Good afternoon, everyone. It's good to see you today on this Lord's Day, another day that the Lord has made and that we will rejoice and be glad in it because we are glad in him. So we're going to come together and we're going to get ready to go before the Lord in prayer. Those who can stand, stand with me. Oh, gracious Father, we come to you today, Father, giving your name, glory, and honor and praise because it belongs to you, Father. We thank the Lord God for waking us up this morning and starting us on our way, Lord. and allowed us to come together in your name, Father, to worship you, to adore you, to love you, Father. So we come, Father, casting all our cares, Lord, upon you, because you care for us, Father. And we ask you, Lord God, for forgiveness of our sins, because we have many, Father. And we need you to wash us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, Father. We thank you, Lord God, that you're the only one and only living God, Father. Thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, who is limited to make decisions for us day and night, who never sleeps nor slumbers, Father. But he is praying, Lord God, for us, Father. We come praying, Lord, for every family that is here today, Father, and those who are online, Father, that you will move, Lord, by your spirit, Father, for those who are going through afflictions in their bodies, Lord, that you would heal, because you are Jehovah Rapha, our great healer, our great position, Father. Pray for every child, Lord, in the womb, outside the womb, Father, that you would have your way, Father. We bless you, Lord God, for your Holy Spirit, as moon upon the earth, committing men of their sins, Father, which we are guilty, Father. So, Lord, have your way, Lord, in this service, Father. We bring all distractions unto you, Father, that you will have your way, Father. You see, everything that has breath, let them praise the Lord, Father. So God, that is what we are doing today, Lord. We are praising your holy name, Father, because you are good, Lord. You are kind. You are merciful. You are long-suffering. You are God alone, all by yourself, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Father. So, Lord God, we thank you, Lord, for this great salvation that you have given us, Father. Have your way, Father. Save, Father. Pray, Lord God, for our government across the land, Father. Pray for every church, Lord, that's opening your name, that is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, Him crucified, Him buried, and Him risen, Father. So, Lord, we thank you, Father. Just for this day. Someone didn't make it today, Lord, but we did, Lord. And we're grateful. We're grateful and we're thankful, Father. So Lord God, have your way, Lord, in this place, Father. Pray for the songs that will be sung today, Father. Pray for the musicians, Father. For the greeters, Lord. Just have your way, Father. So Lord, we thank you, Lord. And truly, God, we are in need of thee, Lord. We are in need of you, Father. You're our only hope. You're our only help, Father. So Lord, be glorified in this place, Lord. So this is our prayer that we pray. And we thank you, Lord, for this assembly, Lord. And thank you, Father God, that you are our God and we are your people. So this is our prayer we pray. We pray this all in Jesus' name. And we say amen and amen. Now we're going to give it together. It should be Psalms 27. I will read it in my Bible. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came up upon me, did my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that he will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. One thing have I desired of the Lord, One thing have I desired of the Lord that he will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in time of trouble, he shall have his pavilion. In seeking of his tabernacle, shall he hide me. He shall set me upon a rock. and now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me. Therefore, we are offered in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also upon me and answer me. When thou saidest, seek ye my face, my heart said, unto thee, thy face, Lord, would I seek. Hide not thy face far from me. Put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Lead me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Yes. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of my enemies. Deliver me not over to the will of my enemies, for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such that breathe out cruelty. I have fainted, and as I have believed, to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. At this time, we're going to get ready for praise and worship. Praise and worship. Praise the Lord, everybody. Praise the lord. Praise the lord, everybody. Praise the lord. And again, I say rejoice. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. It's interesting when you when you face the situations that always make you feel like rejoicing, right? And then you read stuff in the Bible. It's like rejoicing the lord always and again, I say I'm standing here uh if I could just be honest with y'all uh I could use a little encouragement today. Um and um but I'm going to rejoice. My family is going through some things but I'm going to rejoice in the lord because he promised he will We're going to start with... Hallelujah. How many of you came to serve the lion of the lamb this morning? Hallelujah. We came to serve the king of glory on today. I encourage y'all to stand to your feet. He's coming on the clouds. Kings and kingdoms will bow down. ♪ And every chain will break ♪ ♪ As broken hearts declare his praise ♪ ♪ For who can stop the Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Our God is a lion, the lion of Judah ♪ ♪ He's roaring with power and fighting our battles ♪ ♪ And every knee will bow before him ♪ ♪ Our God, our God is the lamb ♪ The Lamb that was slain, for the sins of the world. His blood breaks the chain. Every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb. Every knee will bow before Him. How many came to celebrate the King of Kings today? Hallelujah! Open up the gates. Make way before the king of kings. Yes. Hallelujah. The God who comes to save is here to set the captives free. For who can stop the Lord Almighty? Our God is the Lamb, the Lion of Judah. He's roaring with power and fighting our battle. And every knee will bow before him. Our God, our God is the lamb, the lamb that was slain for the sins of the world. He would break the chain. Every knee will bow. And every knee will bow before the lion and the lamb. Every knee will bow before him. Our God. Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah. He's roaring with power and fighting our battle. Every knee will bow before the Lion as well. Our God. Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world. For the sins of the world. Hallelujah. We come to For who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Help me say, who can stop the Lord Almighty? Sing it over your battle. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Sing it to your heartache. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Sing it to your disease. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Nobody, nobody, nobody, nobody. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Nobody can stop him. Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Who can stop the Lord? Who can stop the Lord Almighty? Nobody, nobody, nobody. Nobody can stop the lord almighty. Nobody can stop him. Who can stop the lord? Our god is the lion. Our god is the lion. It's a lion. Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain. For the sins of the world, His blood is the chain. And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb. And every knee will bow before Him. And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb. Give god some glory in this place. Hallelujah. I know I've needed him to fight my battle on more than a few occasions. Hallelujah. Thank you god. Thank you god. I'm just grateful to have somebody that can do something about some of the things that I have to deal with. Hallelujah. Some of the things that we The Bible says angels bow before him. Heaven and earth adores him. Hallelujah. The earth is filled with the glory of the lord. Hallelujah. Yes. My life is filled with his miracles. Hallelujah. Thank you. Is your life filled with his miracles? Hallelujah. Thank you god. Oh god. So and he will never give up on you. He will never throw you away. And he sees everything. He knows all about it. Even the stuff you ain't told nobody about. Jesus. Tell Jesus. Cuz he knows about it anyways. He just wants you to come to him. He just wanna know that you know that he's the one. Thank you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I just thank god to serve. A kind of god like that. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. My grandma used to say, y'all know God sits high and he looks low. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, I just thank God I can't never be too low where he can't find me. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Hey. Angels, they bow before you. Yes, they do. Heaven and earth adore you. The earth is filled with your glory. The earth is filled with your glory. Help me say angels, angels, they bow before you. Yes, they do. Heaven, heaven, and earth adore you. The earth is filled. The earth is filled with your glory. Yes, it is. Oh, thank you, Lord. The earth is filled with your glory. Because you are a mighty. You are a mighty. Friday, you are the Friday, Friday You are the mighty God. You sit high. You look low. You are with us wherever we go. No more fear. No more fear. You're in control. You're in control. Things may change. Things may change. But we know. But we know. You are a. You are a mighty. Mighty. Mighty. You are a. You are a mighty. Mighty. We serve what a mighty God. You're the mighty God. We serve what a mighty God. You're the mighty God. We serve what a mighty God. Oh, yeah. You're the mighty God. We serve what a mighty God. You're the mighty God. Jesus. Yes, you are. You are faithful. You're the mighty God. You are true. You're the mighty God. We are so in love with you. You're the mighty God. What a mighty God. You're the mighty God. Jesus. What a mighty God. You are my day. You are my day. You are my day. You are my day. You are my day. You are my day. You are my day. You are my day. You are my day. Oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh What a mighty God Oh, oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh You've got some glory in this place. Hallelujah. We lift you high in the heavens. Oh god. You're so majestic lord. How many know we serve a mighty god? He's a mighty god. Yes, you are. You're everything. You're everything to me. Everything. You're everything to me. Yes, you are. We worship you, God. Nobody like you, Lord, in all of the heavens. Oh we give you glory. Oh we give you glory. Oh we give you glory. Welcome, welcome, welcome. That was, let me see. Maybe it's just me. Can you guys hear me now? Yes, welcome. That was awesome. Certainly needed that today. We need it every day. But sometimes we feel like we need a little more on one day than another. But we definitely need it every day. So welcome to Transforming Love Christian Center. So glad to be here today. So glad to be here. So glad to see you all. So glad to see you all. It's been a week. But the wonderful thing is that we're all here. We are all here. So whether or not you're joining us for the first time here or online, we are happy to have you to be a part of our transforming love family. want you to know that you matter to us and you matter to god. That is that is the important thing. We're deeply grateful for every contribution that helps us to carry on the mission that god has placed on our hearts and to further his kingdom and to spread the love of Christ and as I've said before, We certainly need to have that love spread and sometimes I think that is probably the hardest thing to do especially when you have people who wrong you or other things that is so hard to do that. So that is probably one of the greatest accomplishments and the greatest things that you can do to carry on Christ's love. Okay? So if you feel the need to give today, you can find details at transforminglovecc.org. Okay? You can also use the envelopes. I think there was some placed on the seats. And as Pastor Jamie said, we're trying to do some things. So coming soon, we're going to have a new way of giving. It's going to be a simpler way of giving. So stay tuned for those details. And we're also working on a potluck. Now isn't that a wonderful thing? We are working on a potluck so we can all get to know each other better. That's going to be awesome. And in addition, we wanna invite you to connect with us at our virtual Bible study every Thursday at seven, where you can also stay connected on what's going on. And before we move on, I wanna kindly ask that you silence your phones, okay? So that we can fully engage in the message that Pastor James is gonna bring to us. And once again, welcome to Transforming Love Christian Church, where love is transformed and renewed through Jesus Christ. Praise God and thank God. Yes. So we'll now hear from Pastor Jamie. Amen. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Amen. Let's go ahead and stand and greet each other. I see some faces that I haven't seen in a while. Come on in, Brother Richard. Still enough time. Let's say hello to everyone and greet each other in Jesus. Amen. Go ahead and greet each other. Say hello to everybody. Amen. So, Yeah. so Yeah. Yeah. Amen. Amen. All right. Praise the Lord, everybody. It's good to see everyone. I'm going to get into the word today, but I would covet your prayer that would ask that you would really hold your pastor up this morning. some challenges. One is, I did my very best to study yesterday, but I had an interruption in my study, which is okay, because that happens. But I need all of you to pray for Sister Jonetta. I went to go and see her yesterday and serve her communion. Please keep the family in prayer. Janetta, she became very close to me, not just because of our history with my dad's church, but also because of... She stepped into our home during a time when we really needed it. My children and I were alone and Miss Janetta would come and hang out with the kids and do laundry for them and she can no longer do that. And that is weighing very heavily on my heart. One of the things that is It's hard for a pastor, especially like me, because I'm kind of hands-on. I don't send people out to do the care of the sheep. I like to do it myself. It's hard to see when people are preparing to possibly go see Jesus. Since I've been pastoring, it's been one person after another that has known me since I was a kid. And some of my father's people are now with us and have been with us, and it's a lot of history. It's hard to see when things change. But I want you to know that in spite of how I feel, Ms. Jonetta is excited. She's like, woo! She's like, any moment now. So, you know, it's just a reminder that this place is not our home. And we are, by instinct, we decide to try to stay here. But this is not heaven. Jesus is coming back. And one way or the other, those that believe in Him will see His face in ways. So we rejoice in that. Amen. But hold me up this morning because I'm dealing with that and a great many other things that are pressing on my heart today. Since I started preaching a sermon and I'm out, I knew this was going to happen. Things have been a little tough. But I trust the Lord. He will do what He can do and what He will always do every time I step up here. So keep praying. Amen. All right. Father God, You know where my efforts cease and come to an end and where Your power takes over. You know, Heavenly Father, what this passage is talking about, this subject. You know what you sent your precious and holy son, Jesus Christ, to convey to us. You know what's in your heart. He knows what's in your heart. The Holy Spirit knows what's in your heart. And I am asking today for grace and mercy and anointing. In spite of my best efforts, Father, I pray that you just completely take over this sermon. I'm in a little tough shape today, Lord. But I lean on you because I know you're a God and I trust you. So take these words and shape them in such a way, Father, that it will shape the hearts of your people so that we will see things the way you see them and come to trust and rely on your son. He is our only hope. He is our only hope. We trust you, Jesus. Help us in our fallen state to do your will and to appreciate what you've done for us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right. We're in Matthew. Still the fifth chapter, starting at the 28th verse, 28 through 30. Matthew, the fifth chapter, starting at the 28th verse through 30. Let's all stand. Thank you, Son. Thank you so much for playing. Appreciate you. Stand for the reading of the Word. Matthew 5, 28. Amen. Let's start at 27. I'm sorry. 27, my fault. Matthew 5, 27. Let me make that correction. There's a typo here. There we go. All right. The Word of God says, you have heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 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. 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. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of his word. I want to speak to you today from the sermon titled, Cheaters. Cheaters. You may be seated. I am not going to get through this whole entire passage. There's a lot here. There's a lot to uncover. So I'm just going to, just like we did with the sermon when it came to anger. and the series in anger, I'm probably going to be on another little series here. Amen? Because there's a lot here and I don't want to try to cram it into one sermon. But just like the series in anger that we preach, the first sermon of it is going to be a little rough. Amen? So hang with me and be praying. Amen? I want to start off this sermon by saying that some Sundays ago, I can't remember, it was some time ago, I can't remember exactly what it was, but I know it was maybe the early part of this year. I made a statement in a pulpit that was very, very transparent about myself. And the statement went something like this. One day I was sitting in my room and the Holy Spirit revealed to me some things in my own heart. And I believe that he said this to me, and I just kind of paraphrase what I believe he said. He said, Jamie, for most of your life, you've been seeking a relationship with a woman. To the point to where you don't know who you are, but outside of that quest. I was like, oh God. Now I fully believe, I got your attention, amen, that it's okay for people to desire a relationship in marriage with the opposite sex. Amen. In fact, I believe that God himself, he puts that desire in the hearts of some people. Amen. I personally do not believe this about myself. I do not believe I have what the Bible has called the gift of singleness. So speaks the married woman in the back. But I believe this with all my heart, even though there are people that are gifted with singleness and there are people like me who are not gifted with that. I believe this with all my heart. A relationship with Jesus Christ is so much more satisfying than any other relationship that you will ever have. Amen? Amen. And because of sin, this is what I also believe, and the influence of the world system that we've been in, your flesh is pre-programmed to do everything it can to prevent you from experiencing that. And I'm going to say this again next Sunday, because it's going to tie into the end of the last few verses. There's nothing more satisfying than a relationship with Jesus Christ, and because of sin, our flesh will be pre-programmed to make sure that we do not actually experience that relationship, that satisfaction with Jesus. Amen? Amen. Jesus is not against marriage, nor does he condemn the desire for marriage. Jesus is not against sexual intercourse, nor does he condemn the desire for sexual intercourse. But he knows that desire, key word, must be kept within holy boundaries. Not just sexual intercourse. Not only must that be kept in holy boundaries, but even the very desire must be kept within holy boundaries. Now remember in our series with anger, Jesus, what transcends the law? Amen? He makes the law clear. Where there is misunderstanding or incomplete revelation of the law, Jesus gives deeper, clearer, full revelation of what's in the heart of the Father when he gave the law. Amen? And the revelation that Jesus gives, as we saw in the series of anger, to the Israelites who believed that they were doing just fine with religion was rather shocking. They couldn't believe it. The law, as I said before, can take you to a certain point, a certain limit. And when we think that that limit is good, and we believe, most of us will believe that limit is good, along comes Jesus and he takes you past that limit because he knows that our good is not good enough. Murder, as we learned in our last series, not just the physical act of murder, but murder is condemned and punishable by death. Anger, as we learned in that series, anger that is in the heart is also murder. Anger in the heart that you put in storage is murder, right? So now Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount to his disciples, those who would follow him. And Jesus is, even though we're on the second part of this or another section of this, it's the same sermon being preached on the same day. Okay? It's not a different day. So just a few seconds after Jesus gets through dealing with anger, he deals with adultery. But the context is the same. Amen? It's not a different sermon, not a different day. Amen. So back to our text, Matthew 5, 27. Matthew 5, 27. Jesus said, you have heard it was said you shall not commit adultery. Verse 28 says, but I say, transcending the law. I say that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Let's underline some words, okay? Lustful intent, verse 28. The word already, verse 28, and the last part of it, heart. Okay? So, here we go. I, no, let me put it on you. I'm sick of using myself as an example. You can be married and say to yourself that you have been faithful the whole time. That you have never, ever, since you've been married, stepped out on your spouse. Therefore, you can never be labeled as a cheater. And Jesus is saying, that ain't true. This had to be very hard for the Israelites to hear. They're walking around, you know, feeling good about their religious selves. And Jesus, the walking, talking lie detector, comes to the church and he's looking at the people like this. Girl, please. Bro, come on now. Come on now. So let's just examine this text and let's see what's under the hood here. Again, I'm not going to get through all this. I hope I don't leave you on a cliffhanger, but I don't want to rush this. Amen? Matthew 5, 27. You have heard that it was said that you shall not commit adultery. That word, adultery, Before we move on, I need to make a clear distinction. This word adultery is not the same as the word fornication. I've taught on fornication before. I actually don't know if I've taught on the subject of adultery. Amen? This passage is focusing on the word adultery. And I believe that Jesus is focusing on this specific word for a very specific reason that hopefully we will uncover next week. So come back next week and we'll see what's happening there. But adultery is to be married and have intercourse with someone that is not the person you are married to. Okay? Now I know we're living in modern times and people will say that adultery only happens in the context of marriage. But in biblical times, even in the Jewish culture back then, the people that Jesus was talking to, which means we cannot superimpose our modern times on top of the Bible. It's actually the opposite way around. Okay? In those Jewish times or biblical times, adultery could also take place between two people who were betrothed, or as the word we use, engaged. Okay? So you're married and you're stepping out. You're spoken for and you're stepping out. Okay? So none of this modern, you know, bachelorette, bachelor party kind of thing that we have decided is okay and as long as I didn't do it when I was married. No! You're spoken for, God takes that seriously. Your marriage, God takes that seriously. Amen. So unlike today, folks who step outside of their covenant by having intercourse with other people, adultery is punishable by death. Amen? Leviticus 20 and 10 says this, Leviticus 20 and 10. This is the law that they knew. If a man commits adultery with his wife, I mean with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Now we have different laws nowadays, but this is how it was back then. I did some research somewhere around 1969, 70, the laws of adultery got changed. It used to be that if you, I don't know, some time ago, it used to be that if you actually were found to be cheating on your husband or your wife while you were married, then the law actually would have some consequences against you. People don't know that because we, you know, it's been so, you know, we've moved along and kind of moved that needle, you know. But there was a point in time where that actually came with legal ramifications, not just, you know, I want half. You know, you'd be in trouble with the law. Back then, the law was you and your side chick, you die. Okay? Exodus 2017, this is, before I do that, before I do that, Exodus 2014. Yeah, there we go. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Slow down, Jimmy. The Word of God says, you shall not commit adultery. Now, that's the law written in the Ten Commandments, we know that. Watch this, just three lines down to verse 17, there's something that they had heard before, but they got so comfortable in their ways that they forgot that God was judging them beyond just their actions. Exodus 20.17 says this, you shall not covet your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You should not covet the male servant, the female servant, or his ox, or a donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. To covet means to, here's that word again, desire. You shall not desire your neighbor's wife. And ladies, we're talking about you too. You should not desire your neighbor's husband. Amen? Amen. The desire is desire someone or something that does not belong to you. To have a desire for someone or something that actually belongs to someone else. Okay? So back to our text. Verse 27 again. Matthew 5, 27. We're just going to kind of be pivoting a little bit from it. You've heard that it was said you should not commit adultery. Jesus says, but I say to you, you've heard this before, you've decided to minimize what I said. Remember back in the other series where we learned about Jesus transcending the law, but also saying that if you relax the law, you minimize the law and teach others to do so, you shall be called the least in the kingdom. You remember that? So anyone who relaxes the law and teaches others to do so, you are considered the least in the kingdom. This is exactly what's happened here. They knew that this was the law, but they relaxed it. I feel good because I've never cheated on my wife. You liar. You know the rest of the law. But I say to you, anyone who ever looks at a woman with lustful, next verse, with lustful intent. Thank you, Elijah, for pointing that out. He's like, get this, saints. Take that. I love it, son. One of the theologians I really like to listen to, Barclay, he says this, it is necessary that we understand what Jesus is truly saying here. He's not speaking of a natural, normal desire, which is part of the human instinct and human nature. In other words, he's not saying that if you notice that someone is attractive, that that is sin. No, no. For example, a woman sees a man and she's like, I want you to help me lift this box because it's heavy. You know, and she notices in the process, you know, you're kind of nice, bro. You know, okay, we haven't sinned yet. So far, we're okay. Jesus is like, yes, he is kind of nice, praise the Lord. But then you start traveling down the road a little bit, and you start making statements like this, gee, you're really strong. Right? Right? And then you keep going down that road. It's like, here we go for lustful intent. So which gender do you work out at? See how we're going? We went from you're cute. So now I'm setting you up. I went from a compliment to hunting. Ah, thank you Holy Spirit. Okay, here we go. Lust here, lustful intent means to crave a person sexually. Not just look at somebody, not just notice they're beautiful, but to crave that person sexually. If you ever look at somebody and you say in your mind, mm, mm, mm, Cross the line. Okay? Even though no one's heard it, but if you sonically in yourself, feel like, feel yourself going... Okay? That is lust. Okay? Help us, Jesus. Any guilty people in the church today? Oh, come on now. Now, the context of what Jesus is saying here is that you're doing this in your marriage, so that's adultery. You've got somebody already. Okay? All right? This is in the context of marriage, not just fornication broadly. You've got somebody already. So here's the question. Are you being faithful to your spouse but thinking about someone else sexually? Baby, what's on your mind? Nothing. Nothing to no one. Jesus is saying to be faithful to your spouse with your body and not your mind is a sin. Okay. Okay. Come on. Just kind of just setting it up here. Verse 29. Let's go a little bit further. Yeah, we're not going to get through all this. Okay. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away, for it will be better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. Someone said, in a tempting world, there are many things which are deliberately designed to excite, here's that word again, desire. Books, pictures, plays, advertisements. Right? There's a stoplight near my house. And then the stoplight near my house, there's a billboard that kind of faces this way. And so sometimes I get stuck at the light. Sometimes I drive straight through it. Sometimes I get stuck at the light. And sometimes there's anything on there from lawyers and accidents, you know, trying to get an accident lawyer to, you know, politicians and stuff like that. And every now and then there's somebody on there like this, you know, who left, who took a picture and left all of their outfit at home. You know, just barely remembered whatever, you know, you didn't take hardly anything with you, you know, and you took a picture, and there, you know, and so here's the thing. I have to, in my mind, notice, because it's there. Can't help it, notice it. What do I do with it, though? That's the question. Okay, so here's the thing. Jesus condemns the man who deliberately uses his eye to stimulate his desires. See that? The billboard is there, I see it, can't help it, there it is. But when I start to use my tools, my members, my eyes, to deliberately decide that now I'm gonna make a movie. And you are the star. You hear what I'm saying? Now we've flipped from noticing into lust. Woo! Things can excite deliberate, forbidden desires. Amen? So let's just say that Tremaine Hawkins is at a grocery store. with her little son, Jamie, who's about 10 years old. And she gets all her food and she ends up at the checkout lane. one of the ladies behind her notices who she is, and so she starts talking about songs and says, you know, that really blessed me, I know who you are. And then she starts having a conversation with Tremaine, and Tremaine's got me by the hand, and I'm just kind of, you know, just in the aisle, just kind of, you know, being a 10-year-old. And then the checkout clerk, she goes, By the way, yeah, that's right, I know you are too. And they start having a conversation, and while she's distracted, back in the day, I don't know if they still do it now, they would have little things in the checkout area just in case you forgot something. So you got your gum, you know, just in case your breath is fouled. Don't forget that. Put some mints in your mouth before you leave. You know, because you didn't pick them up in the other areas. So don't forget this. They got, you know, Time Magazine and blah, blah, blah. And every now and then they would have these romance novels. And the romance novels are, back in that time, I don't know if they still have it now because I haven't looked, but they're in the aisle as you were leaving. And so while she's distracted, you know, receiving praise for, you know, all her album work and whatever God has used her to do, I'm in the aisle looking around at all the things that we could forget before we leave the store. And what I see there is a romance novel, and I open it up, and I'm like, well, my God! Is this what the folks are reading? Now, I haven't seen any person, but my eyes are reading the story, and now my eyes are being used as a tool for excitement! So she's getting praise and I'm like, woo! Are you seeing what I'm saying? You know, it's like the grocery store saying, just in case you haven't gotten any in a while, don't forget your book. Don't forget your nasty little book with all your stories. Fabio, remember him? His white hair is blowing, shirt is way down here. And he's just, right? Oh, I'm just reading a book. No, you're not. That's lust. Your eyes are being used as a tool to sing. Wow. If your right eye, which is considered the more stronger eye, If that I causes, that word causes, some people may have in their Bibles stumbling block, okay? That word in the Greek is called skandalon. Skandalon means a bait that was attached to a thin stick that operates as a trap when moved. Interesting. So here we go again. Remember, it's the same sermon in the same context. Jesus is making a very similar point, but using a very different example. Okay? Your eye, your right eye, your good eye, is being used because of the sin in us to lead us into a trap. He says, what do you do, and we're going to go a little bit more into this next week, but he says, if it's causing you to sin, scandalon, tear it out and throw it away. Amen? 2 Peter 2.14 says this, 2 Peter 2.14 says this, they have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice souls. They have hearts trained in greed, accursed children. Another translation says they commit adultery with their eyes. And there, here's that key word again, desire for sin is never satisfied. Right? So here's the thing, saints. Give me verse 32. Yeah, let me just line this up. Verse 29 is talking about the eye. Then verse 30 is talking about the hand. If your hand, your right hand, your good hand, causes you to sin, the hand that you depend on, most folks are not left-handed, right? If your good hand causes you to sin, throw it away, for it's better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Do you see the progression? He's saying that your eye sees something. And it's not long before your hand touches something. See what's happening here? There's a sinful progression. Amen. We move from the I, I noticed, now I'm lusting, now I'm touching. Okay? We've gone from touching to doing the act. Sex starts in the mind. He's basically saying, keep your eye and your mind and your hand on your own husband and your own wife. Are you hearing me? It starts here, but it's taken in by the eyes, right? You don't just go outside and fall into sexual sin. You don't just, you know, walk off your porch and then just like, oops, look at what I'm doing. Doesn't happen. It happens in the brain, which means you've had some time to think about it. How did we end up here? After we're doing what we're doing, now we're smoking cigarettes looking at each other. What happened? Well, it started somewhere. There was a progression. I noticed. I looked too long. I didn't put Jesus in the middle of that. Now I'm staring. Now I'm contemplating. Now I'm thinking about it. You're on my mind, baby. Now we're texting. Now we're talking. For you know it, I'm touching. And he's saying, Jesus is saying, if you know what's good for you, you catch this thing at the door. Very similar to what we learn with anger. Are you seeing it? Right? You know, you don't just let anger sit there and do nothing about it. You can't have a casual attitude about anger. It'll destroy your soul. You can't have a casual attitude about lust. It'll destroy your soul. You see it? Very practical teaching here. Discipline your eyes. Get control of your mind before you end up touching somebody that doesn't belong to you. That's what he's saying. Job 31 and 1, Job 31 and 1, he says this, I have made a covenant with my eyes. How could I gaze at a virgin? In other words, I've made an agreement with my eyes. I've disciplined my eyes. I look, I notice, but I don't look too long. I'd be in trouble, okay? Back to Matthew 5, 28. Almost done. And again, I'm just touching this a little bit. There's a key word in 28 that I wanted to kind of extract. Okay, he said, you've heard that adultery It's sin, right? You shall not commit adultery. And then in verse 28 he says, but I say that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already, already committed adultery in her heart, already. The key word here to unlocking, I believe, this whole passage is that word already. What he's saying is that you've already blown it. Right? Your righteousness and your good feeling or understanding of yourself is no good, right? You've already failed because once again, God is not looking at whether or not you have the power to abstain from sleeping around as a married person. He's looking at the fantasies that you're building in your head about somebody. Okay? He's looking at the fantasies you feed on in your own heart. Amen? The heart is really here the mind. Okay? It's not your physical blood pumping organ. It is your thought life. Amen? So he said, even though you say you have not committed adultery, if you're looking at a woman or a man with lust, you've already committed adultery with this person in your heart. Some of us saints of God have blamed our spouses for cheating on us, not realizing that we were the ones that were cheating too. I got rid of that no good so-and-so because he was a cheater. I got rid of that no good so-and-so because she was no good, she was a cheater. Jesus is a saint and so are you. Yeah, you got the idea. Some of us have had prideful, you know, we've pridefully worn our faith badge, you know, like I've been faithful. We wear it like it's some kind of honor badge. And some of us think we deserve some kind of religious reward, not realizing that Jesus' standards are much higher and much deeper than ours. Okay? Jesus came to church and he told everybody in the church, listen, by the way, you are all cheaters. And adultery is punishable by death. Here's the thing I want you to see, saints. That's why we ought to be grateful for the blood of Jesus. That's why we ought to be grateful for the grace of God. If we were still under the law and trying to do this without grace, everyone in here would show up to heaven and at heaven's gates looking like we was okay and God would be like, no, you've missed it. You've blown it already. Huh? We wouldn't even get in. Thinking that we've never physically committed adultery, we would not realize that we were already guilty. Huh? We would all be on our way to hell. But thank God for the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, the righteousness that we could never earn, the righteousness that says he lived a perfect life that we could never live, huh? Because the truth is, is I've already messed up and the scary news is I didn't even know I messed up. That's what this passage is showing us here. He's saying, basically, you think you're okay, but you have no idea how much you need Jesus. You have no idea how grateful we ought to be for the blood of Jesus that washes us clean from our sin, because I'm thinking I'm okay by the law, and Jesus is saying, you don't even understand the law. And that's why I came to save you. That's why when you say that God doesn't love you, no, no. This is how you know God loves you. If you can get a good look at yourself by His standards, by His dictates, if you can just see what He sees without Jesus, then you'll be grateful to God for saving your soul. He did not leave us there. He's looking at these religious people, the disciples, the crowd, the Pharisees who have taught incorrectly. He's saying, you all have relaxed the law and that's why I'm here. You cannot please God without me. That's why I came. to administer grace and mercy to those who think they're okay and don't know they're not. Oh my goodness. So here's the thing, saints. Over and over again, he's telling us, and I'm through, he's telling us that we think we understand the law. We've been angry, and we thought that was acceptable. We've never stepped out on our spouses, and we thought that was acceptable. And Jesus is saying, very simply, I'm here, look at me. I'm the only one that's acceptable. And I'm the one that makes you acceptable. That's the clincher of what he's saying. I'm the one that makes you acceptable. So now that we've talked through the hard part, if you want to know some practical things, because it's not like he's giving us excuses to just go ahead and lust after everything we see. Oh, I can't wait to come to church next week and look at somebody. That's not what he's saying. we are still accountable to our king. And he wants us to live a certain way because that scandal on trap prevents us from something that is glorious that we don't want to miss out on. And if you want to hear about that and get some practical steps to keep you away from that, come back next week. Let's stand. Is it okay just to get some practical teaching this morning, huh? Amen, amen. Father God, we thank you so much for this revealing word. But we thank you also, Father, that you have given us grace. We thank you, Lord, that you desire even to be in a relationship with us, God. We thank you that you desire to save us from ourselves. I don't know where everyone is here when it comes to belief, God. Some of us may be feeling like the crowd and the disciples and the Pharisees that they don't need to be cleansed from sin. They may be feeling like they have done righteousness at a certain level to where you will find them acceptable. Father, I pray against that spirit. I pray against any spirit that is blocking your truth, blocking your gospel. Break the proud heart today, Father. Soften that heart. Break up the hard ground, Father, so that we can receive your seed and trust in you. Pride keeps us, Father, from leaning and depending on Jesus. We come here with this understanding that we're okay. not realizing that if we were okay, you would have never sent your son. But you did, which is proof that we're not okay, God. Help us to lean on Jesus. Help us not to lean to our own understanding, but to trust and rely on Jesus. to deliver us from our wrong thinking and to deliver us from our wrong living so that we could actually find out what you have in store for us, God. Deliver us from this trap, I pray. And help us to think about these things during the week so we can come back ready to receive Not with proud hearts, but with soft hearts, ready to receive, realizing, God, that we need your help. Practical steps to escape the things that are deep down inside of us, that without your help we will not escape. We pray these things in your son Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. You are dismissed.