Sunday's Sermon

This past Sunday my Pastor preached a wonderful sermon. This is my summary of what I learned from it J

Faithful Hearts-

Matthew 5:27-30

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

This Sunday our sermon was about temptation. Pastor Kevin started with this verse from Jesus and pointed out that God is not merely concerned with the faithfulness or our bodies but also with the faithfulness of our hearts. If we think lustful thoughts we are guilty of adultery, if we hate others we are guilty of murder. God is not concerned with whether the act is followed through on; He is concerned with our hearts.

We focused on lust for a portion of this sermon and it is important to define lust. In a loose definition “lust is not a passing glance, but is a willful stare that creates arousal.” There is a difference between lust and attraction. Attraction to others is natural, however lust is a sin. Lust happens when you begin to see someone as an object rather than a person.

Lust is a selfish act. It is seeing others as a mean for our own pleasure; it is using someone and dehumanizing them, not seeing them for the creation of God that they are. Habitual lust gradually destroys our ability to love because it is training us to be selfish. Love is a selfless act, therefore the more we lust the more we are conditioned to do the opposite of love. Even within marriage lust is not normal, healthy or good. When you lust after your spouse you are seeing them as an object whose purpose is for your pleasure, not in a loving self-sacrificing way. Love serves, lust uses.

Our culture is saturated with lust. It is constantly perpetuated by television shows, movies and music that teach us that lust is natural. Lust is a distortion of sexuality, not a normal part of it. How are we to deal with this when it surrounds us? We must run from the temptations shown through pop culture and do as Jesus commands by taking sin seriously and doing whatever it takes to stay away from it.

Jesus takes sin so seriously that he tells us to cut off a hand if it causes us to sin. While we do not take this literally it is important to see what the meaning is behind it. Jesus is telling us that is would be better to go through life with only one hand than it is to sin and be cast into Hell. It is better to go through life with only one eye than it is to sin!

Romans 13:13-14

13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh

We must not let ourselves indulge in thoughts that are sinful. If you spend your time consumed with thoughts of doing something sinful then you are far more likely to indulge in the actual action. For instance if you are so angry and you want to tell someone what you really think (in not kind words) and you spend your time thinking of all the things you wish you could say to them you are much more likely to actually tell the person off.

1 Corinthians 15:33

³³ Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

We as sinners often times walk right into temptation, we rarely “fall” into temptation. We often times willingly put ourselves in situations in which we are tempted to sin! If you know your friends are going to a movie that will have subject matter you disagree with don’t go. If you know that when you spend time with certain friends you are more likely to drink avoid situations with them in which drinking is a possibility. Often times you may need to reconsider hanging out with these types of people recreationally at all.

God always provides a way out of our temptation; however our problem as sinners is that we often ignore the exit sign. If you were in a fire the first thing you would do would be to look for the illuminated EXIT to get out, why do we not take sin this seriously?! We have to be willing to do whatever it takes to defeat temptation and sin. We must be willing to stop doing the things that cause us to stumble, whether that be watching movies and TV shows with sinful content, reading books that are smut, hanging out with friends that, while fun, may lead us down paths we needn’t go.

Galatians 6:1-2

 6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. ² Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

We must surround ourselves with other Christians we will support us and hold us accountable. It is important to be guided by someone who has love and respect for you who will gently remind you of God’s desire for your life and redirect you when you have gone off path.

Romans 6:1-2

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Do we love ourselves as much as Jesus loves us? He loved us enough to die! We must do whatever we have to do to keep ourselves from sinning because sin will destroy us! We must love ourselves enough to not ride down the road to Hell. God loved us enough to send His Son to us to give us redemption; we must not behave as though His love and sacrifice mean nothing to us. He cherishes us and loves us; we must see ourselves in this light. We are beloved children of His; we are not slaves to temptation.