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by Sandy Shaw
When we come to Matthew Chapter and verse 27, Jesus moves on from the 6th Commandment to the 7th Commandment. Do not commit adultery.
Have you noticed how Jesus is dealing with highly relevant and practical issues in the Sermon on the Mount?
We come to a section which could be called – How to avoid sexual sins – and How to avoid divorce. Are we in the moral mess we are in today because these topics have not been taught by the Church of Jesus Christ?
Let us not blame people out there, if we have been silent on these issues.
In heaven, the thoughts of the hearts sound just as loud as works of the flesh. Jesus is sending the piercing light of his truth into men’s hearts.
Remember the calling of David. God looks at people differently.
I would wonder today if many people would be aware of this being one of the Ten Commandments. Jesus speaks about eyes and hands, and the issue is raised, surely he did not mean that literally! Did he not? Are you aware of any places in the Word where Jesus did not take things literally? Sickness and disease and boats and storms and roofs and mattresses and Scribes and Pharisees – Jesus took literally.
Why should it be interpreted as being different here?
A mind fed in a certain way will develop a particular appetite.
The psychologists and psychiatrists need to hear what Jesus Christ the Son of God has to teach. We live in a world where purity is laughed at, and fallen man can secretly enjoy what is forbidden and illicit. There are times when it can be quite painful to listen to Jesus. Jesus is speaking about our uncontrolled and consuming passions – an untamed desire for another’s body! Jesus Christ can tame what is untamed. Jesus took that donkey, which had not been broken in, and rode on it down the Mount of Olives.
Did these disciples find His words here quietly challenging? How did Jesus speak these words to the disciples? What was the tone of his voice? Not only do we have a great cause, but we have great values and the best and highest standards.
The world wants to see us fall – in this area – and in other areas. We are living in an age of rather superficial discipleship. Jesus is not giving trivially interesting suggestions. Jesus is dealing with matters which are crucial and His words strike home. Jesus knew what fallen human nature was like.
This teaching is to the disciples, and this warning about hell is taught to disciples – to those who had just been called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. If it is a choice between an eye or a hand, or hell, it is not a difficult choice to make. It can be dealt with by having the heart dealt with – but if not – then more drastic action may be required. He is seeking to deal with the heart, but it may have to go further than that.
There has to be a putting to death of sin. What is at stake here is our fellowship with Christ! That may not be very high for some people, but it is for Jesus, with you and me. He is preparing us for eternity. Jesus knows how sin goes deep. Jesus is talking about a ferocious destructive force.
Jesus knows the power of sin and the ferocity of temptation, and that is why we need to remember that he prays for, and intercedes for, those who have repented and who are his, and who are tempted and tested.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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