Matthew 5: 27 – 37
One Eye Left Handed Men
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 31 “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. 33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Commandment number 7 is ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ Today we might be thinking ‘old school’. For what is called evil is good and good is called evil. There are less and less moral absolutes. However, with God Almighty – El Shaddai – there is no confusion. You see we all have to understand that He makes and keeps all the rules. Our job is to just obey.
Our Master and King, our Lord Jesus Christ, is going to turn everyone on defense. For He Is going to teach in more detail what His Seventh Commandment means.
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
I have learned that we humans read things and take for granted that we know what the words mean. So, before we go on, I want us all to understand what the word ‘sin’ is? It means ‘missing the mark’. You see our Holy Jehovah Elyon – The Lord Most High – has established 10 Commandments for us to obey or ‘hit the target’ at all times. When we ‘sin’ we miss the target or His Standards. You see we enter this world of competition with a handicap- our sinful being. Yet, still our Lord maintains His Rule that we are to hit His Target of Perfection at all times. He says so in this chapter in verse 48, “48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.’
Now you all might be thinking well, ‘this is not fair’. Again I quote the apostle Paul as to whether God Is fair or not. We read this in his letter to the Romans in chapter 9, “14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? 22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”
Well, then how can us humans ever obey God’s Rules? The answer comes to us from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 19, when our Lord Jesus proclaims, “25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
If we turn our will and our lives unto the care of our Holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then He helps us hit the target.
Our Lord’s Seventh Commandment teaches that to have sex with someone other than your married spouse is adultery. Our Lord Jesus here further clarifies that to ponder in your heart the desire to have sex is mental adultery. For He thus says that the intention is just as bad as the act. To be faithful to your wife or husband physically but not mentally is wrong in the eyes of our Holy Adoni Yeshua.
You see if you think [I am taking a man’s position] about wanting another woman, you are now breaking Commandment number 10 – You shalt not covet thy neighbors wife or his goods. Can you see now how the 10 Commandments are all intertwined? What an Amazing Holy Ruler we have folks.
I was watching ‘Dirty Harry’ the other night and after Harry had caught the ‘Serial Killer’ the District Attorney and a Judge reminded Harry of all the rights of the criminal he had broken. So also in the case of adultery can you name all the Commandments a person would break?
1. #7 – Thou shalt not Commit Adultery
2. # 8 – Thou shalt not Steal
3. # 9 – Thou shalt not bear false witness
4. # 10 – Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife
In actuality, if you took a hard look into the other Commandments you would come up with a reason that you violated those also.
So, if you want to try to keep from disobeying the Lord on your own strength, then our Lord gives you some tips on achieving that goal.
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
In some countries of the world, if a person is convicted of stealing, they will cut off the man’s right hand. As I just mentioned, adultery is stealing another man’s wife, so it wouldn’t matter if you were seen in public without a right eye or right hand. You would be looked down for the rest of your life.
You see our Lord Is pointing a bigger problem here. He Is telling us that sin begins in the heart. This is where it takes root and then it will come out. If we keep thinking about it then most likely we will act on it. Our Lord Is telling us that even if we were blind and didn’t have hands, in our sinful minds, we would still desire to commit the sin.
31 “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
Here is a problem that I see constantly misapplied by Pastors. Christian couples want to get divorced. They show up at my door and expect my approval. They give all kind of excuses why they should be granted a divorce by the church. I tell them that for me, the bible gives ‘one’ allowance for a married couple to divorce and only ‘one’ – adultery.
There are some pretty good reasons why couples cannot stay together but to divorce on one reason. Many will leave my office and go ahead and get the divorce. I tell them before they leave that they do not have a problem with me with what they do but they will have a problem with our Holy Adoni Yahweh – Our Heavenly Father. For He says that if a person goes ahead and does not have His permission to divorce, he or she will be in His eyes an adultery. Not a pretty position to be my friends.
Now, here is another question that some of you has faced or have thought about. If you are a Pastor you might wind up handing this position. What is the success rate of a marriage when one of the parties committed adultery?
I am going to shock you with my answer, but I am also going to prove it through Scripture.
Here is my answer. The bible states that God hates divorce. We read this in the book of Malachi chapter 2, “15 But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 16 “For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
Now from my 30 years of study and personal observation, I would say that if the one who committed the adultery was the man rather than the woman, then there is a better chance of the marriage surviving. I can hear all the stirring by the women.
I think that we all can agree that men are first driven by what they see as compared to a woman who is driven by her heart. You see a guy checks out a woman’s looks. You have heard of the old rate chart of 1 to 10. The number 10, being the highest on the scale, as being attractive in the guy’s eyes. A key thing to remember is that a number 10, to one guy, might not be a number 10 to another.
Are you ready for another shocker, ladies? I would venture to say that probably over 75% of men who get married are not in love with the woman they marry. They get married because they think the woman is ‘hot’ and that they would greatly enjoy being with her physically for a long, long, time. However, time changes there perspective. The gorgeous bride has aged and the physical beauty is not the same. This is why our Great God listed in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 24 the importance of keeping the vows to the young woman he married and not divorcing her, “24 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, 2 when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, 4 then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.”
You ladies have to give our Lord some praise here. He values you and will not put up with men just shuffling you around as a piece of self-fulfilling pleasure. Our Lord values the marriage partnership between a man and a woman for their lifetimes.
When a man commits adultery and is caught, he principally was in the relationship for the sexual challenge. His heart most likely was not in love with the other woman. So, in many cases he comes back, says he is sorry, and will try to be honorable the rest of his life. Ultimately, if kids are in play, this might touch the man’s heart to sincerely be true.
On the other hand if a woman is the one who committed the adultery, then I have witnessed that almost in all cases the marriage will never succeed. I believe that a woman’s heart is her driving force. When a woman scopes out a man, she sizes him up as to his looks, his sexual appeal, and to his potential as a marriage partner. If she gives him her heart then she is his no matter through hell or high water. But if something causes her eyes to stray to another man then the end is near. You see like we have just read about how sin takes root in the mind, the woman without realizing it fan sizes the other man and then without knowing it, her heart is given to the other guy and then her body follows.
Now, I have been challenged, especially by women, to answer the question as to why then are many marriage still surviving where the woman was the one who had committed the adultery.
My answer to this fact are two words – cost and investment. Women do not want to lose all their investment that they have made in the marriage – kids, house, property, status, etc. They want to be with their new love but they at the same time do not want to lose all that they have put into their lives. The cost is too great. So, in many cases they will break up with the guy that they fell in love with and come back to the man those they no longer love. You will usually see when the kids are grown and out of the house that ultimately these marriages will then end. This is a sad reality.
We can now see why our Precious Holy Spirit then lists the importance of making the vow.
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
You have all seen couples get married. I am sure that they did not have their fingers crossed when they vowed to their bride or husband that they are committed forever to the marriage. You see our God gives us a free choice. He allows us to pick whoever we want to marry. He will honor our choice. However, we cannot come back later and say we made a mistake.
