(Matthew 5:27-30)
Lust in a good sense: ‘a strong desire or cravings’
(Phil. 1:23) “…having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is
far better.”
(1 Thess. 2:17) “…endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great
desire.”
Lust in an evil sense: “a strong desire or craving that
seeks to posses and use one for their own sinful gratification which is
directly against the Word of God”
The Bible describes 3 areas Lust does battle with us in:
1. Sexual desires: (1 Thess. 4:3-5,8) “…abstain from
immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel
in sanctification and honor, nor in passion of lust, like the Gentiles
who do not know God. V. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not
reject man, but God, who has given us His Holy Spirit.”
2. Worldly lust: (Titus 3:3) “For we ourselves were also
once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and
pleasures…”
3. Cravings of the flesh: (Gal. 5:16) Walk in
the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
I. What to Know About The Lust That Seeks to Possess and Destroy You:
1.
It Brings a Condemning Heart—vs. 27-28, “You have heard that it was
said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you
that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed
adultery with her in his heart.”
Jesus uses it here as ‘encouraging and cultivating of sexual fantasies about someone other than your mate in marriage.’
So when is a look more than a look?
From
what Jesus says…It’s sinful when we deliberately and repeatedly fill
our minds with fantasies that would be evil if acted out.
Adultery in the heart.
Pro. 12:11 says, He who chases fantasies lacks judgment.
2. It’s impossible to satisfy
The
most deceptive aspect of lust is that the more a person tries to
satisfy it, the more intense it becomes. The more we feed lust,
the greater our hunger for gratification. The more one gets, the
less one is
satisfied.
Scary thought—is to be so preoccupied with lustful desires that their do not know God’s hand is not on their life anymore.
Satan
is the great deceiver. He gives us what we think we crave only to
leave us emotionally empty and spiritually unfulfilled..
3. It’s outcome is disastrous
It Destroys families, Kills ministries and Wounds people.
II. What to do with the problem of Lust:
(29-30)
“If your right eye causes you to sin, 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. And if your right hand
causes you to sin, 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.”
1. Monitor your
eyes—Jesus says If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and
throw it away.
(Matt. 6:22-23) “The eye is the lamp of the
body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of
light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be
fullofdarkness.
Eliminate sources of temptation—Jesus says, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, and throw it away.”
1.
Tell someone you can trust—Jesus says “It’s better for you to lose one
part of your body than for your whole body to go into Hell.”
James 4:5 Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?
What does the Holy Spirit want of you?
1
Cor. 6:19—“What know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your
own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”
HE wants Y O U!
It stirs the Holy Spirit up when He sees you going to others rather then Him, first.
When you make decisions without any thought of asking His advise.
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