Jimmy Carter, Playboy & Adultery of the Heart

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Once again, let's turn to the gospel of Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. This week we're going to kind of go rapid fire through the remaining chapter, the remaining verses in the chapter.

Instead of spending maybe a whole message on just four verses like we've been doing, we're going to cover upwards of 25 to 30 verses because hopefully we're starting to understand what the Sermon on the Mount is all about.

Hopefully we're starting to get it. Jesus, number one, he's teaching on the deeper implications of the law of Moses. Number two, the rabbis had twisted its meaning, so Jesus is setting the record straight.

Number three, he's laying out what is really an impossible standard since no one has ever kept the law. No man who has ever lived except Christ himself has really been able to keep the law of Moses at least perfectly.

The next thing Jesus is doing, he is a fulfillment of the law. And then the law, number five, would serve another purpose. It teaches. It instructs. We ended last time looking at verses 21 through 26, which dealt with the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill.

But we saw how Jesus really expanded on that and showed it goes much deeper than just the surface level understanding of the commandment against murder. It actually deals with how we treat each other and keeping right relationships, seeking reconciliation.

It deals with all of that. So murder is wrong. Most people understand that. But Jesus demonstrated how murder and really all actions that are sinful or harm other people, it all starts where? It starts in the heart.

So the heart attitude is the root. Murder, in that case, is the fruit. Next, the subject of adultery comes up. Adultery is the fruit, but again, it starts in the heart. Lust, covetousness, this is the root.

So Jesus is talking about the root issue, not just the behavior. So let's pick up here, Matthew chapter five, verse 27. Jesus says, 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.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off 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. And I said last time, we do not want to take an overly literal interpretation of this, that we should be chopping off hands and plucking out eyes.

Most people get that. That's not the point. So what is the point? Well, I'd like to read from commentator Matthew Henry. He says this, very insightful, I think. He says, victory over the desires of the heart must be attended with painful exertions, but it must be done.

Everything is bestowed to save us from our sins, not in them. So you understand what he's saying. We're to be saved from sin, not save us and keep us in our sin. Matthew Henry says, all of our senses and powers must be kept from those things which lead to transgression.

Those who lead others into temptation to sin by dress or in other ways or leave them in it or expose them to it, make themselves guilty and will be accountable for it. So let me put this in other words.

He's saying, and Jesus is saying, you need to do whatever you have to do to avoid these situations. You need to do whatever you have to do to avoid that temptation and to overcome this transgression. So whatever you have to do, do it.

Now, the cutting off the hand, plucking out of the eye, that's not going to solve anything. But he's sort of showing the extreme, using hyperbole to prove the point, whatever you have to do, do it. So let's just talk about some practical examples of this before we move on to the next passage.

Matthew chapter five is often known as Jesus talking about adultery of the heart. Right. And we've probably heard a lot about this over the years. For those of you who are older than I am, and even if you're younger, maybe you've heard about this.

But for those of you who are older, you may remember in 1976, professing Christian Jimmy Carter was running for president. And he did an interview with Playboy magazine where he talked about, he admitted that he had committed adultery in his heart.

Who remembers that? Okay. Of course, that was a terrible look. I mean, this is a terrible idea because in order to read that article, you would have to buy pornography. And contrary to what people say, no, they don't read those magazines for the articles.

So for Jimmy Carter, even though he was being honest, and that's a valid point, for him to do that, it was really kind of a foolish thing to do. Had a bad look. Because lust, let's face it, lust is one of the most common temptations there.

There are certain things that are temptations for just about everybody. Then there's those other sins that most people are not tempted towards that. But lust is just one thing that it's almost universal.

And once exposed to it, or just to kind of continue on that line, once exposed to something like pornography, and I think a lot of people are just uncomfortable and would rather not even talk about it.

Yeah, I would agree. I'd rather not talk about it. But once someone is exposed to that, that adultery of the heart, it can become like an addiction. I think it is an addiction for many people. And to overcome addiction and to just overcome any bad habit, most people are not strong enough to do it on their own.

Most people can't do it unless they have help. And some people, because of the shame attached, or shame attached to many different things, some people are just never going to reach out. Because there's a stigma and they're worried about what people think.

But to apply this teaching, here's the point. If something, whether it's that or anything else, if something is hindering your relationship with God, a person should be willing to go to whatever extent in order to remedy that issue.

It could be something totally different. But if you know there's something that's hindering your walk with the Lord, do whatever you have to do to overcome it. Here's one thing you don't want to do. You don't want to believe in Jesus or accept Jesus.

Well, I'm a Christian now, but you continue living the same way. Well, I'm a Christian now, but you continue to do all the things you did before. We want to be saved. Salvation is to be what? Saved from sin, not to be saved and stay in sin.

Because at the very least, it's going to rob you of your joy and your contentment. God has so much more for his people, but we can't experience all that unless we deal with our struggles. So we often think of being saved, being delivered.

We often think of salvation as being salvation from sin's penalty, which is true. But salvation leads to sanctification, where over the course of our life, we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

And hopefully we never reach that point where we become sinless, but we do what? We should sin less. So over time, we sin less and we get victory. That initial act of believing on Christ and then being baptized, you know, that's pretty easy.

Getting the sin out of your life, that's a challenge. That's hard to do, but Christ has called us to do it. So salvation, if you take notes, I would encourage you to write this down. Salvation includes being saved from sin's penalty.

You know, we're saved from death and hell. That's past tense. We've been saved. But salvation also includes being saved, present tense, from sin's power. And then one day, hopefully, in heaven, we'll be saved from sin's very presence.

So whatever your weaknesses are, whatever the things that you struggle with, whatever it is, Jesus is calling his followers to deal with it head on. Do whatever you have to do to deal with that. So Jesus reaffirms the commandment against adultery, but then he expands it to adultery of the heart.

Jesus then deals with the corresponding issue. Look at verse 31. Because Jesus understands that marriage is a sacred thing and it's binding, but he understands that often adultery is kind of mixed in with this subject of divorce.

Verse 31, Jesus says, moreover, or furthermore, it has been said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. Many of the Jews, like people today, they view divorce as no big deal.

It's just common, no big thing. But Jesus says, I say to you, whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality, he causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Now, all of this is totally out of step with the way people view it today. But you know what? It was totally out of step with the way the Jews viewed it. They really thought that all of this is kind of no big thing.

Now, I want to establish this. And Jesus isn't saying this to use it as a club, like, hey, this is wrong. And we use it as a club to kind of attack people or put someone down who has made mistakes in the past.

That's not what this is about. It's about those people that don't make this mistake going forward. Hey, the past is the past. You can't go back in time. You can't change it. And a lot of people have overcome things in their past.

And that's not what we're dealing with. It's about going forward. But really, Jesus is dealing with people's lax attitude about infidelity. Jesus is dealing with their relaxed attitude towards adultery because divorce almost always happens either because of adultery or it leads to adultery.

There's exceptions, but that's almost always the case. And Jesus knows that. Do you realize being unfaithful to your spouse in Old Testament Israel, you realize that was a capital crime? According to God's law, it was.

In the New Testament church, it's an offense that if somebody does that and they remain unrepentant, it requires, well, the Bible calls for excommunication. So, this is like a really serious issue. Now, here's the thing.

In Israel, this was often not enforced. So, it was like one of those laws that are on the books, like the federal marijuana laws, right? Marijuana is still illegal in the United States, but nobody's enforcing it, right?

So, it was one of those laws that was on the books, but it just wasn't really enforced. And a lot of churches today don't practice discipline, so it's not enforced. What's Jesus doing? He's calling his followers to a higher standard.

If you get married, stick with it. Work it out and be faithful to your spouse. I mean, this is all common. This is basic. But people need that reminder because back then and today, just, you know, people have the attitude, they'll just kind of do whatever and it's no big deal.

So, Jesus is doing what? Calling us to what? A higher standard. Amen? We want to keep families together because when the family is attacked, and I think it really is under attack. It's been under attack for a long time.

And again, this is not to shame anybody. Some people, it happens and they can't control it. But once the family starts to break down, and then the churches start to break down, then what? Society starts to break down.

All right, the next section, verses 33 through 37. So, there's a real practical reason why we want to obey Christ and teach his word and call people to the higher standard. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.