Taking out the

1. Matthew 5:27-30 Takingout the Trash

3. Scudamore says, “With a vision of creating the ‘FedEx’ of junk removal, I dropped out of university with just one year left to become a full-time JUNKMAN! Yes, my father, a liver transplant surgeon, was not impressed to say the least. He is on my side now.”

4. Americans produce 154 million tons of trash each year—enough to fill the New Orleans Superdome from top to bottom, twice a day.

5. Americans produce 154 million tons of trash each year—enough to fill the New Orleans Superdome from top to bottom, twice a day. • Unfortunately, most of that trash could be recycled.

6. Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to TAKE OUT THE TRASH

7. He doesn’t speak about calling 1-800-GOT JUNK? or recycling.

8. He doesn’t speak about calling 1-800-GOT JUNK? or recycling. • But, he tells us to TAKE OUT THE TRASH of our lives!

9. He doesn’t speak about calling 1-800-GOT JUNK? or recycling. • But, he tells us to TAKE OUT THE TRASH of our lives! • He tells us to TAKE OUT THE TRASH of • Anger. • Easy divorces. • Oaths. • Retaliation. • Hatred.

10. In this morning’s text, Jesus speaks of TAKING OUT THE TRASH of lust.

11. Matthew 5:27-30

12. We must not confuse what the Lord says here with healthy & wholesome sexuality.

13. We must not confuse what the Lord says here with healthy & wholesome sexuality. • It was God, after all, who created us male & female.

14. “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gn 2:23, ESV).

15. “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gn 2:23, ESV). • Adam had been all alone.

16. “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Gn 2:23, ESV). • Adam had been all alone. • While Adam expresses his relief at no longer being alone, he does so in physical terms—“Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.”

17. Gn 2:23. • “Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicatedalways in her love” (Prov 5:18-19, ESV).

18. Gn 2:23. • Prov 5:18-19. • “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again” (1 Cor 7:3-5, ESV).

19. Scripture speaks quite straightforwardly about sexuality.

20. Scripture speaks quite straightforwardly about sexuality. • Sometimes, Scripture is more straightforward than we would like to admit.

21. Scripture speaks quite straightforwardly about sexuality. • Sometimes, Scripture is more straightforward than we would like to admit. • But, Scripture’s straightforward attitude in regard to sexuality informs us: • It is God who created sex. • There is nothing sinful about sex. • We need not be ashamed of being sexual beings.

22. Those points are important to remember as we study what Jesus said about lust.

23. Those points are important to remember as we study what Jesus said about lust. • Jesus tells us about: • THE TRASH’S STARE. • THE TRASH’S SEPARATION.

24. The Trash’sSTARE, vv 27-28

25. “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” (vv 27-28, ESV).

26. The Jews had heard it said, “You shall not commit adultery.”

27. The Jews had heard it said, “You shall not commit adultery.” • Indeed, God had spoken these words through Moses.

28. The Jews had heard it said, “You shall not commit adultery.” • Indeed, God had spoken these words through Moses. • “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14, ESV).

29. The Jews had heard it said, “You shall not commit adultery.” • Indeed, God had spoken these words through Moses. • “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14, ESV). • “If a man commits adultery with the wife ofhis neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them” (Lev 20:10-12, ESV).

30. The Jews had heard it said, “You shall not commit adultery.” • Indeed, God had spoken these words through Moses. • In fact, God had even condemned lust in the Old Testament.

31. The Jews had heard it said, “You shall not commit adultery.” • Indeed, God had spoken these words through Moses. • In fact, God had even condemned lust in the Old Testament. • “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Ex 20:17, ESV).

32. The Jews had heard it said, “You shall not commit adultery.” • Indeed, God had spoken these words through Moses. • In fact, God had even condemned lust in the Old Testament. • “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (Ex 20:17, ESV). • The Hebrew for “lust” basically means “to desire greatly.”

33. But, it’s safe to assume that the scribes & Pharisees had accepted the idea that they could push the envelope quite far as long as they didn’t actually commit adultery.

34. But, it’s safe to assume that the scribes & Pharisees had accepted the idea that they could push the envelope quite far as long as they didn’t actually commit adultery. • But, Jesus says, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

35. It’s remarkable that Jesus says, “Whoever looks at a woman.”

36. It’s remarkable that Jesus says, “Whoever looks at a woman.” • In Jesus’ day, people regarded women as the ones guilty of adultery.

37. It’s remarkable that Jesus says, “Whoever looks at a woman.” • In Jesus’ day, people regarded women as the ones guilty of adultery. • When the scribes & Pharisees wanted to trick Jesus, they brought a woman caught in adultery.

38. It’s remarkable that Jesus says, “Whoever looks at a woman.” • In Jesus’ day, people regarded women as the ones guilty of adultery. • When the scribes & Pharisees wanted to trick Jesus, they brought a woman caught in adultery. • The people believed it was lustful women who led men astray; men in this society were just above lustful thoughts.

39. Jesus, however, declares that men are just as culpable as women in sexual immorality.

40. Jesus, however, declares that men are just as culpable as women in sexual immorality. • Jesus’ will speak of a woman’s immorality in the next paragraph.

41. Jesus, however, declares that men are just as culpable as women in sexual immorality. • Jesus’ will speak of a woman’s immorality in the next paragraph: “Everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery” (v 32, ESV).

42. Jesus, however, declares that men are just as culpable as women in sexual immorality. • Jesus’ will speak of a woman’s immorality in the next paragraph: “Everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery” (v 32, ESV). • The point is that both sexes are just as capable of committing sexual immorality—the blame doesn’t rest on just one gender.

43. It is the one who looks at a woman with lustful intent that Jesus condemns.

44. It is the one who looks at a woman with lustful intent that Jesus condemns. • The Greek literally reads: “for the purpose of lusting after her.”

45. It is the one who looks at a woman with lustful intent that Jesus condemns. • The Greek literally reads: “for the purpose of lusting after her.” • The idea isn’t that you see a woman & have a momentary lustful thought.

46. It is the one who looks at a woman with lustful intent that Jesus condemns. • The Greek literally reads: “for the purpose of lusting after her.” • The idea isn’t that you see a woman & have a momentary lustful thought. • David, for example.

47. It is the one who looks at a woman with lustful intent that Jesus condemns. • The Greek literally reads: “for the purpose of lusting after her.” • The idea isn’t that you see a woman & have a momentary lustful thought. • David, for example. • “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful” (2 Sm 11:2, ESV).

48. It is the one who looks at a woman with lustful intent that Jesus condemns. • The Greek literally reads: “for the purpose of lusting after her.” • The idea isn’t that you see a woman & have a momentary lustful thought. • David, for example. • “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful” (2 Sm 11:2, ESV). • In that verse, we aren’t told a single sin that David committed—he accidentally saw a beautiful woman bathing.

49. It is the one who looks at a woman with lustful intent that Jesus condemns. • The Greek literally reads: “for the purpose of lusting after her.” • The idea isn’t that you see a woman & have a momentary lustful thought. • David, for example. • “It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful” (2 Sm 11:2, ESV). • In that verse, we aren’t told a single sin that David committed—he accidentally saw a beautiful woman bathing. • But, of course, David ended up going much further!

50. Martin Luther: “You can’t keep a bird from flying over your head. But, you can keep him from building a nest in your hair.”