw this morning, 00:02:36.620 --> 00:02:45.659 that separation between the inner person, the inner private life, and the outside, the public, 00:02:46.620 --> 00:02:54.000 is not something that Jesus permits. As far as Jesus is concerned, He wants to make clear in the 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:59.360 Sermon on the Mount that there is no such separation when it comes to the things of the kingdom of God. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:05.560 There isn't to be an outward self that keeps the rules and plays by the book, and an inner self that's 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:11.800 our business, an inner self that we can do what we like, and that's not up to you. We aren't actors. 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:19.100 Christians are not to be actors performing external obedience to God's commands while internally at the 00:03:19.100 --> 00:03:25.240 level of the heart, we're going our own way. We saw this morning how God cares about our inner life, 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:32.300 and so Jesus is pressing the law, the letter and the Spirit of the law. He's pressing that into the 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:38.480 corners of our hearts. He is preaching in the Sermon on the Mount a wholehearted, whole person, 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:45.400 whole life righteousness that exceeds the performative religion of the scribes and the Pharisees. 5 verse 20, 00:03:45.540 --> 00:03:51.439 it's such an important verse in understanding this sermon. A righteousness that comes from the heart, 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:59.280 a righteousness without which you cannot, Jesus says, enter the kingdom. Jesus is showing us what the intent 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:06.400 of the Old Testament law was and always has been. It is that it is to address issues of the heart, 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:13.579 and He's moving His point of attack from anger this morning to lust this evening, and He's making clear, 00:04:13.659 --> 00:04:18.920 as one ancient theologian said, it is not the fruit of adultery that He commands us to cast out, 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:28.040 but it's seed. It's not the fruit, it is the seed. So, going to the heart of sexual sin, Jesus tells us, 00:04:28.080 --> 00:04:38.180 point number one, lust is really dangerous. Lust is really dangerous, verses 27 to 28. 00:04:38.259 --> 00:04:43.420 You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone 00:04:43.420 --> 00:04:48.639 who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:58.540 In the Old Testament, Exodus 20 verse 14, adultery was explicitly forbidden. And Leviticus 20 verse 10, 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:06.040 the penalty was death. Adultery is the breaking of a marriage covenant, and the penalty for this is so 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:12.360 severe in part because of the number of commandments that it breaks. Think about it for a moment. Taking 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:19.280 another person's spouse involves at least, at least, theft, taking something that doesn't belong to you. 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:26.220 And that theft started with coveting, desiring to have something, or in this case, someone that belongs 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:34.060 to someone else. And you could definitely add lying all to that as well. It's always deceitful. It is a 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:42.220 devastating sin. One theologian says, this is why adultery is so serious. It shatters people's lives, 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:48.060 disrupts families, and despises God. It was therefore worthy of the death sentence. Such a sentence was 00:05:48.060 --> 00:05:55.160 intended to awaken God's people to the deadly nature of immorality. Jesus' hearers, as He preaches this 00:05:55.160 --> 00:06:03.460 sermon, would have known that adultery was serious. But by pressing it into the heart, as it were, pushing 00:06:03.460 --> 00:06:09.220 it back from the command back to the seed, not the fruit but the seed, He goes to the source of the 00:06:09.220 --> 00:06:15.080 problem and places lust on the same level. He makes the connection with the law's penalty explicit there 00:06:15.080 --> 00:06:24.020 in verses 29 and 30. If you leave this sin unaddressed, you will be, it's stark, He says, you will be 00:06:24.019 --> 00:06:38.399 thrown into hell. When you click or scroll or ogle or fantasize, this is the fire that you're playing with. 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:46.879 Now, as we saw this morning, the relationship between anger and murder, Jesus is not saying that 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:53.359 lustful thoughts, the issue in view here is really specific. It is a married man looking at objectifying 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:00.580 a woman other than his wife with sexual intent. He's not saying that doing that and actually the 00:07:00.580 --> 00:07:07.420 physical act of adultery are exactly the same thing. All sins, as I said this morning, are not equally 00:07:07.420 --> 00:07:14.199 serious in that sense. But again, He's saying that they share the same DNA because they both flow from a 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:20.779 heart that takes what doesn't belong to it. And it does it for its own pleasure. 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:28.920 Because of this, it's obvious that Jesus is speaking to more than just married men. This applies to all 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:38.000 of us. And let's be honest, has there ever been a time when this warning has been more relevant? 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:45.300 Well, there might have been. But what I'm trying to say is, it's very relevant to us today. The desire 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:52.360 for illicit sex has always been around, as has the objectification of the opposite sex. But lust and its 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:59.680 associated behaviors has probably never been as positively encouraged and accepted as it is in our 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:09.400 culture today. Hugh Hefner's Playboy was the catalyst in the 60s and 70s that paved the way for nudity to 00:08:09.400 --> 00:08:16.519 become more mainstream. We have the adverts on the billboards we have today in shopping centers, on the 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:23.399 sides of buses. Everywhere you look, we have adverts that are there partly because of Hefner's influence. 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:33.179 But more devastating, I think, is the way that the pornography that he championed has become normalized. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:42.779 The objectification, the degradation, and dehumanization that porn involves, and that, let's not pretend, that is 00:08:42.779 --> 00:08:52.319 exactly what it does. That has become normal, and in some cases, almost respectable in some corners of our culture. 00:08:53.399 --> 00:09:00.399 I have non-Christian friends who talk about it very openly like it's just a normal thing, 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:09.059 like it's okay. It's just part of life. And this normalization in the culture, as always happens, 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:14.459 as it is out there, it's inevitable that it will bleed into the church as well. It is becoming a 00:09:14.459 --> 00:09:19.480 growing problem for professing Christians. And I want to say, it's not just men. 00:09:19.480 --> 00:09:27.279 In a blog entitled, quote, Women Use Porn Too, Rebecca Hanna, I don't know who she is, but this 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:32.039 was her blog post, she talks about how widespread the problem is. She says, the moment a pastor 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:38.180 addresses only men on a Sunday morning to confront their porn problem, he is unintentionally leaving 00:09:38.180 --> 00:09:44.620 women in the dark with their sin. I've counseled women with varying degrees of damage from sexual sin, 00:09:44.620 --> 00:09:49.779 and now, thanks to the cultural normalization of pornography and the availability of Wi-Fi and 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:56.060 smartphones, statistics of porn users have not only soared, they've left no age group, demographic, 00:09:56.179 --> 00:10:06.620 or gender unharmed. Lust is at the root of so much that devastates marriages, families, churches, 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:16.620 and society at large. The most devastating thing about it is that it might lead you to hell. 00:10:20.419 --> 00:10:32.139 So as with anger, we have got to take it seriously. Don't be deceived by its promises. Don't believe the 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:39.539 lie that it holds out to you. A moment's gratification can lead to a lifetime of torment. 00:10:42.939 --> 00:10:47.620 Okay, but this is the world we live in. It's a pornified world where our lusts are being constantly 00:10:47.620 --> 00:10:54.779 played upon, where apps like Tinder promise us no frills, thrills, and where the prevailing cultural 00:10:54.779 --> 00:11:02.339 narrative is telling us that we have the right to do whatever our desires need. So all of this makes 00:11:02.339 --> 00:11:07.199 getting lust under control an almost impossibly difficult task. It's like a perfect storm for 00:11:07.199 --> 00:11:15.379 the man or woman who wants to be, Sermon on the Mount, pure in heart, which is why Jesus then says what He does. 00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:32.659 Verse 29 to 32, righteousness requires radical action. Jesus doesn't just tell us about the dangers. He follows 00:11:32.659 --> 00:11:40.179 up by telling us what we need to do in response. And again, He doesn't mess about. Verse 29, 00:11:40.179 --> 00:11:46.539 if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it's better for you to lose 00:11:46.539 --> 00:11:52.799 one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:57.239 you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than your 00:11:57.239 --> 00:12:04.059 whole body go into hell. These are vivid images to illustrate what is required in order to pursue 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:12.519 righteousness. In short, Jesus is saying, do whatever it takes, whatever it takes to avoid judgment. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:22.379 I want to highlight two clear principles here. First is this. He's saying, what He's saying here is, act at the 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:30.779 actual point of sin. Act at the actual point of sin. When Jesus speaks of the right eye and the right hand, I don't 00:12:30.779 --> 00:12:36.779 think it's arbitrary. He's being very specific. And I think what He's trying to do is tie it to the point 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:45.439 at which the sin is occurring. It is the point at which we are to address the sin that we struggle with. 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:51.319 See, when we are ensnared by a specific sin, particularly one that is pleasurable at the time, 00:12:51.319 --> 00:12:58.079 and most sins are like that. They promise joy and pleasure, and there is this momentary fleeting 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:07.639 pleasure. Hebrew says that…I'll not go there, but the point is that it is attractive to us because 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:13.400 it's pleasurable for a moment. When that's the case, we really don't want to give it up, and yet we feel 00:13:13.400 --> 00:13:19.660 guilty. We don't want to give it up, but we feel guilty, and so we try and make allowances for it. 00:13:19.660 --> 00:13:25.900 And those allowances might mean by being extra holy in other areas. So, we read our Bible more, 00:13:25.899 --> 00:13:30.379 and we pray more, and we're really fervent, and we give money to the church, and we live, 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:40.039 as it were, a holy life in other areas. Or we're extra repentant when it comes to other sins. We're 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:44.360 very open with other people about the fact that we've struggled with this particular sin, 00:13:44.679 --> 00:13:47.919 and we're really contrite about it and really repentant. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:55.539 We're not allowed to kid ourselves here. Confessing your anger or your laziness or your greed won't do 00:13:55.539 --> 00:14:01.919 the job. Whatever it is that is opening the door to draw the lust out of your heart, cut it out. 00:14:02.979 --> 00:14:11.439 Act at the actual point of sin. Second principle, act decisively and immediately. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:20.440 Tear it out and throw it away. Doesn't leave much room for maneuver, does it? Tear it out and throw 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:25.220 it away. Doesn't leave much room for maneuver. He's saying, do it now and do whatever it takes 00:14:25.220 --> 00:14:32.240 as soon as possible. It is painful to remove a limb. There is blood, and there is sweat, 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:37.540 and there is probably tears as well. People who lose limbs in accidents often speak of withdrawal 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:42.939 symptoms following the amputation. What Jesus is saying here sounds unbearable, 00:14:43.319 --> 00:14:48.339 but the drastic nature of the response is simply the gauge of the seriousness of the sin. 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:57.839 So, let's try and be practical here. What would it look like to act decisively and immediately 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:10.740 in this area? Well, social media is the doorway. Delete it. Get a dumb phone. Don't have internet 00:15:10.740 --> 00:15:18.720 in your house. If you're on the tube and you can't take your eyes off the person on the other side of 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:23.460 the carriage, get off the train at the next stop and wait for another train. Oh, but I might be late 00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:31.379 for work. Well, that's better. If you really fancy a work colleague and there's no way to avoid them, 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:39.600 quit your job. If you're in a relationship and you can't keep your hands off each other, split up 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:45.759 or get married as soon as you possibly can. It matters way more that you honor the Lord than 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:54.299 whatever the reason you might give as to why you can't. Say, well, this is all really inconvenient. 00:15:55.460 --> 00:16:01.439 It's not as inconvenient as a broken marriage. It's not. And I don't wish to sound flippant, 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:10.319 but it's not as inconvenient as the judgment of God. Cut it off and throw it away requires us to 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:16.580 sacrifice our comfort, our personal pleasure to put ourselves out for the sake of obedience. 00:16:19.560 --> 00:16:27.420 Why? Why in this cultural moment where the pursuit of instant pleasure is pushed all the time, 00:16:27.420 --> 00:16:31.660 that message bombards us from the minute we open our eyes in the morning. 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:39.179 why would anyone choose to inconvenience themselves? Because it might just save your soul. 00:16:42.699 --> 00:16:45.779 Righteousness that exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees' righteousness 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:50.620 is righteousness that goes to the heart, and it is really demanding. 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:59.419 You're inevitably tempted to think that you can't do what Jesus is calling you to do here. 00:16:59.419 --> 00:17:03.839 I know some of you are probably thinking this radical approach to purity just isn't realistic. 00:17:05.619 --> 00:17:11.180 If you act decisively, you think you'll be ruined. It'll mean that you'll have to bring the issue 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:16.299 that you've been keeping hidden out into the open, and you'll be humiliated, and you'll never get back 00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:26.859 from that. Well, it may well be costly, but that is the cost of obedience. And to stay where you are, 00:17:26.859 --> 00:17:32.639 to stay put, to stay in the dark, as it were, is to believe the lie that you'll be better off 00:17:32.639 --> 00:17:38.079 in the darkness. And that lie is a lie. It's never true. It is never better to stay in the darkness 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:45.579 than to come into the light. Jesus Christ died and rose again so that you could come into the light, 00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:56.379 and you could be free. I spoke to someone a number of years ago who had been ensnared in this kind of 00:17:56.379 --> 00:18:01.460 sin for a while. He got found out, and as a result, he lost his marriage and his reputation, and he had 00:18:01.460 --> 00:18:08.039 to leave his church. But he said to me that being forced to admit it, being forced to confess, being 00:18:08.039 --> 00:18:13.720 forced to repent, to come into the light, was the most painful thing that he's ever done, 00:18:13.720 --> 00:18:17.600 and yet it brought a sense of freedom that he hadn't felt for years. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:29.140 So gouge out your eye. Make the painful call now and save your life. 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:38.980 It is always better, always better to limp in obedience than to walk or to run in sin, always. 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:39.140 Always. 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:49.180 Jesus is calling those who will follow him to a purity of heart that requires us to set aside our 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:54.059 own desires for the sake of what is right. This is also what lies behind the teaching 00:18:54.059 --> 00:19:01.559 on divorce that follows. 31, it was also said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:06.839 certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:11.459 sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 00:19:13.419 --> 00:19:18.579 Again, back in Deuteronomy 24, Moses talked about certificates of divorce, and the scribes and 00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:23.859 Pharisees had adapted this teaching, and Jesus wants them to think again about what was being said there. 00:19:24.139 --> 00:19:28.879 What was happening was these religious leaders were allowing divorce for various trivial reasons. 00:19:29.419 --> 00:19:35.720 Divorce on demand. You might call it no-fault divorce. They were permitting that. And this kind of 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:42.420 approach was putting women in difficult situations. Did you see how a man divorcing his wife causes her 00:19:42.420 --> 00:19:49.600 to commit adultery, Jesus says? Do you see that? This is because it would be almost impossible for a 00:19:49.600 --> 00:19:54.759 formerly married woman in first-century Judaism to survive economically and socially without being 00:19:54.759 --> 00:20:03.339 married, and thus the assumption is that they would remarry and therefore sin. Now, we say questions of 00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:08.139 divorce and remarriage are always difficult. Every situation has layers of complexity, and even where 00:20:08.139 --> 00:20:12.959 sin is clear and admitted, the outworking is never simple, and it's always painful. 00:20:16.199 --> 00:20:21.559 Because I said this morning, there is much more to say on that issue than these verses cover. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:28.019 But the situation here is not complicated. It involves men who want to give up their wives because 00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:31.660 they desire because they lust after. They want someone else. 00:20:34.299 --> 00:20:37.039 Sinclair Ferguson, in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, says, 00:20:37.139 --> 00:20:41.639 According to some of the scribes, a man could divorce his wife if he grew cool towards her 00:20:41.639 --> 00:20:47.359 or if he didn't like her cooking. A law that was clearly intended to safeguard the women in Israel 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:50.379 was turned into an escape clause for self-indulgent men. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:54.339 That's why I've taken these two sections together. 00:20:54.339 --> 00:20:58.579 Jesus' point is that you can't just walk out of your marriage because you desire a change. 00:21:00.459 --> 00:21:03.859 You'll cause the wife that you leave to become an adulterer, 00:21:03.859 --> 00:21:07.699 and verse 32, you'll join her in that sin with whoever you move on to. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:14.000 That other woman might be awesome. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:20.519 That other guy may get you like your boring and difficult husband never did. 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:24.180 Both those things might be actually true. 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:28.940 But marriage is a covenant, so it doesn't matter. 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:36.160 And righteousness demands putting what you desire behind obedience to Christ every time. 00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:42.839 These are the radical demands of the kingdom. 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:51.240 But we mustn't, mustn't, mustn't lose sight of the fact that in embracing the self-sacrifice 00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:57.439 that He's calling us to here, we are simply following the path that Jesus Himself walked. 00:21:57.639 --> 00:22:01.039 And that isn't to say that we simply look to His example and try and copy it. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:05.259 It isn't to say that His unswerving commitment to obey the law of God, 00:22:05.459 --> 00:22:08.799 His steely commitment to embrace the suffering of the cross, 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:11.419 we look at that and we try and copy Him. 00:22:12.299 --> 00:22:14.740 No, it is to say, though, that when we look to Christ, 00:22:15.619 --> 00:22:18.099 when we look to Christ and His death and His resurrection, 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:22.960 the empty cross and the empty tomb that stand over the Christian life, 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:28.960 they speak to us of a mighty victory over every sin and every temptation. 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:34.119 And Jesus has done this in our place, on our account. 00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:36.459 And when we turn in faith to Him, 00:22:37.379 --> 00:22:42.039 when we confess that sin and come into the light, 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:50.099 He gives us His Holy Spirit to enable us to embrace the high demands of obedience 00:22:50.099 --> 00:22:52.379 that He is calling us to as citizens of His kingdom. 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:57.219 We do not struggle through this on our own. 00:22:57.220 --> 00:23:07.100 His power is at work through us to bring the righteousness that He demands. 00:23:08.360 --> 00:23:12.920 So, if you're married, resolve to stay that way. 00:23:13.620 --> 00:23:16.100 If these are good days for you in your marriage, 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:18.819 settle it now that nothing will breach your marriage vows. 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:21.559 So that when temptation or tough times do come, 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:24.360 you don't entertain ideas of giving up and wandering away. 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:30.899 If these are hard days and things have grown cool between you, 00:23:31.139 --> 00:23:32.819 there's someone who has caught your eye, 00:23:33.699 --> 00:23:35.219 confess this now. 00:23:36.259 --> 00:23:37.779 Confess it to a brother or a sister. 00:23:38.179 --> 00:23:40.939 Act decisively to gouge out that offending eye, 00:23:41.059 --> 00:23:42.059 whatever that requires. 00:23:42.299 --> 00:23:43.559 Speak to one of the elders here, 00:23:43.740 --> 00:23:45.579 and they will do whatever they can to help you. 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:50.139 Look, at the cross, 00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:54.000 Jesus paid for every sin, 00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:55.980 every single one. 00:23:56.060 --> 00:23:57.360 So, whatever you may have done, 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:59.600 including adultery and divorce, 00:23:59.820 --> 00:24:01.680 there is forgiveness in Christ. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:04.300 There is grace in Christ. 00:24:05.100 --> 00:24:08.540 And that means that there is redemption and healing through repentance. 00:24:09.020 --> 00:24:09.880 And whatever, 00:24:10.840 --> 00:24:13.000 however this word lands with you this evening, 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:15.460 wherever it meets you in your circumstances, 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:16.519 I want you to hear that. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.720 There is forgiveness and grace for every repentant sinner. 00:24:21.160 --> 00:24:24.120 And it isn't too late to turn back from your sin 00:24:24.120 --> 00:24:25.079 and to trust Christ 00:24:25.079 --> 00:24:27.519 and to receive that forgiveness and that restoration. 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:34.420 And if any of you are getting tangled up with someone who's married, 00:24:34.779 --> 00:24:37.559 it doesn't matter that he doesn't love her anymore 00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:40.579 or whatever the story that we've begun to convince ourselves of. 00:24:40.619 --> 00:24:42.139 It doesn't matter one bit that, 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:43.660 well, they're separated. 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:45.879 It's an inevitability. 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:47.180 No, get out. 00:24:48.539 --> 00:24:51.079 It may be that you're like Joseph with Potiphar's wife 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:52.079 and you're being pursued. 00:24:52.519 --> 00:24:55.339 It may be that you're the one encouraging it all. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.240 I don't know. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:57.220 It doesn't matter. 00:24:57.539 --> 00:24:58.420 Delete their number. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:24:59.960 Delete their social media. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:02.259 Delete them in every way possible that's legal. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:07.559 It is better, Sinclair Ferguson says, 00:25:07.640 --> 00:25:11.160 to lose a moment, a week, a month, a year of stolen pleasure 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:12.120 than to lose all. 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:14.640 Self, wife, family, grace, 00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:17.599 and finally be cast into hell for despising the word of the Lord. 00:25:21.779 --> 00:25:23.579 Remember how the Sermon on the Mount began, 00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:27.179 pointing us to the life of flourishing, 00:25:27.179 --> 00:25:28.919 of fullness. 00:25:31.199 --> 00:25:34.839 The life of purity is the life of flourishing. 00:25:34.939 --> 00:25:36.079 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:25:37.980 --> 00:25:39.599 Blessed are the pure in heart, 00:25:39.699 --> 00:25:42.119 for they will see God. 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:53.219 Blessed are the pure in heart, 00:25:53.219 --> 00:25:54.139 is the good life. 00:25:55.139 --> 00:25:55.879 Let's pray.