Matthew 5:27-29 Laws part 3

Matthew 5:27-29

“Laws Written on Flesh Instead of Stone”
The Laws
part 3

Adultery

The connection between the principles of the kingdom and the law

The Lord tells us how our righteousness is revealed to others

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Matthew 5:27-29

1. RULES FOR INTERPRETATION

1. Sermon on the mount is not new law given to us by Jesus

1. It is the Spirit of the law Jesus is emphasizing

1. While Paul considered himself blameless where the law was concerned, he knew the law was spiritual but he was carnal, so he realized that he had never really kept the law

2. Jesus is not laying down a code of ethics for us. He is going to show to us how vain it is to try to please God through the works of the law

3. The whole thought is to bring us to grace so we realize we need Him

2. If our interpretation makes the scriptures ridiculous and impossible then our interpretation is wrong

3. If our interpretation makes the passage contradictory to the whole body of scripture, our interpretation is wrong

2. Back in verse 20 the Lord tells us that our righteousness had to exceed that of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the law if we are to enter the Kingdom of Heaven

1. He goes on to let us what this righteousness entails

2. The truly righteous are those belonging to the Kingdom of Heaven

3. He tells us how our righteousness is revealed to others

3. Last week we talked about Jesus’ command that to hate in ones heart is to murder

1. He basically shed new light upon the sixth commandment (You shall not murder) (Exodus 20:13)

2. The Lord taught that murder begins in the heart of man

3. To hate a fellow human is to murder in God’s eyes

4. To insult a man is to say you hate them from your heart, or you would not insult them in such a way

5. So, to use the word foolish in a derogatory tone is to be equal to a murder

Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you

know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

(1John 3:15)

6. It's one thing to point out foolish behavior in someone, another to use insult to their character

4. The Lord used two examples to prevent hatred or anger towards a fellow human being

1. With a believer, if at Church you realize you have offended him/her, then immediately stop what you are doing and sort out the problem

2. With your enemy, if he is taking you to court, then make amends before end up suffering extremely harsh punishment for what you owe

Today we will cover Matthew 5:27-29

5. Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.” 

1. Jesus touches upon the topic of adultery that comes from the 7th commandment.

You shall not commit adultery

Exodus 20:14

1. The punishment for adultery was death. 

2. You must understand that we have been made in God’s image

1. As such, if we have no respect for ourselves, then we will have no respect for HIM, our Creator

2. Adultery by our definition is: a married person having sex with someone other than their spouse

3. That is exactly what the Pharisees taught

4. Furthermore we have other Scriptures that state similar commands

1. Leviticus 20:10

2. Deuteronomy 5:18

3. Deuteronomy 22:22 (This is what most men refuse to notice)

“If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die—the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 22:22

1. This command means both man and woman who is caught in adultery

2. Yet time and time again it is the woman who paid the price

3. Consider the woman taken to Jesus who was caught in adultery John 8:3-11

4. Where was the man? He too was guilty of what they wanted the woman to be punished for

2. Adultery & murder are the only sins that God commanded the penalty of death for

1. That is why when King David was pleading with God for forgiveness he said in 

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would 

give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

Psalm 51:6

2. Why such a severe punishment for these sins?

1. God knows that a strong family is the foundation of a strong society

2. When the family bond is broken, it is only a matter of time until that society is destroyed

3. Look what sexual freedom has done to society

1. Rampant diseases, Syphilis, Aides, Genera, Herpes

2. We have legalized abortion, it is now used as birth control, read account of baby murder

1. I suggest a culture of low morals and a culture of death

1. Abortion upon demand

2. Violent video games

3. Violent movies

4. Politicization of the society where it is ok to destroy your enemy

5. No respect for life among the youth

3. Even when the child of a young unwed mother is born it faces an uphill battle

1. Poverty as a child

2. No proper parental guidance, a child for a parent

3. Grows with a belief that the government is their parent, and deserves everything

4. Ultimately there are very few strong family units, thus society soon deteriorates and is destroyed

4. Children need the security and loving environment of a good home to grow up and be productive citizens in society, without it society will eventually suffer the consequences, some we see today

5. Look at society in America since we have lessened the punishment for criminal behavior

6. The prisons are not large enough to house all of the social misfits

7. Laws must be liberalized, so that prisons can be emptied of less severe criminals

8. With less strictness on penalties, criminals are unafraid of law enforcement

3. David pleaded for the mercy of God because there was no sacrifice that could atone for his sins

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; 

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1

4. The whole purpose of the law was to drive us to seek the mercy and grace of God

1. The law actually condemns us all to death, because we all sin, that’s why Christ died for us

2. Ultimately all sinners will perish in the eternal fire

"Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as

the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.

Ezekiel 18:4

5. However God wanted us to know what sin was so He gave us the law to condemn our hearts, and let us know we needed Him

6. Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

1. Jesus was specifically speaking to the men, but He was also actually speaking to both men and women

1. After all, women have wanted equality, and they have finally achieved it

2. Women hoot and holler at men they lust for as bad as men do towards women

3. They have the clubs where they go to watch men do strip tease dances, and hoot and holler as men used to do as they watched the women

2. The Greek word used here for “LOOK” is “Blepo” pronounced “Blaypoe”

1. It was used in the sense of one looking in such a way that it would stir up the lusts and passions

2. It’s that deliberate second look that is usually accompanied a desire to have or possess

3. Women quite often will dress in such a way as to deliberately encourage that second glance.

1. Tight fitting clothes

2. Low necklines

4. Jesus is speaking of the people who deliberately use their eyes to stimulate their desires for that which is forbidden

3. He goes on to say, "Therefore if your right eye makes you stumble, then gouge it out."

1. The Greek word used for stumble is “skandalon” which is a word used by trappers of the time Isaih

1. “Trap-Stick”. A crooked stick the bait was attached to that attracted the animal, the trap would spring on the animal thus catching it to be killed

1. 1. Isaiah used this word when he prophesied about Jesus in Isaiah 8:14-15

2. A type of a trip wire

3. Mouse trap

2. The term was used in the time of Christ for a “Stumbling Stone”

1. Jesus is saying “If a stone causes you to trip then move the stone out of your way”

2. Peter used this term in 1Peter 2:8

3. Jesus was not speaking literally, if you pluck out your right eye and you could still lust with your left eye

1. Even without eyes, you could still fantasize in your imagination

2. Jesus is seeking to shock our senses as to how important it is to keep our minds pure

3. We minds cringe at the thought of a person gauging out one of their eyes

4. We should cringe and be repelled by the thought of desiring sex with someone other than our spouse

4. As Christians we need to keep a hedge around us to protect ourselves from temptation

1. Temptation is all around us. Billboards, magazines, the TV, movies, so many are deliberately designed to cause you to look and desire that which we should not want

2. Satan has his minions working overtime to get us to look and desire

3. Many a person has been trapped by the trip wire of temptation

4. Many have ultimately lost their life due to that nasty little skandalon

5. People are often tripped up by not putting a guard over their eyes

5. As I said Jesus was speaking metaphorically, but it must be pointed out that God allowed the Philistines to gouge out Samson’s eyes. Samson remember sinned repeatedly with women he lusted for and God had him pay for his sins with the loss of freedom and his eyes

Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison

Judges 16:21

7. Let’s take a look at what else the Scriptures have to say on this subject of lust

1. Job declared Job 31:

2. Later in the His Sermon on the Mound Christ says Matthew 6:22-23

3. James the brother of Jesus tells us James 1:13-15

4. What is said of the eye can also be said of the hand Matthew 5:30

5. The point Jesus is making is that our entire life will be spent with this world trying to keep us out of His eternal world, “Heaven”. The only way to succeed is to come to Him for forgiveness of our sins

6. This is why it is so important to understand the contrast in the difference the way the law was being taught by the Pharisees and the way Jesus interpreted the law

1. The Pharisees taught that you could live up to the law and thus you were righteous, but many still had questions as to their ability to have eternal life even if they thought they had lived up to the law

1. John 5:38-39

2. Matthew 19:16-26

2. They had not studied the scriptures very well or they would have known what Isaiah had said about man’s righteousness

1. Isaiah 64:6

3. Jesus taught that we are all guilty under the law and in need of a redeemer

1. Romans 3:23

2. Romans 3:19