Well, we have an epidemic plaguing the American evangelical church.
I'm not sure if you're too familiar with the statistics regarding pornography among brothers
and sisters in the evangelical church, but it is wreaking havoc.
Some statistics say that 80% of Christian men regularly dabble in pornography.
That 50% of Christian men are actually addicted to sexual sin.
20% of Christian women are struggling with pornography.
64% of Christian families have an acute porn problem in their home.
And 40% of Christian pastors regularly consume pornography.
If these are true, we've got a problem.
I was recently at a pastor's conference, and we get this alarming statistic that of those
pastors staying in hotels, there was this amazing renting of explicit sexual videos among these
men.
Do you know why pornography is such a problem?
It's true, pornography is widespread.
It is easily available.
You just have to click, and it's there.
The real reason why pornography is causing such a problem within the church is this.
We have an appetite for it.
There's something within us that craves pornography.
That craves what God forbids sexually.
There's a reason why pornography is so prolific.
It's because within the human heart, there is a radical problem.
Sexual lust is deeply entrenched in the human heart.
And what Jesus will tell us this morning is, a radical problem requires radical action.
Brothers and sisters, if it's not pornography, it's something else sexually that you may be
experiencing the devastating effects of.
But praise be to God, He addresses this.
He has grace for you.
He's not intimidated by this.
In fact, He wants to deliver.
He wants to transform.
And so let's turn back to Matthew 5, verses 27-30.
And I'd just like to read through this passage one more time.
You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.
Remember, this is Jesus at His inaugural address.
You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.
But I say, I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
But 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 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's better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
This morning, what Jesus is telling us, if I just sum it up in one sentence, it would be this.
Our sexual lust, your sexual lust, my sexual lust is a radical problem requiring radical action.
And if what Jesus is saying is true,
then the majority of us in this room are adulterers at heart.
He gets right at it.
This morning, I want to make four points.
The first point and the fourth point are pastoral.
It's my love for you.
And then the second point and the third point are right from the text.
So the first point is this.
I want to give you kind of a big sweep of your Bible to kind of frame our sexual desires.
And then we'll go right to the text and see what Jesus has to say.
And he says, sexual lust is a radical problem.
That's the second point.
The third point is sexual lust requires radical action.
And then the fourth point is,
I'm going to make a plea this morning.
A pastoral plea to you.
So let's dig into this first point.
It's pastoral in nature.
It's the big sweep of Scripture.
I want you to know that your sexuality is good.
God created sexuality as a good gift.
And for us to see that,
you've got to go way back to Genesis 1.
If you turn back on your Bibles,
Genesis 1,
we read this in verse 26 and 27.
Then God said, let us make man in our own image.
And then down to 27.
So God created man in his own image.
In the image of God, he created him.
Male and female, he created them.
And God blessed them.
And God said to them,
be fruitful and multiply.
Fill the earth and subdue it.
And so, when we do this sweep of the Bible,
I want to show you three things.
God created your sexuality.
Sin distorts your sexuality.
But Christ came to redeem your sexuality.
So God created it.
In Genesis 1.27, we read that God made male and female in his own image.
And then he tells Adam and Eve to go, be fruitful and multiply.
You've got to realize,
God didn't make a mistake in the formation of the male body in the female body.
God designed our bodies the way they are,
both male and female.
And what I just want to make explicit is,
God formed us male and female.
And he doesn't value one over the other.
He doesn't think that the male body is better than the female body.
The female body is better than the male body.
Both male and female were created in the image of God.
Therefore, we have equal value in God's eyes.
But as we all know,
there are some major differences between men and women.
And in this point,
I just want to show you that our bodies,
the male body and the female body,
are intentionally designed,
and God created us as sexual beings.
It's not a mistake.
He designed us this way.
And that we're both image bearers of God.
And so by the end of the sixth day,
God looks at Adam and Eve,
what He's created.
Do you remember what He says?
That's good!
He's not embarrassed by our sexuality.
He designed our sexuality.
It's a gift to us all.
And later in Genesis 2,
God provides the only context
for human beings to enjoy sexual fulfillment,
and it is called marriage.
Remember Genesis 2?
God says to Adam,
it's not good to be alone.
He puts him in a deep sea,
pulls out a rib,
forms Eve,
and then in the first wedding ceremony,
God brings Eve to Adam,
and He hands her over to him.
It's like a dad walking a bride
down this aisle to the groom,
and God hands this bride over to Adam,
the first groom,
and He says,
she's yours.
You enjoy.
And it's in Genesis 1,
verses 24,
that we read the institution of marriage.
Chapter 2, verse 24.
Adam receives the woman from God,
and God flips around,
and He's the first pastor,
marrying the first couple.
And He's saying,
what I have joined together,
let not man separate.
This is good.
And so we read in 2.24,
therefore man shall leave his father
and his mother,
and hold fast to his wife,
and they shall become one flesh.
God has given humankind
the institution of marriage
as the exclusive place
to enjoy sexual fulfillment.
And just to clarify what marriage is,
we need to be circling back
to this regularly in our culture.
Biblically speaking,
marriage is an exclusive,
lifelong union
between one man and one woman
for life.
And it's all before God.
An exclusive union
between one man and one woman
for life
before God.
And it's in that context of marriage,
in that relationship alone,
God says,
enjoy this good gift
I've given you
called sexuality.
What I want you to see
from Genesis 1 and 2
is that from the beginning,
God designed sexuality
to be something to enjoy
and something that served
a wonderful purpose,
and God said it was good.
And He provided marriage
to enjoy it.
But we're all wondering
what went wrong.
What happened?
Why is there pornography?
Why is there sexual exploitation
of various kinds?
Why is there rape?
What went wrong?
Well, God created sexuality,
but sin distorted our sexuality.
When Adam and Eve sinned,
Genesis chapter 3,
they ushered into the human experience
sin.
And it infiltrated every aspect
of the human experience.
It didn't make us as bad
as we possibly can be,
but it affected everything
that we do
and everything that we think,
including our sexuality.
So here's what happens.
When someone, a sinner,
rejects God,
they're going to want
to live for something.
And oftentimes what happens
is this good thing called sex
takes the place of God
in somebody's life.
And so in Romans 1, verse 24,
when God hands people over
to the desires of their flesh,
that's what happens.
God is rejected.
Something else will be worshipped.
And something that is enjoyable
is often worshipped.
And so you see this distortion
of God's good gift
that sin brings about
on our sexuality.
This is why there are things
like pornography.
This is why there are
this deep lust in our hearts
to want things that are forbidden
by us, by God for us.
Sin is in our experience.
It's ushered in.
This is why we have to fight.
That's not the end of the story,
biblically speaking.
God created our sexuality.
Sin distorts our sexuality
with devastating effects.
But Christ came to redeem it.
Jesus came not only to forgive
the penalty of our sin,
but to rescue sinners
from the power of sin.
To transform them.
To transform a sexuality
that was lived for sin
and now to exercise a sexuality
lived for the glory of God.
If you want a really good place
in your Bible to go,
Romans chapter 6
is a wonderful treatment
of how we are to fight sin now
as believers.
But what I want to do
just with this little step
is to help you to think
about your sexuality.
As a Christian,
your sexuality is a good gift from God,
but your sin distorts it.
But your Savior is looking to redeem it.
And so every Christian in the room,
you can count on it,
God is looking to sanctify your sexuality.
He wants to make you more and more holy
in your sexuality.
And as you get more and more holy
in your sexuality,
there's more and more joy.
You experience God's goodness
in greater and greater measure.
So that is the first point
I wanted to make.
The big sweep.
Your sexuality is made by God,
distorted by sin,
and being redeemed by Jesus.
But now,
let's hear what Jesus has to say
about sexual lust.
Would you look at
Matthew chapter 5,
verses 27 through 28.
You've heard that it was said,
you shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you
that everyone who looks at a woman
with lustful intent
has already committed adultery
with her in his heart.
He's preaching the Sermon on the Mount.
This is his inaugural address.
And if you remember,
chapter 5, verse 17
is the main point of the sermon.
And he's saying,
I came not to abolish the law
and the prophets,
but to fulfill them.
The Old Testament's about me.
And I came to make sense of it all.
And he goes on to say
in chapter 5, verse 20,
he calls his followers
to live a righteousness
that exceeds that of the scribes
and Pharisees.
And what follows
is what that looks like.
What that looks like
when it comes to murder.
And this morning,
what that looks like
when it comes to adultery.
And so last week,
he talked about
the sixth commandment.
This week,
he's addressing
the seventh commandment.
And the seventh commandment is,
you shall not commit adultery.
And Jesus,
as in his messianic role,
is saying this to us,
let me clarify for you
this adultery thing.
What we're going to see here
is that Jesus
is going to say
that the seventh commandment
not only forbids
the physical act of adultery,
but it forbids
the sexual lust
at the root of adultery.
The seventh commandment
addresses the radical problem
of sexual lust.
And so we see that
in verses 27 and 28.
Jesus making a huge clarification.
Jesus even correcting
the teachers of the day.
The Jewish teachers of the day
were limiting the scope
of the seventh commandment
to just the physical act of adultery.
It was what they were doing
with murder as well,
just limiting it
to the shedding of blood.
And Jesus came to knock
down the walls
that were built up
around that commandment.
And so what Jesus says here,
he's not denying
the sinfulness
of the physical act
of adultery.
That's wrong.
And by the way,
what makes adultery,
the sinful act,
the physical act sinful,
is that it breaks
the marriage covenant
between a man and a woman.
It breaks that exclusive
lifelong union
between one man
and one woman.
So when a husband
seeks sexual gratification
with someone other
than his wife,
he separates
what God has joined together.
He breaks the exclusive union
between one man
and one woman
before God.
And so Jesus isn't denying
the seriousness
of the physical act.
He's actually upholding that.
What he's doing is
he's taking his 10-pound
messianic sledgehammer
and he's smashing down the walls
people build up around it
to say this only applies
to the physical act of adultery.
He's saying no, it doesn't.
The seventh commandment
gets at the root cause
of adultery.
It's much,
it goes much deeper.
But I say,
whoever looks at a woman
with lustful intent
has committed adultery
with her in his heart.
Jesus is shining
the piercing light
of the seventh commandment
into the deep depths
of our hearts,
even into our imaginations.
So if you're following Jesus here,
what he's doing is this.
He's locating
the root cause
of adultery
not outside of us,
but inside of us.
He's exposing
our sexually explicit
and sinful thoughts.
He's exposing
our imaginations.
When Jesus says,
whoever looks at a woman
with lustful intent,
he's locating sin
within us,
in our desires.
in our hearts.
Now remember,
a Jew living
in the ancient Near East
thought of one's heart
as the seat
of your emotions
and your thinking
and your will.
It was the control center
of your life.
And so for Jesus
to say these words,
the heart includes
your imagination.
We tend to think
of our imagination
between our ears.
Jesus would locate it
in the heart.
So the lustful intent
that Jesus is talking about
is an outworking
of your heart.
It includes
your imagination.
The lustful intent
Jesus is speaking of
is sexual lust.
And when you sexually lust
after someone
not your spouse,
you commit adultery
with your imagination
in your heart.
Years ago,
I gave a talk
on this subject
at a church.
And after the service,
I had a man
in his mid-80s
come up to me.
And he was unable
to physically enjoy
sex with his wife.
But he came up to me
and he said,
do you know what
the most powerful
sexual organ
of the human being is?
And I was like,
what?
He said,
the imagination.
Your heart.
Let me make a couple
clarifications.
Sexual lust
is not simply
attraction,
being attracted
to someone.
It's very possible
to be attracted
to someone else
without lusting
after them.
That's not what
Jesus is talking about.
Another clarification
is this,
and this is something
you've got to cut
finally.
Sexual lust
is not
the temptation
to lust.
Let me talk about it
in terms of
taking a second look.
Have you ever been
somewhere
and someone
catches your eye
and you're kind of like,
if I look again,
it's not going to go well.
And so,
you're being tempted
to take a second look
and you're being
tempted to engage
someone with
your imagination
and bring them
to yourself sexually.
You know what I'm
talking about?
Taking the second look?
There is a difference
between being
tempted
to take a second look.
That's not lust.
And then actually
taking the second look.
That is lust.
You see the difference?
Sexual lust
is conceived
in your heart
when you
yield your
imagination
over to
gratify
your sinful
sexual desires.
That's when
lust takes place.
And if you're like me,
you're thinking,
that happens
much more
than I care to admit.
So Jesus is saying
that if there's a guy
who takes a second look
because he wants
to sexually engage
a woman with his
imagination,
that guy has just
committed adultery
in his heart
and he may be
on the highway.
He may be walking
out of Menards.
He may be walking
with his wife
into a restaurant.
It takes place
in the heart.
Are you
picking up
on the radical
nature
of what Jesus
is saying?
Are you feeling
this?
The word radical
comes from a Latin
word which literally
means
the root
of something.
The root cause,
the essential
nature of something.
And what Jesus
is saying here
is that
the essential
nature of adultery
is sexual lust
which resides
in the heart
of men and women.
Your imagination
generates
your imagination.
You need
to be careful
of what you set
your imagination on.
Because not only
are you aware
of your imagination,
your God
is aware
of your imagination.
So let me
say it this way.
Proverbs 5.21
For a man's
ways
are before
the eyes
of the Lord.
For a man's
ways
both externally
and internally
are before
the eyes
of the Lord.
God
sees
everything.
So think about
it this way.
At this moment,
our God
is completely
aware of
every thought
of every heart
of the 7.4
billion people
on the planet
right now.
He doesn't have
a hard time
processing things.
He's fully aware
of it.
He's fully cognizant
of it
right now.
He knows
the thoughts
of your heart.
And so what Jesus
is doing,
he's making
an extraordinary
claim.
He's saying
even
your thoughts
you will be
held accountable
for
before God.
Your imagination
will be held
accountable
on that day.
He knows
the ways
of your heart.
But here's
the good news.
He's in it
to purify
your heart.
Blessed are
the pure
of heart.
He wants
to purify
your heart.
And so
far
we just
looked at
sexual
lust
as a
radical
problem.
It's deep
within you.
Jesus is
exploring
our
imaginations.
But now
let's turn
to verses
29 and 30
where we
see
sexual
lust
requires
radical
action.
It's a
radical
problem
and it
requires
radical
action.
Look at
verses 29
and 30.
If your
right eye
causes you
to sin
tear it
out and
throw it
away.
That's
pretty
extreme
don't
you
think?
Look at
verse 30.
And if
your right
hand
causes you
to sin
cut it
off and
throw it
away.
That's
pretty
extreme
don't
you
think?
Is
Jesus
actually
calling
his
followers
to
self
mutilation?
No.
But he
is using
extreme
language
to make
a really
important
point.
And we
cannot
miss
that
important
point.
And so
what Jesus
is using
with this
very extreme
language,
these radical
commands,
is that he's
saying do
whatever you
got to do
in order to
deny sexual
lust from
taking root
in your heart.
Do whatever
you have to
do.
And so that's
the cut off
language.
That's the
gouted out
language.
That's the
throw away
language.
Do whatever
you need
to do
to keep
your heart
from
sexually
lusting.
From
breaking the
seventh
commandment.
This is
radical
and extreme.
The key
phrase here
is
cause you
to sin.
You see
that in
verse 29?
If your
right eye
causes you
to sin.
Verse 30,
and if your
right hand
causes you
to sin.
That word
cause you
to sin.
We get the
word scandal
from that
word.
Scandalized.
Scandalous.
And its
original meaning
was a
trigger to
a trap.
That's what
a scandal
was.
The trigger
of a trap.
And so what
Jesus is saying
here is don't
let your
right eye
trigger the
trap of lust
in your
heart.
Don't let
your right
hand trigger
the trap of
lust in your
heart.
Do whatever
you need to
do to keep
that from
happening.
The extreme
problem requires
extreme action.
Jesus is
saying don't
look at or
touch what
will cause you
to sin in
your heart.
In fact,
you've got to
get rid of
it.
He's soberly
recognizing how
our eyes and
our hands can
provide opportunities
for our hearts
to lust.
lust.
So let me
give you some
examples.
Let me help
start you
think, okay,
where this
might show up
in your life.
And I'm
going to ask
you to a
humble honesty
right now.
Be as
honest with
yourself as
you can.
Because that
is a poverty
of spirit.
It will result
in you mourning,
but you will
be comforted.
Have you
ever
thumbed
through and
looked at a
magazine or
a book that
is sexually
explicit, that
turns your
heart to
lust?
What Jesus
is saying is
get rid of
it.
Don't put
your hand on
it.
Don't put
your eyes on
it.
Get rid
of it.
Are you
pressing the
remote control
to go to
channels to
set your eyes
on things that
God forbids
and will just
entice you to
lust sexually
in your heart?
What are you
watching on
demand?
What are you
watching on
Netflix?
You got cable?
What are you
doing?
Where are you
going?
Get rid of
it.
If it's
causing you
to stumble,
get rid of
it.
That's what
Jesus is
saying.
Are you
clicking on
websites or
apps that
are pornographic
in nature or
that tempt you
to lust?
You know, it
might not be
explicitly
pornographic,
but you're
there and
when you're
there, it
stirs lust in
your heart.
Get rid of
it.
Be honest.
Get rid of
it.
What Jesus
is getting at
is this whole
idea of
starving out
sin from
your life.
Don't feed
it.
Don't give
it an
opportunity to
flourish.
Don't fuel
it.
Starve it.
And so if
these are
areas or
other areas
that you
know of,
you're going
to with
your eyes
in your
hand and
are fueling
lust,
get rid of
it.
This is
the radical
repentance
Jesus is
calling his
citizens to.
So starve
it out.
But there's
another thing,
another radical
act that I
want to point
you to right
now that has
another effect.
There's one
thing to
starve sin
out.
There's
another thing
to crowd
sin out
because your
heart is
delighting in
something wonderful.
And when you
delight in
something wonderful,
you start to
limit the
space for
lust to
take root.
And so in
order to help
you not only
starve sin
out, but to
crowd sin
out, I want
to point you
to another
radical action
that was done
for you.
If you think
gouging out
your eye or
cutting off
your hand is
extreme, how
about this for
extreme?
How about this
for radical?
The sinless
son of God
going to the
cross to bear
the penalty and
power of your
sin.
How's that for
extreme?
How's that for
radical?
That the
holy God of
the universe
would take on
human flesh and
die in your
place to set
you free.
That is an
extreme radical
kind of love.
In fact, that
is a radical
power unleashed
for people.
You may have
been sitting
here for the
last 30
minutes thinking,
Jesus, if
this is true,
if this is true,
what you're saying
about the nature
of sinful lust,
if this is true,
I'm undone.
I'm shown to be
what I am.
I'm an adulterer
at heart.
If that's you,
if you're
realizing this,
that even your
imagination
condemns you,
you need to hear
this.
Jesus died
for you.
Jesus went to
the cross and
he suffered all
of God's wrath
for all of your
sexual sin.
All of it.
And then he was
raised from the
dead to give you
the power to
overcome sexual
sin in your
life.
That is a
radical love
and it's a
radical power
unleashed by the
living God at
the cross.
His extreme
act of grace
on your behalf
enables you
to live
an extreme
life for
his namesake
regarding your
sexuality.
So in light of
this extreme
grace,
God has shown
us in Christ,
when you think
about giving up
cable or Netflix
or romantic novels
or seductive
clothing,
you start realizing
that's nothing.
If this means
walking in holiness
with Jesus,
getting rid of
that stuff is
nothing.
Get rid of it
and experience
the sweetness
and joy of
walking with
your Savior.
So we've
looked at the
problem,
the radical
problem,
we've looked at
the radical
action that we
must take but
what our God
took on our
behalf,
and now a
pastoral plea.
I know you're
out there.
I know you're
out there.
I know you're
out there
struggling with
sin,
struggling with
lust.
I know.
I know you
are feeling
distant from
your God.
That's the
fallout of
this kind of
sin.
I know that
you're afraid
of your spouse,
that you don't
know what to
say, that you
fear the worst.
I know.
I know that
if you have
children,
that this
area of
sexual sin
in your
life just
deflates you.
It limits
your influence
in your home.
You're like a
dog walking
around with a
tail between
your legs,
or you're
just grouchy
all the time.
I know.
And I also
know this,
that you tend
to live on the
periphery of the
church,
that you tend
to not get
involved because
you don't want
to be fully
known.
I also know
this, you're
miserable.
You're isolated.
You're ashamed.
And here's the
nub of it.
You're afraid.
You're afraid
that if people
find out who
you really are
and what you've
really been doing,
you're going to
be shunned.
You're going to
be cast out.
You don't think
that people will
love you and
accept you if
they know the
full truth about
you.
It's not true.
God doesn't
love us this
way.
And God
calls us,
His followers,
to love each
other with the
same extreme
kind of love.
love.
We've been
talking as
elders about
this for the
last couple
days.
And I just
want to let
you guys,
everyone know
on behalf of
them,
there are no
stones to be
thrown.
We want
those struggling
with sexual
sin to be
released from
their sexual
sin.
To find
freedom in
Christ.
So if
you're feeling
isolated because
of your sexual
sin, if
you're hiding
because of
your sexual
sin, if
you've been
living in the
shadows because
of your sexual
sin, if
you've just
grown to
live with the
fear of being
found out
because of
your sexual
sin, think
about it this
way.
Jesus is
calling you
today to
say, come
into the
light.
Come out of
the darkness.
Come out of
the shadows.
come into
the light.
Let me
free you.
Let me
deliver you.
Come, be
honest and
find and be
met with
grace and
kindness.
There's a
proverb that
has served me
so well.
Proverbs 28,
13 says,
whoever conceals
his transgressions
will not
prosper, but
he who
confesses and
forsakes them
will obtain
mercy.
Brother or
sister, if
you have
been hiding
because of
sexual sin in
the darkness,
come into
the light
and find
mercy.
We're going
to close
this morning
by singing
two songs.
And during
these two
songs, I'm
going to ask
the elders to
come forward.
Dave Barnard
is out of
town.
He and
Leslie are
out of
town.
But I'm
going to
invite Lou
and Bev
as well as
Rick and
Jasmine to
come on
down.
Jenny and me
will be down
here.
Matt Sear and
his wife
Elise will be
down here.
Billy and I
and Jess will
be down here.
And we're here to
pray.
We're here to
welcome you.
And so as we're
singing, if you
are feeling God's
convicting work in
your life, that's
good.
So come on down.
We'll pray with
you.
We're here to
help you.
But I also know
this.
If there's just too
many eyes this
morning, if it's
too much for you
this morning, email
me.
Andy, do we
have my email
set up?
This is my email
address.
Email me.
Take the first
radical step by
emailing me and
put on the subject
line, help.
I'm ashamed.
I'm sick of this.
I want to walk in
the light.
We're going to
meet you with
help.
We're going to
meet you with
love.
We'll walk through
whatever we need to
walk through
together.
But I just want to
make sure you know
we love you.
We are glad you're
here.
We want to help.
So let me just
close by saying
this.
I'm going to
invite Matt and
the worship team
to come on up.
There's just too
much at stake.
There's just too
much at stake.
Brother or sister,
don't stay in the
shadows.
Come out into the
light.
We're here to help.
God's grace is all
powerful.
Let me pray.
God in heaven,
would you set the
prisoners free?
Whether it's right
now or throughout
this week or for
the months to come,
God, would you
unshackle men and
women shackled by
the sin of lust?
God, would you
free our brothers
and sisters who are
ensnared by
pornography?
God, would you
make a salt and
light in this city?
And would you
sanctify us so
that we are more
salty and shine
more bright?
In Jesus' name,
Amen.