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Well, please turn with me in 
your vitals to Matthew chapter five. We continue to work our 
way through the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus instruction for 
us as kingdom citizens, Matthew chapter five, just by way of 
reminder, he has set forth a description of a kingdom citizen in the Beatitudes, 
he highlights the attitudes and actions that characterize the 
people of God. They are a distinct people, but 
in verses 13 to 16, he highlights that they are not removed people. They're distinct, but they're 
involved. They are salt of the earth and light of the world. 
And now Jesus is addressing specific ethical instruction or ethics 
concerning life in the kingdom. We have seen that Christ is not 
invalidating the law of God, but rather he is expounding it 
faithfully. I just want to begin reading 
in chapter five at verse seventeen will read through verse thirty. 
Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did 
not come to destroy, but to fulfill for assuredly, I say to you, 
till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title will by 
no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore 
breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men 
so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever 
does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom 
of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds 
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no 
means enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said 
to those of old, you shall not murder. And whoever murders will 
be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever 
is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of 
the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, 
Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says you 
fool shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore, if you bring your 
gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something 
against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go 
your way. First, be reconciled to your 
brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary 
quickly, while you are on the way with him. Lest your adversary 
deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, 
and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you 
will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. 
You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not 
commit adultery. But I say to you, 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 Then, for your whole body 
to be cast into hell. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we come now to the scriptures and we pray for the ministry 
of the Holy Spirit. We know that you have given our 
all scriptures given by God, by inspiration of God, and it's 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness. And we pray that you would thoroughly 
furnish us unto every good work. We pray, God, that you would 
help us to see the evil of sin, help us to see the consequences 
of sin, help us to appreciate your holiness and your majesty 
and your glory. And may we as well appreciate 
that good and holy law that speaks not just to external conduct, 
but to the to the inner heart, to the inner man. Do forgive 
us now for all of our sins. Wash us afresh in the blood of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. For those who do not know you, 
God, we pray the spirit would work conviction in the heart, 
would show each one here their sin and their need for the Redeemer. 
And Father, may You indeed set Christ before us in all of His 
majesty and all of His glory and all of His sufficiency as 
the Savior of Your people. And we ask in Jesus' most holy 
name, Amen. Well, as I said, we're considering 
the Sermon on the Mount and our largest study in Matthew's Gospel. And we noticed that Jesus sets 
forth general principles in terms of handling the law of God. In other words, their principles 
of interpretation or what we might call hermeneutics in chapter 
five, verses 17 to 20. What he does is highlight his 
relationship to the Old Testament. He says, do not think that I've 
come to destroy. But rather, I have come to fulfill 
the law and the prophets. He sets forth the continuing 
and abiding validity of God's law in verse 18. And then he 
deals with two rampant, rampant heresies or errors which affect 
the law of God. In verse 19, he deals with what's 
called antinomianism. Those who reduce are those who 
teach that God's law has no bearing upon the people of God. He highlights 
this in verse 19 by saying, whoever therefore breaks one of the least 
of these commandments, a practical antinomian, someone who disobeys 
God's law or teaches men. So a doctrinal antinomian. Someone who does not uphold the 
law of God shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But 
whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the 
kingdom of heaven. And then the second error or 
heresy that Jesus condemns is in verse twenty. What we might 
call legalism. Remember, we saw that interesting 
conjunction. Legalists and antinomians both 
hate God's law. I would argue they both hate 
God's grace as well, but in the context here, what we're seeing 
is that they despise biblical law. In verse 20, Jesus does 
not say, unless your righteousness exceeds the law of Moses. He says, unless your righteousness 
exceeds the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the 
kingdom of heaven. So, he condemns these things. 
Now, he gives six examples in verses 21 to 47, and then he 
makes a summary statement in verse 48. Well, we find ourselves 
in that second example, verses 27 to 30, and it is specifically 
the seventh commandment. Structurally, this is put forth 
the same in the same manner that Jesus handled the sixth commandment. 
You shall not murder the sixth commandment dealt with in verses 
twenty one to twenty six. Now, the seventh commandment 
versus twenty seven to thirty. And as I said, structurally very 
similar, very parallel in the way that he deals with it. So, 
our approach to it this morning is going to be in similar fashion. 
We'll notice first the contrast, secondly the pharisaic or misinterpretation 
of the passage, and then thirdly, the correct interpretation of 
the passage at the mouth of our Lord Jesus. But note the contrast. Same convention is used. Verse 
27, you have heard that it was said to those of old, and then 
in verse 28, but I say to you, it is important that we do not 
get away from the principles he's already established. It's 
not as if Jesus is elevating himself over the law of Moses. He is rather, to be understood 
in the language of Calvin, a faithful expounder of the law of Moses. That you have heard it said was 
the mishandling, the misinterpretation, the misapplication of God's law 
at the hands of the scribes and the Pharisees. The parallel of 
the contrast here, rather, is not between the law given through 
Moses and the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a contrast, 
rather, between the false interpretation of the law of Moses and the true 
presentation of the law given by the Lord himself. I hope that 
you see that. I hope that you appreciate that. 
And I hope that you understand that, that Jesus in the Sermon 
on the Mount is not adding a dimension to the law It wasn't already 
there. We'll see that as we move through 
the exposition this morning. The Lord Jesus isn't making it 
something more powerful and more strong. The law of God is moral. It's moral expression reflects 
or is a picture of God's holy, unchangeable will. It reflects 
his character. It reflects his purity. It reflects 
his majesty. It is unchanging. Christ does 
not come to make it something other, but rather to explain 
it in its intent from the original institution of it. Christ has 
already asserted his intention in verse 17. He did not come 
to destroy. He did not come to nullify. He 
did not come to abolish. Christ declares the abiding validity 
in verse 18. Christ warns against the mishandling 
of the law, verses 19 and 20. So it is a wrong interpretation 
to come here and say, well, Jesus is adding a dementia or he's 
making it more spiritual. No, he's not. It's clearing away 
the muck. It's clearing away the garbage. 
He's clearing away a false approach to this particular law. Let's 
look at, secondly, the Pharisaic interpretation. We shouldn't 
just blame the Pharisees. It is the misinterpretation that 
I think every man, by nature, falls into at one time or another. Jesus says in verse 27, you have 
heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit 
adultery. That's true. Exodus 20, verse 
14, Deuteronomy chapter 5 and verse 18. But the remainder of 
Jesus teaching highlights the misinterpretation. It was to 
treat the commandment in merely an external fashion. It was to 
treat the commandment simply outwardly, just like he has done 
with the commandment against murder. The scribes and Pharisees 
thought they were OK as long as they didn't stop the heart 
of another human being, as long as they didn't cut a throat or 
shoot someone in the head or call someone or cause someone 
to die. Jesus says, No, I say to you, 
the law has always been concerned, not simply with the outward expression, 
but with inner purity. If you are angry with someone 
without cause, you're guilty. If you engage in character assassination, 
you're guilty. You call someone fool or rocker 
with an intention to destroy his reputation. The sixth commandment 
stands and condemns you. The same is true with the seventh. 
As far as they went, the scribes and the Pharisees could have 
agreed with the first part of Westminster, larger catechism 
number 139. What are the sins forbidden in 
the seventh commandment? The sins forbidden in the seventh 
commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, are adultery, 
fornication, rape, incest, sodomy and all unnatural lusts. They 
might not have even went as far as to say all unnatural lusts. You see, the catechism rightly 
shows us the external, the outward abuse of the Seventh Commandment. That's what these guys were doing. 
As long as you don't engage in the outward form, you're okay. As long as you don't end someone's 
life, you've obeyed the Sixth Commandment. As long as you've 
not gone into another's wife, you've obeyed the seventh commandment. But you see, the Pharisees wouldn't 
have done well at the Westminster assembly because these divines 
went on. They said all unclean imaginations, 
thoughts, purposes. They're echoing their Lord, as 
we'll see in just a moment. The commandment doesn't just 
stop out there, but it goes inside. It investigates the inner man. It searches your thoughts. It 
searches your heart. It searches you and lays you 
bare before the God with whom we have to do. It's important 
that we get this. The law of Moses always spoke 
to these things, as we'll see. The Westminster Divines go on 
to say, all corrupt or filthy communications or listening there 
unto wanton looks, impudent or light behavior, immodest apparel, 
prohibiting of lawful and dispensing with unlawful marriages, allowing, 
tolerating, keeping of stews. Stew is not what you make on 
the stove for lunch. It has to do with houses of ill 
repute, places where men ought not to be. The commandment prohibits 
the keeping of stews and resorting to them, entangling vows of single 
life. It's not some higher and nobler 
and more holy purpose for you not to get married. It's better 
to marry than to burn. The divines understood this. Entangling vows of single life, 
undue delay of marriage, having more wives or husbands than one 
at the same time, unjust divorce or desertion, idleness, gluttony, 
drunkenness, unchaste company, lascivious songs, books, pictures, 
dancing, stage plays, and all other provocations, too, or acts 
of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others. By this time at the 
assembly, the Pharisees would have excused themselves. Thank 
you very much. As long as we don't engage in 
the external act, we fulfilled the commandment. We've obeyed 
the law of Moses. This is why that rich young ruler 
could say all these things I've kept from my youth. This is why 
the legalist in Edward Fisher's delightful book, The Marrow of 
Modern Divinity, can say to evangelists, I have kept these from my youth. They've not understood the spiritual 
dimension. They've not understood the internet, 
the internal nature of God's holy law. I was thinking through 
this passage. It's always difficult to preach 
a sermon like this. It's difficult for a whole variety 
of reasons. One, because it's a mixed audience 
to because you got elderly folk and young folk. Sort of a mixed 
group. You've got to be very careful. 
You've got to be very delicate. I know that some out there today 
think we should simply imitate Hollywood and the sorts of details 
that we get into behind God's pulpit. I believe God would not 
have us to do such a thing. Well, one of the other things 
is the internal, I want to keep saying internality, I don't know 
if that's a word, externality is. I don't think internality 
is. Maybe it can be coined afresh, 
coined its way into Webster's or the Oxford English Dictionary. 
But it's tough. I imagine if we were just a Jewish 
synagogue, it would be pretty easy to discourse on the seventh 
commandment. Just don't go out and do those external bad things 
and you'll be fine. Just don't go out and murder 
people and you'll be fine. For legalism and moralism, you 
don't need the Holy Spirit for legalism and moralism. All you 
need is a bit of grit, a bit of determination, maybe change 
your life and habits a little bit so you can avoid the violation 
of the external command. So it goes to the heart. God is concerned about our hearts. 
God is concerned about the way we think. God is concerned with 
what goes on in our mind. Spurgeon says, whereas tradition 
had confined the prohibition to an overactive unchastity, 
the king shows that it forbade the unclean desires of the heart. Help you understand verse twenty, 
doesn't it? If Jesus is not faithfully expounding the law of Moses, 
he's being very unkind to these scribes and Pharisees. But he's 
faithfully expounding the law of Moses. These men should have 
understood it. And that's why he's able to say 
to kingdom citizens, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness 
of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the 
kingdom of heaven. You see, if it was simply concerned 
with the externals, the scribes and Pharisees did fine. If it 
was simply focused upon not ending people's lives and not actually 
breaking the covenant in terms of the physical and outward expression, 
Well, then, the scribes and Pharisees were upright men. Jesus' words 
are a bit severe in verse 20. No, they should have understood. 
They should have known. Greg Bonson well says the law 
demanded inner sanctification and its outward expression. The 
scribes and Pharisees disregarded the former inner sanctification 
and perverted the latter. So we've seen the contrast, we've 
seen the pharisaic or the misinterpretation, and we now come to the correct 
interpretation. Notice in verse 28, Jesus gives 
a prohibition against sinful lust. But I say to you, Jesus 
says, that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed 
adultery with her in his heart. It shows the error of another 
thing that was common in the Jewish thinking. They looked 
at adultery in terms of theft. It is theft. It is stealing. It is robbery to a high degree. 
But Jesus shows us here that it's not just the theft element. It's the perverted sexual element 
that's involved. God has made this world in a 
particular way. God has made birds to fly. He has made fish to swim. He 
has made men to conduct themselves in a particular manner and women 
likewise. God has given rules, boundaries, 
parameters for the expression of conjugal relations. marital 
relation. Jesus says to violate that, to 
go outside that covenantal context, to exceed the parameters, if 
you will, to live upon a woman to loss, you have broken the 
seventh commandment already. You see, it's not just concerned 
with the physical act. It's concerned with the heart 
motive behind it. Again, this is not new legislation. This isn't heightening. This 
isn't strengthening. Calvin says we must not imagine 
Christ to be a new legislator who adds anything to the eternal 
righteousness of his father. We must listen to him as a faithful 
expounder that we may know what is the nature of the law, what 
is its object and what is its extent. Deuteronomy 20. I'm sorry, Deuteronomy 5 and 
Exodus 20. What's the tenth commandment? 
Tell us. You shall not covet your neighbor's 
wife. How in the world could they miss 
that? How in the world could they simply 
focus upon the external expression when God, the Lord at Sinai, 
thundering through, came and said, Do not covet your neighbor's 
wife. Do not look upon her in your 
heart to last, because you've already committed adultery at 
that point. Job, in Job 31, says, I have 
made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a 
young woman? Sounds like he understood Jesus' 
teaching. Sounds like Job understood the 
internal character of God's searching law. Sounds like Job knew there 
was more to it than simply its outward expression. I have made 
a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a 
young woman? For what is the allotment of 
God from above and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 
Is it not destruction for the wicked and disaster for the workers 
of iniquity? Does he not see my ways and count 
all my steps? Doesn't he realize the thoughts 
of my Doesn't he realize the lustful inclinations? Does he 
not see and weigh me in the balances? Of course, Job understood the 
internal searching character of God's holy law. It was scribal 
and pharisaic misinterpretation which had clouded this. So Jesus, in the Sermon on the 
Mount, is being the faithful expounder and highlighting the 
internal dimension of God's holy law. Not recreating, not making 
a new, but rather showing us what the law always intended. 
Proverbs 6 in verse 25. We do not lust after her beauty 
in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. Again, 
Spurgeon says, if sin were not allowed in the mind, it would 
never be manifest in the body. Not the progression of thought 
in the sixth commandment? Unwarranted anger, character 
assassination, the hatred, the despising, the loathing, the 
animosity, ultimately yielding to the physical act itself. Jesus 
is saying the same thing with reference to the seventh. When 
you lust after her in your heart, this is the spawning ground. 
This is where you're giving birth to it. This is where it's going 
to issue forth from. Do not think that you are more 
strong. Do not think that you are more 
able. As John Owen Wells said, every lustful thought would end 
if it had its way in adultery. Every small thought of unbelief, 
if given vent, would end in atheism. Do not think that you're strong 
enough to entertain such a thing in your heart without getting 
it. Thomas Watson, in his exposition 
on the Ten Commandments, says this as a man may die of an inward 
bleeding, so he may be damned for the inward boilings of lust 
if it be not mortified. You've heard that right. It's a hemorrhage. Bleeding beneath 
the skin. I read once where the KGB could 
kill a man through beating and not leave a mark on his body. 
What a claim to fame that is, eh? Kill a man by beating him without 
leaving a mark on his body. Internal bleeding. Hemorrhaging. 
You see what Watson says. A man may die of that internal 
bleeding. A man may be damned of the boilings 
of lust if it be not mortified, destroyed, killed, slain. That's what Jesus is getting 
at here. That's what Jesus is highlighting. But I say to you that whoever 
looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery 
with her in his heart. So in the correct interpretation, 
he shows the internal character, the penetrating character of 
God's holy law. But secondly, with reference 
to the appropriate or the correct interpretation, he deals with 
the mortification of sin. He deals with how to deal with 
it. You know, I suspect as well, when sermons like these are preached, 
we're found out. We get affected. We realize. Power at demand. Well, Jesus 
doesn't leave us there. Jesus prescribes, just like he 
did in the commandment, you shall not murder. What's the opposite 
of the heart hatred? What's the opposite of the character 
assassination? Reconciliation. This is how you're 
supposed to deal. When you go to lay your gift 
before the altar and there you remember your brother has a problem 
with you, go to him. First be reconciled. See, hatred 
can't fester in a heart that's seeking to reconcile. If you've 
got a problem with somebody out in the world and you're on your 
way to the courtroom, settle with your adversary. Deal with 
it. Finish it. Reconcile. Pay the 
debt. Pay what you owe. Get squared. Get clean. Don't keep defending 
yourself. Deal with the anger. Deal with 
the heart. And it's the same thing here. 
Jesus doesn't leave us on our own. He says, I say to you that 
whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed 
adultery with her in his heart. And then he says, if he gives 
specific things on the mortification of sin, notice in verses twenty 
nine and thirty, he says, if your right eye causes you to 
sin, pluck it out. Cast it far 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. Jesus uses this 
convention in Matthew 18 as well. Not just relative to adultery, 
not just relative to sexual sin. It's a great principle in dealing 
with any sin. But here he speaks specifically 
with reference to adultery. I want to make four observations 
on this statement. First, the Lord Jesus is speaking 
metaphorically. The Lord Jesus is speaking metaphorically. Origen missed that. Origen was 
one of the church fathers who interpreted this passage literally, 
and he emasculated himself. Jesus is speaking metaphorically. He's using an image. He's using 
a convention. He's using language to highlight 
the necessity of dealing radically with sin. Spurgeon again says, 
Yet let no man plead this literally and therefore mutilate his body 
as some foolish fanatics have done. You know what happens if 
you cut your right hand off and you gouge your right eye out 
and your heart hasn't been dealt with? You may reflect momentarily 
on that stump and then use your left hand to commit sin. You may be sad for a bit that 
there's now an empty cavity where your right eye used to be. But 
you'll use your left one to sin. Jesus is speaking about the radical 
nature of dealing with sin. It's a matter of the heart. It's 
a matter of the inward man. It's a matter of being willing 
to gouge out eyes that chop off hands. Secondly, as I've already said, 
the Lord Jesus is highlighting the need to deal with sin. Knox 
Chamberlain, in his commentary, says these words demonstrate 
that severe measures are needed to combat such powerful sins. And they illustrate the radical 
obedience expected from persons who have experienced the powers 
and graces of the dawning kingdom. These words demonstrate that 
severe measures are needed to combat such powerful sins. Jesus says, cut off your right 
hand or gouge out your right eye. It certainly includes get 
rid of that thing that is a cause for stumbling in your life. If 
you can't go near the Internet without falling into pornography, 
get rid of it. You cannot use that television 
except as a vehicle to satisfy your lusts and get rid of it. 
You can't read that book or those magazines without it being an 
occasion of stumbling. Get rid of it. If Jesus says, cut your right 
hand off and gouge your right eye out, maybe it's time to suspend 
some of your liberties for the cause of faithfulness to the 
Lord God. Spurgeon says, better a blind 
saint than a quick sighted sinner. It's better a blind saint than 
a quick-sighted sinner. Isn't that Jesus' point? It's 
better to be in heaven with a stump. It's better to be in heaven with 
an eye patch. It's better to be in heaven dragging 
yourself along because you cut your feet off, too. It's better 
to be in heaven than to be a full man in hell. That's the convention, 
that's the metaphor, that's what Jesus is attacking here. Thirdly, the Lord Jesus sets 
forth the importance of a righteousness which exceeds the scribes and 
Pharisees, namely an inward purity together with its outward expression. Yes, good as far as it goes that 
you don't go out and physically engage in the act of fornication 
or adultery or sodomy or bestiality or any of the other things that 
the Bible so clearly forbids. But if your heart is cleaving 
to it, if your desire is for it, if your lusts are boiling 
and you're not seeking by the grace of God to mortify them, 
as Watson says, you're as likely to be damned by those boiling 
lusts than by internal bleeding. And then, fourthly, the Lord 
Jesus reiterates the horrific judgment awaiting those who continue 
in sin. What's the language in our passage? 
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. He used that commandment prohibiting 
murder. What happens when you engage 
in character assassination? You see, the Pharisees thought 
that as long as you didn't physically end someone's life, you wouldn't 
be in danger of the earthly judgment. Jesus says, if you assassinate 
someone's character, you'll reconcile with someone. You'll be in danger 
of hellfire. Remember Gehenna, the Valley 
of Hinnom, where the children of Israel in the Old Testament 
went to worship Moloch. Moloch was that big statue that 
had his arms outstretched, and they'd put fire around the base 
of it, and they'd bring their little ones and throw it into 
the arms of Moloch. Moloch couldn't catch, could he? See, we think 
it sounds a bit odd when we read Psalm 115. They have eyes that 
do not see, they have ears that do not hear, they have mouths 
that do not speak. That's a description of the idol. 
He has arms that cannot catch. So the children of Israel, instead 
of resisting the temptation, the Moloch worship, took their 
little ones and threw them right into the fire. This place became 
a dump. It became a rubbish heap. It 
had fires burning even in it. It would be like going to the 
Bailey landfill. They make that a lot nicer in 
appearance, don't they? They cover stuff up. You don't 
see smoldering fires out there. You don't see the sorts of things 
that, no doubt, you saw in the Valley of Hinnom. By the time 
of Jesus' day, it became symbolic of eschatological judgment, God's 
wrath, God's judgment, God's curse upon those who continue 
impenitent, who continue in sin without cutting 
off hands, without gouging out eyes. Men who reject the pleadings 
of Scripture, men who reject the warnings of Scripture, men 
who continue impenitent. That's what he is highlighting 
here. Those who continue in sin. This text is not dealing with 
you. If you hear a sermon like this 
and by the grace of God, you flee to the Lord Jesus. You seek 
cleansing in his blood. You pray for the Spirit of God 
to enable you to resist temptation. This text finds you out when 
you're not going to deal with it. You're not going to part 
with it. The thought of cutting off hands 
or gouging out eyes or disconnecting the Internet seems so outlandish 
that you'll have nothing to do with it. The idea of a covenant 
with your eyes, the way Job says it, seems just strange to you. Remember in our studies in the 
book of Galatians, As Paul highlights the works of the flesh, he summarizes 
or he states this in 521b, which sounds very much like what Jesus 
is doing here. He says, of which I tell you 
beforehand, just as I told you in time past, that those who 
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who practice such things. 
Those who live in such things. Those who continue in such things. Now, I'm not trying to minimize 
or provide a loophole for you to continue in sin. Well, Pastor 
Butler said no. We need to interpret the scripture 
properly, Calvin comments on Galatians 521, he says, but in 
this way we shall be told all are cut off from the hope of 
salvation. For who is there that is not chargeable with some of 
those sins? I reply, Paul does not threaten 
that all who have sinned but that all who remain impenitent 
shall be excluded from the kingdom of God. The saints themselves 
often fall into grievous sins, but they return to the path of 
righteousness, and therefore they are not included in this 
catalog. All threatenings of the judgments of God call us 
to repentance. They are accompanied by a promise 
that those who repent will obtain forgiveness. But if we continue 
obstinate, they remain as a testimony from heaven against us. If you think it's outlandish 
to cut off a hand or gouge out an eye or to get rid of your 
internet, you haven't understood the passage. You haven't understood 
the internal character of God's searching law. And that brings 
us to some final lessons. The first is just that, the holiness 
of God and the comprehensive character of His law. Last week 
I quoted from J.C. Ryle. summarized the entire section, 
the murder and the adultery, and a few of the other sins. 
So it's still appropriate. Are you taking him out of context? 
No, I'm not. Ryle says ignorance of the real meaning of the law 
is one plain reason why so many do not value the gospel. You were sitting here this morning 
saying, this just sounds crazy. This just sounds foolish. This 
sounds like madness. What you learn in church today, 
son? Oh, I should cut my hand off and gouge out my eye. Isn't 
that bizarre? Listen to Ryle. Ignorance of 
the real meaning of the law is one plain reason why so many 
do not value the gospel. and content themselves with a 
little formal Christianity. They do not see the strictness 
and holiness of God's Ten Commandments. If they did, they would never 
rest till they were safe in Christ. You may be here this morning 
content. You may be here this morning 
satisfied. You may be here this morning 
patting yourself on the back that you've never committed adultery. 
You've never engaged in those outward expressions of evil and 
wickedness. You're not like those people 
in San Francisco. You're not like those people 
who march in gay pride parades. You're not like those reprobate 
that we see that are engaged in ungodliness and vileness and 
wickedness and unholiness. I'm not like that. But I say 
to you, if you have looked upon a woman to lust, you've already 
committed adultery. Now, in the secret inklings of 
your heart, you just ask yourself, am I innocent? Am I innocent? As Machen said, men would have 
little trouble with the gospel if they first understood the 
law. We need to understand the consequences 
of sin in general, but we need to understand the consequences 
of sin specifically. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not engage in sexual 
sin. There are eternal consequences, 
according to our passage, according to Galatians five. According 
to Hebrews 13, marriage is honorable among all men. But for educators and adulterers, 
God will judge. There are eternal consequences 
associated with our commission of this specific sin. Remember 
this morning as well, remorse isn't repentance. Feeling bad 
isn't dealing with sin. Just being convicted doesn't 
mean you've owned it, had a change of mind, and are issuing forth 
fruits worthy of repentance. Anybody can cry when they're 
found out. Anybody can be sad when they 
feel bad. It is the man of God, the woman 
of God, who says, I am the man. God have mercy on me. Wash me 
from my sin and fill me with your spirit and set me on the 
right course. Remorse isn't going to get it. Remember Esau? Crying. Crying. What was he crying about? Because God wouldn't let him 
in heaven? He was crying because he didn't get the blessing. Don't misunderstand that passage 
in the book of Hebrews, not showing us poor, pathetic little Esau 
with his tears being rebuffed by God. Go back to Genesis. He cried because he didn't get 
blessed. What about Judas? He felt bad, 
didn't he? He cast that money back down 
at the feet of those godless men. He had remorse, but he didn't 
have repentance. He couldn't recite the Apostle's 
Creed. I believe in the forgiveness 
of sins. That's an important statement. 
Judas couldn't do that. There are eternal consequences 
associated with the violation of the seventh commandment. But 
consider the temporal consequences. This is evil because we live 
in a generation that is filled with the violation of this particular 
command. This isn't the first generation. 
But it's certainly a generation. Consider the effect it has upon 
the adulterer's wife and children. Now, we're going to just, for 
the sake of simplicity here, treat a man committing adultery. 
It works the other way, too, ladies. You're not some victim. Not some 
helpless, hapless victim. The case of rape is different. 
But in adultery, there are two willing parties. Consider the 
adulterers, wife and children. Man, think about this, about 
the effect it will have on your wife and your children. Remember, 
God, through the prophet Nathan, I gave you, I gave you, I gave 
you, I gave you. And if that was not enough, I 
would have given you more. What's that do? It highlights 
the heinousness of David's sin because God is so good. God's 
given you a good wife. God has given you a good husband. 
God has given you that gift. Raise your fist against the Lord. Reject his kindness and his goodness. Consider the effect on the woman's 
husband and children. You have adultery with some other 
woman. What are you doing to their household? 
Solomon speaks to this. Solomon tells us. The way that 
God only would relate it. People do not despise a thief 
if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Do you begrudge 
a man who steals when he's starving? Seriously? No. It's still a sin. It's still a crime. And he should 
still have to pay. Solomon does not say otherwise. But when you see a man who's 
got ten children and no food, and he goes into the store and 
he steals a ham. Are you outraged? No. No. You probably think about 
Solomon in Proverbs 30. Where's that agar? Give me neither 
poverty nor riches. Why? Because if I'm a poor man, 
I may be tempted to go steal. But people don't despise a thief 
if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet, verse 
31, when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have 
to give up all the substance of his house. You see, Solomon 
doesn't say, well, it's OK, you got ten kids, you stole a ham, 
let's just call it even. No, you're still going to have 
to pay that. It's going to cost you. Crime 
has its consequences, but then what Solomon goes on to say is 
pertinent to our consideration this morning. He says, whoever 
commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does 
so destroys his own soul, wounds and dishonor he will get. What's 
that mean? It means he's going to get a 
well-deserved punch right in his nose for violating that man's 
wife, the sanctity of his household, and breaking that covenant bond. 
That's what it means. Wounds and dishonor, he will 
get. Men, you ought to be afraid. 
Women, you ought to be afraid to engage in this because the 
temporal consequences may be a broken nose. Wounds and dishonor 
he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. Why? 
Verse 34, for jealousy is a husband's fury. Therefore, he will not 
spare in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense, 
nor will he be appeased, though you give him many gifts. He's 
not changing his mind on this. You go ahead and you take him 
to the golf course. You go ahead and you buy him dinner. You go 
ahead and try to alleviate the wrong you have committed. He 
is not going to accept your recompense. You have violated a solemn covenant 
before God. We need to think about these 
sorts of things. Consider the woman herself. Or again, if you're 
a woman, consider the man himself. Consider especially among the 
professing Christian church. You go out and you commit adultery 
with a non-Christian. You go out and commit adultery 
with somebody who's not a professed believer, arguably. Where are 
you at to be doing this? But listen to what Watson says 
concerning this. The adulterer not only wrongs 
his own soul, but does what in him lies to destroy the soul 
of another. And so kills two at once. He is worse than the thief. For 
suppose a thief robs a man, yea, takes away his life. The man's 
soul may be happy. He may go to heaven as well as 
if he had died in his bed. Home invasion robbery, horrible 
thing. Guys come in and they kill you. You're a Christian, 
you go to heaven. Now, that doesn't mean we invite home invasion 
robbers. Doesn't mean we, you know, just leave the door unlocked. 
You see what Watson's saying. The adulterer is worse than the 
thief. He says, he who commits adultery endangers the soul of 
another and deprives her of salvation. So far as in him lies a God sovereign 
could still save that woman. But you and your professing Christianity 
engaging in this activity are helping this woman right into 
hell. He says, now, what a fearful 
thing is it to be an instrument to draw another to hell? Consider your so-called Christian 
testimony. Aren't Christians supposed to 
be distinct? Aren't they supposed to be poor 
in spirit? Aren't they supposed to be those who hunger and thirst 
for righteous? Aren't they supposed to be those who are pure in heart? 
Aren't they supposed to be what Jesus has described so faithfully 
in Matthew 5, 3 to 11? Isn't that the case? What happens 
to your testimony when you engage in this activity? You engage 
in this sort of vile behavior. You are bringing shame upon the 
name of our blessed Redeemer. That's precisely how Nathan indicted 
David. By this deed, you have given 
cause to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. What good is your 
God? What good is that Christian morality? 
What good is that Christian ethic if you carry on in the same profligate 
and ungodly way as everybody else in the world? Baal was worshipped 
below the waist. That is not the way Yahweh is 
to be worshipped. He gets our minds. He gets our 
soul. He gets our strength. He gets our love. He gets our 
adoration. He gets the whole man. Baal worshippers 
rallied up in sexual immorality to gain the blessing of their 
idol. And then consider the temporal 
consequences upon yourself. It's Jesus saying in John 8, 
whoever commits sin, is a slave of sin. What a horrible place 
to be in. A slave to sexual sin? A slave 
to lust? A slave to feeling? A slave to 
debauchery? It's degrading. It's bad. The sun makes you free. If the 
Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. We've seen the 
holiness of God and His law, the consequences of sin. We need 
to appreciate the glory of Christ the Savior. This is not just a young man's 
sin. It's not. I remember one of the 
privileges I had as a young pastor here. was through Don. I'm not pointing at Don and putting 
her on the spot. I met a man that she knows. And 
in the course of God's kind providence, I got to sit and have coffee 
with two, what I call, older Baptist brothers. They were both 
retired Baptist ministers, probably in their late 70s, early 80s 
at the time, maybe the earlier 70s for them. It's been some 
time ago. I thought it was a great blessing 
and a great privilege just to sit and have coffee with these 
two brothers and to talk about the things of God and speak about 
the Bible and various spiritual things. And one of the things 
one of the men said that will never leave my mind is this. He said, you know, I read once 
where Gandhi was able to lay down between women on either 
side of him. And not do anything wrong. This 
old Baptist brother said, I ain't Gandhi. It's not just an old man or a 
young man's sin. It's not just a man's sin. It's 
a woman's sin, too. It's a universal sin. It's a 
through the age sin. You read from Genesis all the 
way through the book of Revelation, that sin is there. You know, 
in studying this out, it causes a bit of fresh appreciation for 
honest preachers of old. Here's what Lloyd-Jones said. 
He said, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Of course not. But is it in our hearts? That's 
Lloyd-Jones. Is it in our imagination? Do 
we like it? God forbid that any of us, I'm 
not here addressing you wretched sinners. God forbid that any 
of us, Christian, non-Christian, saint, sinner, believer, unbeliever, 
woman, man, old person, young person. God forbid that any of 
us should be able to look at this holy law of God and feel 
satisfied. We like that rich young ruler. 
All these things I've kept from my youth. If we can conceivably 
be satisfied with our lives because we have never committed an act 
of adultery or of murder or any of one of these things, I say 
that we do not know ourselves, nor the blackness and the foulness 
of our own hearts. We must listen to the teaching 
of the blessed son of God and examine ourselves, examine our 
hearts, examine our desires and examine our imagination. He then 
goes on to say, and this is where I want us to go. He says, I thank 
God that I have a gospel which tells me that another who is 
spotless and pure and utterly holy has taken my sin and my 
guilt upon himself. A study of God's holy law ought 
to press us into the lap of God's holy law. It ought to cause us 
to say with the hymn writer, shall I to the fountain fly? Wash me, Savior, or I die. That's what we need to gain. Christ, Him crucified, Him resurrected. We need the pardon of sins that 
Jesus gives. We need the imputation of righteousness 
that comes through Christ. We need God working in our lives. We need a salvation that is outside 
of ourselves. We don't need self-help. We don't 
need moral reform. We don't need, you need to go 
out and be a better you. We need to go to Christ. We need to believe the gospel. 
We need to come to know Him as Lord and Savior. This is a great 
place in the prophet Jeremiah when God is pleading with the 
nation of Israel, the covenant community, and he says, return 
ye backsliding children and I will heal your backsliding. Return and I will heal. Believe 
and I will heal. Now, as believers, gouge out 
eyes, cut off hands, deal radically with your sin. But never forget, 
it is that fount that is open for sin and uncleanness that 
has been brought nigh through the blood of Jesus Christ. Again, 
Ryle says, it teaches us this understanding of God's law, our 
exceeding need of the Lord Jesus Christ's atoning blood to save 
us. What man or woman upon earth 
can ever stand before such a God as this and plead not guilty? 
None of us. We'll say, well, yeah, but you 
don't know me. Yeah, but I'm really awesome. Yeah, but you 
really don't know. We don't just have to look at 
Lloyd-Jones or these old Baptist brothers. What's Paul say in 
Romans 7 when he's talking about the holiness and the goodness 
of God's commandments? I would not have known thus unless 
the word said, you shall not covet. Paul needed a fountain 
open for sin and uncleanness. You need a fountain open for 
sin and uncleanness. As Ryle says, without a mighty 
mediator, we should everyone be condemned in the judgment. 
God has provided a mighty mediator. The gospel of our Lord Jesus 
sets forth the life, the death, the resurrection of the Savior. 
And God calls man to believe that gospel, to repent from their 
sins, and to know the joy of everlasting life. Well, let us 
pray and ask the Lord to seal these things to our hearts. Father, 
as we come face to face with your holy law, God, it does expose 
the inner man. And I pray that all of us would 
seek refuge and safety in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that 
those who, by your grace, have sought refuge, who are seeking 
to live the Christian life, that all of us, God, would deal radically 
with sin, that we would gouge out eyes and cut off hands, metaphorically 
speaking, so we can be those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. 
We just pray for your Holy Spirit to indwell us powerfully. We 
pray for your presence in our lives. We pray, Father, that 
you would just grant us grace to receive these things and to 
pray them in. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.