The Heart of the Matter — Don McClure

Jesus Intensifies the Law Against Lust

Matthew 5 picking it up tonight in verse 27. You have heard that it hath been said by them of old time thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

And if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee.

For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Father we thank you for your word and Lord we thank you and we praise you for your love for us.

Lord that these issues of life Lord that are so powerful that have such a prevailing influence in the world today and have such a great effect in our lives. We are so grateful Lord that you have your word for us to help us, to minister to us, to teach us.

And Lord we ask that tonight as we do open your word that you would just open our hearts. Perhaps there's some of us as last week we looked at you and teaching us of anger. Lord just be able to open our heart and say Lord you know my struggles with anger.

I'd love to be changed to understand how to be free. And Lord tonight as we look at another area that you of course know the effect in the world and the pressure on our lives. Lord of lust and Lord for us to be able to come and say Lord thank you for your word.

Such a real struggle in life. We ask that you would teach us, strengthen us, feed us, help us Lord, set us free. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. Well again and again and again as we have been going through here the Sermon on the Mount I constantly as you know am going back and back and back every time because it is so critical that we always look at the Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes as the Foundation of Christian Obedience

You see the Beatitudes of course are the foundation of the Sermon on the Mount. Without the Beatitudes the Sermon on the Mount is actually perhaps the most absurd difficult sermon I suppose ever preached.

If you were to just take the Sermon on the Mount and remove the Beatitudes from it. As a matter of fact there are more than a few commentators who actually look at the Sermon on the Mount and don't even believe it's for this age.

They actually look at it and believe it's for the kingdom age. It's for something in the future. A time when Jesus comes, rules the world. When he reigns over it then we will have the capacity to live like this.

And then Jesus is ruling. Because when you look at it there's a lot of people that here on one hand Jesus said you know there that he has come to set us free and we have looked earlier on being free from the law.

And yet at the same time when you would look at the Sermon on the Mount if anything Jesus almost intensifies things in the hearers eyes. He has you have heard that hath been said by them of old time thou shall not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment.

I say unto you you know that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause he's in danger. I mean you somebody listening to this you know you have heard that hath been said by them of old time thou shall not commit adultery.

But I say unto you that whosoever looks at a woman with lust after her has committed adultery already in his heart. I mean you look here and you think the law was tough. Now Jesus of anything he says it's worse.

And how in the world is difficult as it was you couldn't even fulfill it the way that it was being presented and now Jesus has intensified it. But you see the Beatitudes and so much of the rest of the New Testament they teach us that in a very very real way Jesus is here.

Now though he hasn't set up his kingdom age millennial reign though it is something there for every believing Christian he is here and he's real and he is powerful and he is as accessible and he is as able to set us free today as he will be then.

Our access to him to his power to his transforming work within us to his ministry to his purposes they are completely sufficient. We look at the millennial reign and people they all you mean so wonderful to be then around then and you know Jesus will will be there well he's here now.

We have this full the veil has been rent not a little rent not kind of rent you know and but it's fully from the top to the bottom access into God's power into his presence into his fullness it is here and it is for us and it is for now.

In the Beatitudes that's essentially what they're all about the Beatitudes are powerfully and wonderful for the person that wants that access to Jesus that wants his power. Lord I need it now I need your work I need your grace I need your strength I need your mercy.

The person there that is poor in spirit sorry for their own sins their own sinful nature our own ability to take over and to rule and to reign and to get ourselves into such terrible messes but when there were poor in spirit we mourn over we become meek before God and and then he fills us with himself and the proof of it is there a merciful spirit a pure heart a peacemaker a whole new life begins to work within us and as these things are happening within our heart and within our life he enables us to live under his power to live under his authority and experience his blessings in the most wonderful way.

So here Jesus he's not adding to the law he's essentially just clarifying it you see over time the Pharisees had actually taken the law and they had reduced it way down from what it actually was at the beginning when he says you know that thou shalt not commit adultery they had just said don't do it and kind of limited almost to the activity of adultery itself but yet at the same time under the law that was never what it was it was always even the other Ten Commandments thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife and here is something don't lust after your neighbor's wife not only did Bible as they don't commit adultery it also says don't lust after her don't take her under yourself in your own heart.

Well the Pharisees had kind of reduced it down to where hey we got to make this thing a little more livable. The Bible had really taught that you weren't to hate you were to love. It's all in the Old Testament nothing new about that essentially there but they had reduced it now just don't kill.

You know they've kind of just tried to adjust the law around so we could feel a little better about ourselves. Hey you know that there I suppose just were the same as people have always been through history.

There may be some of us that have killed somebody. And if you do would you raise your hand. We have some people know but if but there may be some that you know that there's that but probably not many but who here has not been guilty of hating.

I mean at that point all of a sudden I mean how do you wait a minute all right. I can keep from pulling the trigger I can keep from. I think I can probably go all the way through life and never murder anybody.

But you tell me I've got to go through life and not hate anybody. Come on. We may be able to go through our life and be able to say you say I've never committed adultery. I'm never gonna do it. But then when Jesus said you ever looked look what do you mean.

And then he goes on to tell us exactly what he means. He said oh come on wait a minute here you know and we're always trying to adjust things. And that's what the Pharisees had done said it brought it to a level to where they could kind of live with it without a sense of feeling like they had failed.

The Law Reveals Human Sin and the Need for Christ

Well the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It was to tell me I was a failure was to tell me this is what God created man to be. When God created man in his image he put him here on this planet.

And there was such a character there was such a depth there was such a love there was such a nature within him that it wasn't even in him what even a part of him to murder let alone hate let alone there to be angry.

He is so filled with the love and the nature and the character of God that there he would never take something that wasn't his. There you know there wasn't covered. He wouldn't lust after something that belonged to somebody else.

That's how God created man in such a way being so filled with his heart in his life in his nature in his character he is free from all that until men sinned. And then as soon as man sinned and fell with it we found ourself there with a fallen nature.

And the Sermon on the Mount though it deals with this great battle that we now have today the battle between essentially how God created us to be you might say and the life that we kind of so often live.

The Sermon on the Mount the whole Sermon on the Mount essentially it's a story of a great spiritual battle that we all have. And I believe here in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus he's simply wanting us done.

I tell us I want you to know I understand the battle and I want you to understand the battle. I want to tell you how to fight the battle. And I'm going to tell you how to win the battle how to have victory in the battle.

And so there's two natures though first of all that we've been discussing at different times a little bit. I'll just read them to you. Actually you can turn to him if you'd like. But Galatians chapter 5 verse 19 Paul tells us there he says now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these.

And then he gives us this wonderful little list of the characteristics the nature of our flesh adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulants wrath strife seditions heresies envies murders drunkenness revelings here.

He looks there and he said to hear Jesus said let me dinner. The Bible tells us let me just tell you a little bit about your nature. And but what when God looks at a man. These are the the attributes that he sees within the natural man all of us.

He goes on in verse 22 and Paul writes. He says. But the fruit of the Spirit is love. Then he defines a joy peace long suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance. And he says again such there is no law when somebody is living in the realm of the Spirit there no they're free.

There is no law there. There's a powerful wonderful work. But here is the Bible tells us there are just two natures only two options from which you and I have to live. One is the nature of the flesh and there is that list.

And then there is the nature of the Spirit. And we were born with one the nature of the flesh. And we are born again and offered another and then one of course the nature of the flesh the others of the nature of the Spirit.

Facing the Flesh Honestly

The list of the flesh is rather raunchy I suppose rather ugly and but I'll tell you I believe everybody does themself a tremendous favor when they look at that list and they realize that is me that is my nature that is what the Bible says those are the characteristics of us.

It's interesting the first four of them are all essentially in one way or another related to sexual misconduct there when he says their adultery fornication and cleanness lasciviousness. And therefore as far as the Bible is concerned when God looks at natural man sexual struggle is no small matter it's a very real issue.

It's a very powerful dynamic in the in the natural flesh the natural man. And I think we do all of ourselves a great favor when we look at this and realize this is very real when we find ourselves there looking at this list and we don't argue with it we don't defend ourselves.

We know I'm better than that. You know I mean I are I mean it's I don't like that order. I mean maybe maybe envy. I okay I got a little envy problem now and then I you know I go down to Nordstrom's and I envy okay you know or whatever.

But but that isn't as bad as I mean it's why do you have adultery fornication and cleanness lasciviousness. But well that's what the Bible says. So we just ought to take it for that and find and realize that this is our nature and some of us we want to argue with it.

As long as we're arguing with it we're only setting ourself up to perpetuate it. We instead of trying to say we're better than that I think the most wonderful thing that we can ever do is when realize God you leave me to my own nature outside of any disciplines I tried to learn or ways I've tried to cover it or manipulate it or deal with it or hide it but left to my own self.

This is me. Paul in Romans he said I know that in so far as my sinful self is concerned right. Actually in the King James I think it says that I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

And but sometimes when he put it in the King James almost sounds okay. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Wow that sounds good. The Living Bible actually like it's a what it says.

Paul says I know that in so far as my sinful self is concerned I am rotten through and through. You know Paul looks there and he says I have come to the realization that left to my sinful nature it is absolutely rotten and it is corrupt from one end to the other nothing redeemable about it from one end to the other that is sin is utterly devastated me and it has taken his full force and brought me down.

Now Paul on one hand he lived a very good life a very moral life on all the external and he goes on he says I had never thought I'd be you know really you know failed in a lot of things until the law showed me had lusted when it says thou shalt not covet.

Then I realized I've sinned. And then when Paul began to realize there that that against God we have this nature. And when we stop kidding with ourselves and we realize you know Lord this is me left to myself.

Now I can't speak of you know women I don't know what your problems are and I assume they're much the same but I can speak for a man because I've read a lot of books about men and I've studied them in great detail and and I can say that if there at least if there's any man that wants to say well I don't believe this that's that.

No cool what do you got. Let me tell you if you don't believe it did you have anything to struggles with adultery fornication and cleanness or lasciviousness. You're either a liar or you need to see a doctor.

I suppose but there but if you got the natural human nature this is what we have to deal with. And but equally though the wonderful message of Christianity is God looks at it he loves to roll up his sleeves.

I know all of this. I'll never look at you. I'll never get into your heart or into your life and all the little secret chambers of who you are what you think and what goes on. I'll never be surprised.

I know everything about you and I know you're too bad to be true. I know you're hopeless. I know how runts you are. I still love you. You created my image and I've got all the capacity to fix every bit of it and I'm gonna fix it.

If you'll just let me get a start and then begin to open your heart begin to trust me that I've got the capacity to change all of these things. And then is when I think we are at a place to where God can start doing some wonderful things within our heart.

When we realize God this is me and help me. And then when we realize that these are struggles that we do we have in this life if we just want to say if we like the Pharisees I'll should not commit adultery.

And then we can say well I've never done that and so we can slide on by. But then we say you never dare you. What happens there when your heart finds you to use your eye your eyes follow somebody and there you some attraction and then the enemy wants to come along with some sort of desire and you find your heart responding to it.

That's what lust is all about. And there that Jesus said this is wouldn't you love to be free from this. And he said that there were there when a man looks this way and he has this battle going on within his heart.

Jesus not simply saying here I can help you with a superficial issues of life. He said I can help you with the deepest struggles within your heart. I understand everything about you and if you will come to me and be honest with me about what I already know about you and then you'll come to grips that you know it too and you want something to change it but a lot of people don't want to do that.

Walking in the Spirit Against Sexual Temptation

Some years ago actually when we moved from Southern California up to Northern California and we were moving and we had a mover helping us and there were some fellows there helping us you know for the moving company there and as we are loading you know the van or they've been bringing stuff in and out and you know with it and I had a couple of my boys they're helping as well.

Evidently one time when I was in the house bringing going back and forth young gal had walked by and one of these movers looked and made some sort of a sexual comment about it and one of my sons turned to him and he said that's wrong.

And then they got into a discussion whether it was wrong or not this case no it isn't wrong. I didn't do anything and he was a married guy and he had children. I don't. I don't commit adultery. He said he said well the Bible says it's not wrong.

And I'm coming in and my brother and where my son says me says dad we're in the Bible does it say that look at a woman with lust is wrong. I said sermon about Matthew and so he goes in he gets his Bible he brings it out and he's got it.

They got out there in the box inside the van and he's reading to this guy. The next time I come walking in this guy he's got literally he's got his head in his hands he said no no no this can't be as he's reading it and he's reading he's realized he says he literally says this is one of my favorite pastimes.

This can't be wrong. He's looking there and he's a married guy and he got family but he just you know some gal walks by you just stop and look over and follow her down have that grand old time and just think there's nothing wrong with it.

Well meantime is natural heart is just doing its natural thing. But here the battles these are the battles of life essentially again wonderfully as I said God on God not only knows about it to me when I just pick up the Bible and you realize just looking at this from a distance tonight even before we get into the personal application you realize Jesus he's telling us I know all about you I know the struggle I know what it is that's happening constantly within your heart.

I know the battles that are that are always going on. And here he lovingly mercifully graciously wants to be able to approach us and say not only do you know about it I know how to fix it I know how if you want to change something to where your life is set free from this.

And essentially it's very much the same thing as we looked at last week in the sense you know of these things back. I believe we're mentioned also in Galatians 5 16. Paul there he makes just a very simple statement we I don't know if we looked at it much but he says this.

I say then that you walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the last pardon me for the flesh lust is against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these two are contrary one to another so that you cannot do the things that you would now here Paul tells us he says you want to know how not to walk in the flesh.

You want to know how you're delivered from this nature that we're all born with we all have it's still there every one of us. By the way I don't care how long you've been a Christian. You may be here and you've been a Christian for 450 years and or something or whatever you feel like it's been forever.

And you love the Lord and you walk with him. And mighty things have happened. Let me tell you you still have a flesh and you know it. And in fact the person that usually is the oldest in the Lord knows it the best of all.

Paul in his first epistle he said I'm a sinner. 45 years later in his last epistle he says. I am the chiefest of sinners. That's growth. For 45 years of spiritual growth. He started off just a simple sinner.

At the end of 45 years he says I'm chief. I'm the biggest sinner I know. But the closer one gets to the Lord the greater we realize his mercy and his grace has always been been. You first come to the Lord.

You make him these promises. I'm gonna be so good. You wait till you see what I'm gonna do for you in heaven and everybody it's just gonna be wonderful. And then you know you start off with all this ignorant zeal.

And then as time goes on you realize the depths of God's mercy of his patience of his grace with us of his long-suffering on how he cares. Now he spends an entire lifetime with us bringing this flesh in this objection but we realize it's always there never goes away.

It's always there and there we we. But the difference is is the only thing about a mature Christian an immature Christian is the mature one has realized that he respects that and he has realized the only deliverance from it is to walk in the spirit.

And if he doesn't he will immediately gravitate to the flesh. There's no other option. There's no other alternative to it. You either you're gonna walk in the spirit. And he says. And you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Then he interestingly he says. Next verse he says. For the flesh lust against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. For these two are contrary to one another so that you cannot do the things that you would.

And here one of the most interesting verses to me in the Bible look at. He says. The flesh lust is against the spirit in the spirit against the flesh. Now I understand why the flesh lust against the spirit.

That's that's not it. That's a no-brainer. The flesh there within us it looks over here at the spirit. And he sees this unbelievable dynamic. The flesh there it sees life it sees power it sees love it sees gentleness kindness it sees wisdom it sees a plan it sees this maturity this stability all the stabilizing thing here the flesh looks over there.

And how it which is. I had those qualities. Boy if I could just get my hands on those things the natural man says. So I understand why the flesh you know lust is against the spirit. But why in the world with the spirit ever against the flesh.

Why would it ever you covet anything in the flesh. Because you look there say what does the flesh have that the spirit would think a thing about. It's very simple this the flesh has the throne flesh has seemed to you know you when you when you look at your own nature and you realize the flesh that we have within us.

And you stop to realize there and now the flesh always is first consultant. The flesh is the no at all that hey let me handle this. The flesh nature that we have here the spirit has all this power all this dynamic living within us.

And yet day by day the Holy Spirit there he watches us wake up and then we get up. Oh what am I doing today. Where am I going. How am I doing it. And we start planning out our day. You know. Well that you know we sit on the throne master of our own life charting out our own course making our own plans trying to fulfill commitments promises hopes dreams all in our own strength of the flesh.

That's an entirely inadequate to do it here. But the flesh is the first mention first order first to be consulted first to give be given a shot at it. It is until some crisis happens in our life. We embarrass ourself.

The flesh does some stupid thing or said what happened here. What's gone wrong. I'm sorry but man I'm a Christian and then Holy Spirit's it says yeah and you're also a carnal one. You're also in the flesh and then realize that's it.

Isn't it. I'm not. I'm not letting you do with him. I'm sorry. Holy Spirit patiently lovingly says huh it's okay just go die somewhere would you. And we'll take over. You know I mean that's it either way the Holy Spirit say give me give me a shot.

But here though the Spirit looks there and how it longs to have that preeminence within our heart that the that the you know that the nature of the flesh seems to have. But the wonderful thing is is that that's the that's the glorious thing in heaven will finally be done with that right now the battle goes on within us.

I read this little story one time of a grandfather who was weeding his garden with his grandson and here is he's weeding the flowers and cleaning all around them and and the grandson to come over and periodically they'd have to go out and get the weeds so they didn't crowd out and kill all the flowers.

One time the grandson he asked his granddaddy says grandpa. And he says how why is it that the weeds are always taking over the flowers. Why don't the flowers take over the weeds. Grandpa I thought there for a moment he said well I'll tell you grandson he says the earth is the soil is natural mother to the weed stepmother to the flower.

And in one sense it's like the within us that that our flesh our nature it seems to be natural mother to the flesh and stepmother almost to the spirit in the in our in our own life. And then coming to that place to where we want to make the Spirit of God totally enthroned that's the great work ultimately the glorification will have in heaven whether the flesh so there won't be there be gone will be conformed to his image.

But there won't be any getting up in heaven or do we go to sleep. But anyway it they're moving around in heaven in having to deal with the flesh won't be the devil there won't be the world. They'll all be gone and they'll just be this wonderful glorious liberty of the Spirit of God.

But until then this battle it goes on and and and that is the struggle. And here though is Jesus is wanting us to understand this everything you know he's telling us here in the sermon the man the Beatitudes he says this is the transfer of authority.

This is how you turn your life over to me through the Beatitudes. And once you've turned it over he said now here are the practical applications of my lordship because when I am King and when I am Lord you're gonna find yourself going out into a world where there's struggles and there's human beings and you can get mad at him and you can reject them and you could want to hate them.

And he says but if you let me reign I'll handle it I'll love them. And also there will be other people that rather than getting mad at them you'll covet them you'll lust after them. So I want that one kill that one give me that one.

You know anything. And he says but you know there will be something there within my spirit that rather than you know destroying one and ruining another. And he said well I can help you deal with things because you see you don't have to be a Christian very long to realize you can be a saved person and be an angry saved person.

You can be a saved person be a lustful saved person or a judgmental saved person or a lonely or a or a depressed Christian feeling like you're utterly a failure. But the wonderful thing here is Jesus says that these here's what's going on.

I know your battle and I know your struggle. And but there first of all as we looked at even last week hatred starts there with the absence of walking in the spirit. So too with adultery you cannot walk in it in the spirit and fulfill the flesh.

And you can't live in it. You can't. And the wonderful thing is that when I come and I give my life to the Lord in a practical daily way and when I realize the world and the temptations and the struggles right in the face of all these things I can take my life and say Jesus fill it give it to me so that I am not subject to this world.

And it's anger or it's hate or it's murder or it's lust. I want to be free from them. I want to live on another plane. I want to live in another realm. You see it's interesting back in the Old Testament you remember the book of Hosea and but it's an interesting and a wonderful little book.

Temptation, Emotional Affairs, and the World’s Influence

But there it is. It begins the Lord speaks to Hosea and he says to Hosea go take thee a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry for the land hath committed great harlotry departing from the Lord. God looked at the children of Israel and he said you know you're guilty of spiritual adultery.

You have given your heart to another. And because you've given your heart to another God looked at it says you've committed adultery against me. And essentially every time a person does commit lust or adultery or whatever else you want to call it in this life what is happening when I am doing that.

It's really the second time I've done it. You might say the first time was is when I broke communion with God when I departed from him when I took my life in my own hands when I set up my own kingdom when I found myself you know here's where I'm going and what I'm doing and I'll I'll handle it.

At that point. I departed from communion. I departed from the life of his spirit. I departed from fellowship with him. And in that departure God looks at that he says there was your first adultery. You departed from loving me giving yourself to me.

You gave yourself to your own flesh. And now when you go out giving yourself to your own flesh the natural thing that flesh is going to do is a little alarm system hopefully will go off when now you start coveting somebody else's flesh and you realize oh man that's wrong.

You better believe it is that it really got to trace it back to not just simply there to go back to the moment you took your heart from me the moment there that you decided that you were capable of living on this planet without being born and filled and led and guided and empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit.

Something that Jesus never did for one moment from cradle to grave literally from his birth born of the Holy Spirit offered to God through the Holy Spirit filled with the Holy Spirit. He lived in the power of the Holy Spirit his ministry his preaching was all in the power in the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

It was entirely a spirit-filled lead guided. There was never one moment of one day that there Jesus did Indian did did anything but surrender entirely his life to the Father. And he watches us when we go out and we do some terrible thing and then we get ourself in in trouble and we think it happened here.

And Jesus said no it didn't happen there it happened the moment you could live without my power. And we live in a world today where adultery when it happens physically it's happened soulishly already.

It already had the the attribute of lusting by the time anybody actually maybe carries it out if they do although that's not necessary to fail. They've also had it in their heart. But before they had it in their heart they'd already taken their heart away from the Lord.

And then we found ourself open you know it into temptation and which is constantly around us talk about temptation. Just in my lifetime I look at what's happened you know whether in the world of TV you know and the things that are on it we've gone a long way from my three sons you know to married with children you know or the stuff that is out there.

Now everything is so lustful it's based it seems you know we don't even sell anything any longer without a naked woman doing it somehow or another. It seems like you can't even watch a football game without being tempted without somebody there you know coming out half naked there that she gets somebody's attention.

Because the world of advertising knows where the heart of man is knows where to go to find it to sell him his product knows the hook knows the attraction. And we're living in a way you know where where temptation is everywhere there no sin by the way in temptation and no problem there.

But it's when you respond to it as James says the enemy can tempt you. But now you have a choice in what you're going to do with it. I remember one time years ago my wife and I were sitting there watching TV one night and an ad comes on and there's some half-dressed girl selling something and she's falling out of her outfit.