Sermon on the Mount Mt 5:27-31

1. Sermon on the MountMt 5:27-31 Sex and Sexuality

2. Mt 5:28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

3. “The sin of adultery, like other sins, finds its root in a person’s inner thoughts. Thus, to look deliberately at a woman lustfully, i.e., desiring or imagining a sexual relationship with her, is to commit adultery in one’s heart and thus to violate the deepest intention of the law as now revealed by Jesus” Donald Hagner – Commentary on Matthew

4. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. • Created as body Gen 2:7 • Broken Bodies Gen 3:1-6 body consequences – covering & pain Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. Rom 6:12-13

5. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. • God Made Flesh Jn 1 Tempted, yet without sin (Heb 4:15) “The Christian story, at its core, has very positive things to say about bodies, but throughout history the church has sometimes equivocated. We Christians get embarrassed about our bodies. We are not sure always sure that God likes them very much.” Lauren Winner

6. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. • Raised as Body Jesus, the first – 1 Cor 15:20. A resurrection body: Lk 24:37-42 1 Cor 15:42-54: • Imperishable • In glory • In power • Spiritual (responsive to the Holy Spirit)

7. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. • Ex 20:17 - You shall not covet your neighbour's wife • Anyone else apart from the person you are married to. • Cf. Joseph and Mary – engaged, but no sexual relationship.

8. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a womanlustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. • Gk: Epi-thum-eo – to desire or to possess • Not just sexual attraction • But wanting or planning to have sex with • Gen 3:21 - The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them

9. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. • “I do include such things as porno movies, magazines, web sites, online filthy sexual chat, trashy romance novels, phone sex with paid operators, explicit movies, lingerie catalogs, and even the swimsuit issues of sports magazines…” Mark Driscoll

10. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. Eph 4:19

11. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. • Progression: the power of the human eye, the arousal of desire, and the decisions made by the heart. • “This shift also suggests that if one is to prevent adultery, the course of action must begin in the heart, the centre of human personhood, where all decisions on moral and ethical behaviour are made.” Betz

12. Progressive Dehumanisation: • comparison • protects the marriage relationship • dehumanises others • dehumanises self

13. Application: • Cleansing / Setting Free if you have “looked” • Present your bodies as living sacrifices.

14. Reflection Verse: the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Gen 2:7

15. Love your body.You are a body:not a no- body,nor just any- body,but some- body.The body is the dwelling placeof the whole-making Spirit(Jim Cotter, prayer)