Battling Lust
Matthew 5:27-30
Let’s turn to Matthew 5, verse 27. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Matthew 5 is on page 810 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Imagine that you come upon someone who’s pushing his car along the road. You assume he’s out of gas, so you stop and offer to drive him to the nearest gas station. But think of how surprised you’d be if he said – Oh, that’s OK, I don’t use gas. I just get to where I want to go by pushing my car.
You’d think that was crazy, because cars are not supposed to be pushed – they are supposed to be powered – with gasoline.
But too often that’s how we live our Christian lives. See, Jesus doesn’t just give us commands which he expects us to push ourselves to obey. No. He also gives us gasoline -- reasons – by which the Holy Spirit empowers us to obey.
And the reason I mention that is because in today’s passage Jesus calls us to battle sexual lust. And he gives us powerful gasoline – a powerful reason – which the Holy Spirit can use to free us, motivate us, empower us. Let’s look at what Jesus says --
27 You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman [or a man] with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29 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 that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
It’s clear in the first two verses that Jesus is correcting something. Notice that v.27 begins with “you have heard that it was said” – and then in v.28 he says “but I say to you.” Jesus is clearly correcting something. So what is Jesus correcting?
You could think Jesus is correcting the Old Testament, because he quotes one of the Ten Commandments – “You shall not commit adultery.” You could think He is saying that the Old Testament was just focused on sexual actions – but that Jesus is correcting the Old Testament by saying we also need to deal with sexual desires.
But that can’t be right, because the Old Testament also dealt with our sexual desires. Remember that the tenth commandment said “you shall not covet … your neighbor’s wife.” To covet someone’s wife is to have wrong sexual thoughts. And Job in ch.31 says he made a covenant with his eyes to have no wrong sexual looks or thoughts.
So in the Old Testament God calls us to not have wrong sexual desires. But then what’s Jesus correcting? He’s correcting the way the Scribes and Pharisees distorted the Old Testament.
They taught “you shall not commit adultery” – but taught that this just meant wrong sexual actions – and winked at wrong sexual desires. So Jesus corrects that – “but I say to you that everyone who looks on a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
So what exactly is Jesus calling us to do? He’s calling us to not have sexual thoughts and feelings towards anyone who is not our spouse.
Now let’s clear up one misunderstanding. A lot of people think God is nervous about sex. But that’s completely wrong. Sex is God’s idea. He made our bodies in such a way that a married man and woman can give and receive pleasure in a way that builds deep closeness and intimacy and joy.
If you think God is embarrassed about sex read the Song of Solomon. Read Proverbs 5. The Bible is clear -- sex within marriage is holy, sex within marriage is good, sex within marriage is awesome.
But in our sinfulness we have taken God’s good gift and twisted it into something ugly. Think about advertisements which draw us in with sex. Or the TV shows which hook us with sex. Or think about pornography – today 72% of children have viewed porn on the Internet – and in college 62% of men and 17% of women watch porn every week.
But Jesus has the power to free you from your sexual past. And He calls us to celebrate sex as His good gift in marriage – and to shun sex in any context outside of marriage.
That’s the point of v.28 – read it again --
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Which means don’t click on the porn site – don’t take a second look at the woman walking into Starbucks – and don’t fantasize about the trainer at the gym.
That’s what Jesus is calling us to do.
How does Jesus motivate us? What reason does He give to enable us? What gasoline does He give to empower us? Look at what vv.29-30 –
29 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 that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
You could think this means the problem is your eye or your hand – and that if you tear out your eyes or cut off your hands you will stop sinning. But Jesus is clear in many passages that the problem is our hearts (see Mark
He’s saying this: imagine that you lived in a world where sexual sin was caused by your right eye. He’s saying that if that was the case – then what you should do is tear out your eye. Why? Because it would be better to go to heaven with only one eye, than go to hell with two.
Or he’s saying: imagine that you lived in a world where sexual sin was caused by your right hand. He’s saying that if that was the case – then what should you do? Cut off your hand. Why? Because it would be better to go to heaven with only one hand, than go to hell with two.
So what Jesus is saying is that sexual sin isn’t just a matter of losing some heavenly rewards, or reducing our experience of Christ’s love in our hearts now. It does all that. But what Jesus is saying is that continuing in sexual sin could cost you heaven. Continuing in sexual sin could send you to hell.
Now does that mean you can lose your salvation? No, it does not. But to see why – we need to understand what happens when God saves you.
When God saves you – you turn from your sin and trust Jesus as Savior, Lord, and Treasure. And at that moment God forgives you for all your sin, He pours His love into your heart so you taste His very presence – AND He starts a heart-changing work in you which He will never stop until He brings you to heaven.
He will work in your heart to keep you from stumbling – He will continue the good work in your heart until Jesus comes back – He will work in your heart so no one can snatch you out of his hand.
And part of this heart-changing work is that your heart now pays heed to the warnings of Scripture – warnings like this one Jesus gives in Matthew 5.
So – because you have been saved – when you hear Jesus say that continuing in sexual sin could cost you heaven and doom you to hell – instead of blowing that off, or scoffing, you tremble. Because your heart has been changed. And so you turn to Jesus and cry out to Him for help. You immerse yourself in God’s Word so the Spirit will strengthen you. You fight against temptation when it arises.
And if and when you stumble, and sin sexually, because your heart has been changed this warning rings in your ears. And so you quickly turn back to Jesus, and confess what you’ve done, repent before Him, plead with Him to forgive and strengthen you.
And He does – He pours His forgiveness upon you. He fills you with His love. He strengthens your resolve. And once again you fight to resist temptation.
But what if you hear this warning and don’t care – don’t take it seriously – and just keep pursuing sexual sin? If that continues – and nothing changed – then that would show that you were never saved to begin with. Because saved hearts tremble at God’s warnings. So – since your heart is not trembling – that would show you were not saved – which is why – unless something changes – you will lose heaven and face hell.
Picture the road to heaven as a road with steep drop-offs of sexual temptation on every side. God has promised that everyone He saves and places on that road will keep on the road all the way to heaven.
So – to keep us on the road He does two things. One is that he places warnings at crucial points -- Danger! If you come near to this edge you could fall off and be lost forever. The other is that when He saves you He gives you a heart that pays heed to these warnings.
So everyone who has been saved trembles at the warning – and pulls back before going over the edge. But if someone does not pull back before going over the edge – that shows he was not saved to begin with.
So don’t take this warning lightly. What’s at stake in the battle against sexual sin is nothing less than your eternal destiny – heaven and hell.
So how can we fight sexual sin? Let’s say you use porn, you welcome sexual fantasies, you take second and third and fourth looks. What should you do? Let me give you seven steps.
First – turn to Jesus, trust Him, and ask Him for help. Some of you have given up. You think you will never change. But understand – Jesus loves you. He cares about you. He knows the struggle. He will give you everything you need to battle and overcome every temptation.
Second -- resolve to spare no effort. That’s Jesus’ point. If gouging out your eye would free you from sexual sin – do it. It’s a smart move. Why? Wouldn’t you rather be in heaven with one eye than in hell with two? Jesus’ point is – understand what’s at stake so you spare no effort in your battle against sexual lust.
Third – consider changing your environment. Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife. So what should you do? There’s no one-size-fits-all here. But you might need to turn off cable TV. You might need to change gyms. You might need to ask the hotel to turn off the cable TV to your room. You might need to change jobs. You might need to put a porn-filter on your computer. You might need to cancel your Sports Illustrated subscription.
But changing your environment just gets you some breathing room. It won’t solve the problem. For that you need to take this next step –
Fourth – pursue the all-satisfying presence of Jesus through prayer, God’s word, worship, and fellowship. This is the key issue. The reason you look to porn is because your heart is empty. It’s because you are not finding the pleasure and joy you long for.
But it’s in God’s presence that there’s fullness of joy. Porn can’t hold a candle to Jesus! When you see Him, behold Him, worship Him – your heart will be filled far more than it can ever be through sex.
So as a preventative measure – start each day getting your heart filled with Him. Pray. Soak in God’s Word. Head to the office with a full heart. Head to the gym with a full heart. And then when temptations come your way – turn your mind from that temptation and set it on Jesus – fellowship with Jesus – behold Jesus – adore Jesus.
Fifth – talk to your spouse about your sexual relationship with each other. Sex within marriage is a powerful weapon against temptation. So sit down and talk about your sex life. Are you frustrated? Talk to your husband or wife. Share your need. Listen to each other. Love each other. Serve each other. Sex is a powerful area where a husband and wife can serve each other.
And what if you are not married? God will give you all the grace you need. As you keep fighting to press into God’s presence – He will pour His love and glory on you that you will be able to keep sexual desire at bay.
Sixth – get support from brothers or sisters. Support can be helpful. Accountability can be helpful. And this is where DNA groups come in. Every member of every DNA group should share every week how they are doing with sexual temptation – the wins and the losses – so we can encourage each other, challenge each other, inspire each other, and pray for each other.
Seventh – if and when you stumble – run back to Jesus. Don’t mope. Don’t “woe is me.” Don’t try to do something good to earn your way back to God. No. Immediately run back to Jesus. Confess your sin. Ask for His help. And because of His suffering on the Cross for you – He will forgive you. He will help you. He will fill and strengthen and satisfy you. And you’ll be back on the road.
Any questions?
When it comes to sexual sin -- eternity is at stake. So take it with the utmost seriousness.
But understand that it’s not up to you. Jesus will help you, fill you, strengthen you, and when you stumble – forgive you.