Who Is an Adulterer? Part 2

God is always been concerned about the heart always in the Old Testament, not just the new God was concerned about a heart relationship that the issue is always loving the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself and of the 10 Commandments and the Mosaic law only means regulating the relationship and that's this the people with the loudest and most influential voices have to define that thing is wrong and rest assured that standard does not come close to the true biblical standard of what it means to do wrong to commit sin so what's the right approach when confronting people with the biblical truth about sin when should you risk creating conflict with others, and when should you keep silent. Consider that today on grace to you as John MacArthur helps take the fear out of using the word sin. It's part of his current study, titled the sinfulness of sin, and with a lesson. Now here's John Matthew chapter 5 verses 27 through 30. Let me read them as you follow even heard that it was said, thou shalt not commit adultery but I sent you, that whosoever look at on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart, and if thy right eye offend the pluck it out and cast it from the for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend the cut it off and cast it from the for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Obviously, our Lord is talking here about sin. And this is really the topic of his message from verse 21 through verse 48 of chapter 5. It is a message on the divine definition of sin in Numbers 32 and 23 it says, be sure your sin will find you out sometime back, the New York Times ran the following article. The thief was sure that the church was a safe hideout just inside he spied a rope up to the Garrett up.

He climbed only to hear the church bell ringing his whereabouts a Mexico City man snatched a woman's purse and ran into a doorway to hide. It turned out to be the doorway of the police station where he was questioned and later identified by his victim shoplifting in a department store in Rochester New York a man picked up an alarm clock and headed for the nearest exit. The clock concealed under his coat went off before he could get out of the store and brought the detectives running a Canadian who had a custom-built radio stolen from his automobile advertised in the local paper for a custom-built radio. The first person to contact him about the advertisement was the thief a Glasgow pickpocket got a 60 day prison term after trying his luck on an excursion boat carrying 20 police officers and their wives police in Palo Alto seized the suspect as he stood in a post office, admiring his wanted poster sure your sin will find you out. Sin devastates life in this Particular Pl. in Matthew chapter 5 the sin of the Jewish leaders in the sin of the people listening to Christ finds them out.

Jesus unmasks their hypocrisy there because they're trapped there unmasked there revealed there shown to be exactly what they are sinful people and precisely what our Lord is doing in this passage is giving them a true picture of their sinfulness.

The things that they have so well concealed, he reveals the righteousness which they had felt was theirs.

He tears down and leaves them stark naked and sinful. In fact, what he does is to reveal the truth about the sinful heart of man, going deep inside to the real problem is we've been seeing in our study of Matthew men inevitably and invariably try to invent religions of human achievement.

Men tried to invent self righteous systems based on their own standard. They try to invent systems that justify themselves and that is precisely what the Judaism of Jesus time had done. They had substituted their own system for the truth of God's revelation in their own system was a system of external rules, a system of external ritual. A system of behavior with no thought for attitude or motive or the heart, and because they Certain external rules because they managed to fulfill certain external ritual. They convinced themselves that thereby they were righteous, but this was inadequate and that's why chapter 5 verse 20 is the key.

Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees will never enter the kingdom.

True righteousness is beyond anything you now have. And so Jesus then in verses 21 through 48 of the sermon on the mount destroys the self-righteous system by tearing down their supposedly holiness and revealing the fact that in their hearts. They were wretched, vile, evil sinners, and the heart is the issue with God. No matter how religious they looked on the outside.

The fact is, they were sinful on the inside. He presents a standard they can't keep and thus faces them with the sin problem for which they have no remedy.

At the end of chapter 5 in verse 48 he says, be therefore perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect. That is the righteousness of my kingdom demands and obviously they couldn't keep it therein lies the frustration. There is no remedy for their sin situation, of course. From there, they are driven to a righteousness, not their own, a righteousness in fact offered to them in Jesus Christ.

And so what is really doing here as he presents a definition of sin is forcing them to see the need of a Savior, knowing full well he will offer himself as that safe. They must recognize that in themselves. There is no resource to solve the sin problem.

They are desperately in need of someone who can. And he is just that someone now. The key to the way he handles this is in the twofold phrase that he uses Ye have heard but I say and in that he is contrasting their system with truth is contrasting their definition of sin with God's definition of sin is contrasting their standard with a divine standard. The traditional rabbinic systems that only the external matters. If you don't murder and you don't commit adultery you're all right. Jesus said but I say unto you, if you're angry or if you even think about it you're just as guilty because God is interested in the inside, and thus does he contrast himself and the view that God laid down with the system that existed in their mind always in the Old Testament, not just the new God was concerned about a heart relationship that the issue was always loving the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself that there was always the relationship and that the 10 Commandments and the Mosaic law was only a means for regulating a love relationship God is always been concerned about the heart and that is the case in this particular sermon as Jesus goes right to their hearts, and on bears the evil vials sinfulness that is there. Behind the façade of their religious activity. Psalm 119 96 says thy commandment is very broad and the commandment of God was a lot broader than they thought they had narrowed it down only to the external and our Lord drives it into the internal nothing to remind you of this Jesus in his sermon began with a message about blessedness, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed from verses 3 to 12. But in order for one to know that blessedness and by the way, this is a good format for presenting the gospel.

You start with the promise of blessedness. But in order to know that blessedness, you must know the proper definition of sin because sin stands in the way of blessing and sin is to be dealt with and removed and so from blessedness to a doctrine of sin will the Lord makes the transition. As I said in verse 21 he begins to talk about sin and let me just say in general.

Before we look at the passage itself that we learn from this that it's essential to deal with sin.

You cannot preach Christ you cannot present the gospel unless you deal with sin unless you give a definition of sin, because that is the barrier that is the issue and if we do not properly understand sin. Mark this, we will not understand anything else but God does. For example, I give you three illustrations of that unless one understands the truth about sin, he can never understand the truth about salvation. You cannot understand the meaning of salvation unless you understand the meaning of sin, you see the Pharisees and describe the mark had such a superficial view of sin that they were able to accommodate it with a superficial view of salvation.

They saw sin as simply a matter of what we do. Therefore, salvation was a matter of what we do so in their minimal definition of sin they'll they were left with a minimal requirement for salvation, which they then assume they themselves can account now. Had they seen sin as a deep down heart problem.

They would've known that that was far beyond theirs to change. They couldn't do it if they'd understood that and so it is that the more we comprehend the heinousness of sin the more we understand the meaning of salvation, the deeper the disease, the greater the remedy. That's the point. And as long as people think of sin. Superficially, as long as they think of sin minimally as long as they make light of sin and salvation is a minor thing to. But when you understand as our Lord is saying that sin is something heinous. Sin is something deep. Sin is something so penetrating that it reaches down into the warp and wolf of a man's being so deeply that it's absolutely unchangeable, except by the miracle of God then you will understand that only God can bring salvation. That is what our Lord wants them to understand. You will never understand the meaning of the cross, you will never understand why Jesus had to die.

You will never understand why when he had legions of angels who could've come to his aid.

He never used them you will never understand why he said I must fulfill all righteousness. You will never understand what his death means until you understand how evil sin is and how deeply stained is the heart of every man that he would have to go to that extreme. To accomplish salvation. Someone is written. There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in sin is so powerful and so deep that only Jesus Christ can change. Only Jesus Christ can offer that in fact is the message of Romans chapter 3 through chapter 6, a second thought. Unless you understand the truth about sin, you will never understand the right approach to proclamation not only salvation but proclamation know what I mean by that is this and this is a great concern to me and I've preached on this often on, but if you do not understand the depth of sin, then you do not know how to proclaim the gospel know what we have in our Christian culture today is we have very superficial gospel presentation. It's it's almost methodological. It's almost pie-in-the-sky.

It's almost how would you like to have a happy time.

It's it's so very shallow in many cases not always, but in many case. Some call it easy believe is others call it cheap grace, people running around saying come to Jesus, get born again self-centered appeals. Emotional appeals all kinds of superficial approaches to evangelism and I really feel that behind this is a failure to grapple with the reality of the heinousness of sin, because if we know the power of sin, then we know it isn't enough to tell somebody well why don't you just accept Jesus, and he'll make your life happy.

It is not enough to say some to somebody one you like to go to heaven. And wouldn't you like to be happy to have peace and joy everything to sign on the dotted line and say you believe in Jesus and pray little pricey. If we really understood how deep and stained men's hearts are with sin, if we understood how powerful the hold of sin is so powerful that it cast demanded of an eternal hell, if we understood that then our evangelism would be more directed at the damning character of sin. First of all, before it comes to the point of inviting them to make a decision. They must understand the problem. That's why biblically speaking in Marcus, biblically speaking, evangelism always begins by presenting the law before grace. You must preach law, you must preach judgment. You must preach condemnation and so Romans begins this way for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and godliness of men. Paul starts out by condemning chapter 2 condemns again. Chapter 3 condemns again so that every mouth is stopped and then he says the righteousness of Christ is available to you so there must be a preaching of the divine standard. There must be preaching of the holy law, there must be preaching of that which God says is right and then there can be the message of how we come to know the relationship that makes that possible. I believe our evangelism must confront people with the holiness of God. It must reveal his demands for an inner heart righteousness. I believe our evangelism must focus on man's inability to meet God's standard, and we must make men desperate. Like Jesus wanted to make the Pharisees, the scribes and the multitude desperate, so that they stand in fear of the doom of judgment ready to be cast into hell and they cry out for a Savior who can deliver them from a problem too deep for them to handle. Know that was Jesus approach.

As I said it was basically designed to drive men to desperation more than anybody else in the whole Bible.

Jesus preached hell he preached hell. People elect even talk about the prints that sin sends people to an eternal hell where the worm never dies in the fire is not quenched where there is gnashing of teeth and weeping and wailing Jesus preached because that's where it all had to begin so evangelism and proclamation must start with the holiness of God is over against the sinfulness of man and then the demands of that holy God and the hopeless and helpless man who can't fulfill them is then driven to the inevitability of punishment the ultimate reality of hell, and the only escape is someone else to come along and change his vile heart and at that point Jesus Christ moves into offer the deliverance that he alone can give Martin Lloyd Jones the great preacher of England said you can have a psychological belief in the Lord Jesus Christ but a true belief sees him in him one who delivers us from the curse of the law, true evangelism starts like that and obviously is primarily a call to repentance" the apostle Paul said that we are called men to repentance toward God and then faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and what Jesus is saying to these people as you may not of killed anybody, and you may not have committed adultery but in your hearts.

You have been angry and in your heart you have the hated and in your heart you have lusted and you are as vile as a murderer and as an adult or in desperation they are driven to the need of an outside Savior who can change their evil hearts. Men can modify their behavior, belief they can.

Peer pressure, pride, all those things pie our city of fear of rejection can force people to behave in a certain way, but only God can change your heart. The third thought I had on this unless we understand the truth about sin. We can never really understand salvation. We can never really understand proclamation we can never really understand sanctification unless we understand the meaning of sin. We don't know what it is to be made holy. In Christ, doing we don't understand the magnanimity of the change. You don't understand what God has made you in Christ unless you know what you were. You can't be thanking and praising him for the glory of the transformation. Unless you know what it involved with not only suffered from superficial evangelism.

Such belief suffered from very very shallow concepts of holiness and sanctification usually goes like this, we think were holy because of the things we do or don't do. We don't go to certain places. We don't say certain things we don't do the things the world does and we feel that because we don't say or do things are going places there were all right and really it's the ugly head of self-righteousness because God is always concern not so much of what we do what we say in where we go though is concerned with that but is more concerned with what's behind it. What we think in our minds and hearts.

There are the pious and the self-satisfied in the smog who think that because they don't do certain things and they do other things that they're justified and that's because they never really examine the evil of their heart. That's with the Lord Jesus is forcing men to do this he preaches this great sermon holiness lesson for God is always a matter of the heart.

Proverbs 23 seven as a man think if in his heart. What so is he.

That's where the divine evaluation takes place in Matthew's gospel further on in chapter 15 in verse 16 we read this and Jesus said, are you also. Yet without understanding you haven't figured it out. You don't know God's standard yet you don't know where the real problem is, do not. He had understand Matthew 1517, that whatsoever interested in at the mouth goeth into the stomach, and is cast out into the draft and the words or goes through the process of elimination, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. In other words, it isn't what you take in that the files you it's what comes up and goes out for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication is thefts, false witness, and blasphemies, where those all originate in the heart. Listen before you ever murder you think it in your heart before you ever committed older you think it in your heart before you ever fornicate you think it in your heart before you ever steel you think it in your heart is the heart that spews out the garbage that the files man because the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know Jeremiah so it isn't the external. Our Lord is saying it's the heart and eon bears the heart to the façade of the super religious who would glorify themselves as if they stand up resolved and shows that the only thing that he's concerned about is the heart so both the Old Testament and the New Testament preached the same good news man is a sinner that sin is deep down in his heart and his nature man is powerless to change that God comes along and offers a relationship by which he and he alone will change that man's heart and it was clear back in Ezekiel was that the God said I will give you a new heart, I will take away the stony heart and give you a heart of flesh, a new heart is what a man needs that's what Jesus wants those who listen to hear.

No amount of self reform can put you in a right relationship with God. Only a new heart can do that. A critical message from John MacArthur today on grace to you in his study, titled the sinfulness of sin of John the Beatitudes here give us an unflinching look at sin.

You wouldn't think this would be an easy study to hear from you and your experience does does anyone like being told that he's empty and spiritually bankrupt and responsible for his own guilty condition. Knowing that is the offense of the gospel.

The gospel announces to the sinner that not only has the sinner willfully purposefully violated the law of God, but he has nothing in himself that can remedy that he can't alter his own nature, he can't pull himself up by his own bootstraps. He can't do anything even religiously, morally, to put himself in a better position with God. So the gospel is the most offensive message. The world has ever heard initially and therein lies the rejection of the gospel. The sinners basic self-defense is pride and a sense of the goodness that is the illusion that is the deception which sinners deal with. So the gospel comes at the self deceived, proud sinner and attempts to crush him under the weight of his own sin and guilt that is so hard for people to be able to accept, but that is what our Lord did in the Beatitudes. That was the nature of his ministry, but that also came from the Old Testament in our Lord's announcing his arrival as the Messiah.

He said he came to the poor prisoners who were blind and pressed the despondent and disastrous condition of the human heart as regards its sinfulness and its inevitable judgment was the opening salvo in the preaching of the gospel so the Beatitudes did just that and it was fired at the most religiously self-satisfied pharisaical hypocrites on the planet. And therein lies the conflict that ultimately cause them to execute the son of God. So this is where the gospel has to start and the the brilliance of the Beatitudes is that at the same time they unmask sin. They offer the kingdom.

They offer the kingdom and there's a beauty and her grace in these Beatitudes, as well as in unmasking. I would just encourage people written a book that deals with this issue of sin and confronting the sinner.

It's called the vanishing conscience it unmasks the sinner at the very basic level, and then brings to him the good news of the gospel hear something this good news will send you a free copy. That's right free copy of the vanishing conscience if you never contacted us before it's over 250 pages requested today right and I love this book. It shows you how better to recognize sin and also how you can defeat it to pick up the vanishing conscience and it's free if you never contacted us before getting touch today. Our number here is 855 grace and our website Jide TY.or the vanishing conscience has chapters on handling temptation, keeping your mind pure and how to stop sin from silencing your conscience to an ideal resource for a new believer again.

The vanishing conscience is our gift to you. If you have never contacted us before and if you'd like extra copies to give to friends or to your Bible study and purchase those as well just call our toll-free number 855 grace or go to our website TTY.org.

Also, while you're at the website. Don't forget about the study Bible app is preloaded with the English standard. New American Standard and King James version's of Scripture, and for a reasonable price.

You can unlock the footnotes from the MacArthur study Bible. These 25,000 detailed explanations will help you study Scripture more effectively and they explained nearly every passage, the app and thousands of free Bible study tools all available@tty.org now for John MacArthur in the entire grace to you staff, I'm Phil Johnson be here tomorrow when John shows you how to view sin, the way God does. John is continuing his study on the sinfulness of sin. Don't miss the next half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Wednesdays. Grace to