Adultery & Lust:
Hands, Hearts, & Hellfire
Matthew 5:27-30
Introduction
– The same pattern continues, as Jesus teaches us how we are
to biblically apply His law. Now,
dealing with the seventh commandment, we see once again the Pharisees taking
the letter of the law and reducing it down to one particular matter. But Jesus teaches that obedience is not
simply a matter of external conformity.
It is about heart-loyalty. D.
Martin Lloyd-Jones – “The Lord emphasized the depth or power of sin. Sin is not merely actions or deeds – it is
something within the heart that leads to the action. We must concentrate not so much on sins as sin.”
The Teaching
– (v27). There are
not any additions to the commandment this time, but there were understood
qualifications to the text. Twisting
scriptures, the Pharisees limited the prohibition to the actual act of sexual
immorality with a married person (Lev. 18:20 – “…you shall not lie carnally
with your neighbor’s wife”), and that God would not notice your thought
life (Psalm 66:18 – “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear…”). We may be tempted to laugh
at their technicalities, but this is always the way sinners justify their sin –
“Has God indeed said…”
The Full Teaching
– (v28). Jesus will
have nothing with our ‘technicalities’.
Outward conformity is never all God wants. He wants your heart.
The law has
always meant that the iniquity boiling in your heart is an offense to God,
whether it comes out or not. “For as
a man thinks, so is he” – Prov 23:7.
You tell me your thoughts, and I will tell you what kind of a man you
are. It was the evil intents and
thoughts of the heart that convinced the Lord to flood the earth (Gen 6:5).
Therefore, to
lust after a woman is to commit adultery with her. ‘Decent’ people do not like this teaching, because this
application makes all men adulterers.
Holiness requires that we not even desire to sin (Prov 24:8-9, Psalm
50:15-18). You will be called to
account for your idle words, and your thoughts in the Day of Judgment. Are you prepared?
Real Hellfire Warnings – (vv29-30). The objector says, “Why, that’s impossible. Who can stop immoral thoughts. How can I avoid looking at a woman and being
attracted? Why, I’d have to….” That is the point. How seriously do you take sin?
Do you treat sin as your most dangerous enemy? Martin Luther said you can’t keep birds from flying over your
head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair. Are lustful thoughts immediately escorted
out, or do you make room for them, feed them, protect them, hide them, make
them safe and comfortable and ‘at home’.
The warning is real. It is true that we are justified by grace
alone through faith alone, and that all those who are justified will be
glorified. It is true, therefore, that
no justified person will ever be lost.
Nevertheless, those who give themselves over to impurity will be lost
(Gal 5:19-21). Justifying faith is a
persevering faith, so those who do not pursue holiness will not see the Lord
(Heb 12:14). Those who forsake the
fight against lust will perish (Col 3:5-6, Matt 5:30).
The Real Problem
– We know that Jesus is speaking metaphorically. Cutting out one eye or one hand wouldn’t
stop a sinner. This is why He says
“if”. Look back on verse 28. The offending member is not the eye or the
hand. It is the heart. And what comes out of the heart? “For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies”
– Matt 15:19.
Again, Lloyd-Jones – “Evangelism
must start with the holiness of God, the sinfulness of man, the demands of the
law, the punishment meted out by the law and the eternal consequences of evil
and wrong doing. It is only the man who
is brought to see his guilt in this way who flies to Christ for deliverance and
redemption.”
The Real Solution – Your heart is dirty
and must be washed. “O Jerusalem,
wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge
within you?” – Jer 4:14. How are
you going to wash the inside?
But it
is worse than that. Your heart is dead
and you must be born again (John 3:1-8).
How are you going to be born again?
How are you going to control the wind?
Remember Psalm 50:15 – “Call
upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Carefully consider as well Ezekiel 36:26.
Jesus calls His followers to obey His law all the way down in our hearts. If we are unable, we must cry out for new hearts. We must confess our sins if we have drifted into compromise and look to Him for all our righteousness.