Matthew 5:27–30Scripture
All right, everybody open your Bibles this morning to Matthew. We're in chapter 5. Really mistling through here. Verse 27 through 30 is our assignment.
I'll give you a moment to look that up. And while you do, in the last month, I've passed 17 kidney stones. So, I have to be getting to the bottom of the abyss. I am currently passing another one. It's been rough. I've been in the and so I am sick, but I'm going to do my best. And L with the Lord's help, we'll get through this.
I'll get through this. You'll be just fine. I don't know what the Lord's doing. I had surgery. Maybe he's clearing out all my kidneys. That would be great. It's not great when I'm going through it, but that would be great. So keep me in your prayers. I try not to mention anything about it when I'm passing kidney stones, but it's a rough day.
All right. Matthew 5 27 through 30 says this. You've heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." You have heard. I like that. You have heard.
There is not a shortage of word going out into the world. There today seems to be a shortage of hearing.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 1:34
And there is in our hearts a rebellion to receive his word as it is.
And many of us are formed and I'm going to get to the Scripture here. Many of us are formed by what we hear. So it does matter then what you incline your ears towards.
Introduction
There are voices speaking into your life throughout your entire day. There are portals you open your life up to.
And those things you hear shape the way you think, the way you feel, the way you talk, the way you behave.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 2:16
It shapes your very nature. To say you're not shaped by things that you hear is a silly, childish game to play. I remember not too long ago, and I know I need to read Scripture, but I remember not too long ago, it feels like yesterday, but it was longer than that. We're we're probably over 20 years ago now. I worked as a I went from being a pastor, being somewhat sheltered.
Most of the people in the church don't use four-letter words every five seconds, so you're sheltered. Some of the dialogue that you hear in the church is not necessarily the dialogue you hear in the world. Can I get an amen on that one? And if you have a job, secular job, you understand what I'm talking about. The language is not like what you get at Bible study.
What people talk about and incline themselves towards is not what you hear at Bible study. And I remember being in that environment and particularly 12 14 hours a day and for the first three months every day 14 hours a day every day just non-stop just disgusting language man and I remember just stuff popping in my head right just that would never pop in my head because is it begins to affect the way you think.
You cannot encase yourself in types of environment that are contrary to your nature and expect that doesn't affect you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 4:05
So we see here that there is an attitude or people have been shaped by what they hear that needs to take precedence as we read this because you're shaped and formed by what you hear.
Listen to me. Outside the church and inside the church. It's why you need to make sure you're at a Bible believing church that preaches truth, not things that flatter. Okay. 27. You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Now, I'm going to pause here. I'm just going to say a couple things that are not in my notes that I was going to do a different sermon. So, I'm going to get this in like mini sermon here. Okay. He's still speaking. Be careful to not carry in theological positions in the from yesterday into tomorrow because you can still learn and God is still speaking.
Some of you have a difficulty reading Scripture because you have already heard that verse before. You've heard a position on that before. You have adopted a position on that for because of a sermon. You've heard a podcast. You've heard a video. You've heard something you've thought before. You've read it in a devotion and you've formulated an opinion about that.
And now every time you approach that Scripture, the only thing you think about is that position you formed. But God is still speaking. You've heard, but I'm still speaking. And that's beautiful, right?
Because God today, no matter how long you've walked with him, still has something to say to you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 5:59
He's still speaking. All right? But I say, everyone who looks lustful in tin has already committed adultery in her heart.
If your right eye caused you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better for you to lose one of your members than your whole body to be thrown into hell. That should get an amen. Like that. That's good stuff. And if your right hand caused you to sin, cut it off, too, and throw it away far away from you.
For it is better for you to lose one of your members than your whole body to go into hell.
Lord, just briefly speak to our hearts. Help us to understand the importance of the Scripture. Help us to face with boldness the reality, Lord, that we are all guilty and we need a savior. Ultimately, as we see a picture of Jesus sitting on a hill and speaking to the disciples, he is also whispering into our culture today into this house today.
And he is helping us understand we are infinitely guilty and we need help. It should not make us downtrodden. It should make us joyful because we have a savior who came with open arms running furiously towards those in need and we cannot thank you enough for that.
But help us to do the brave work of looking at oursel and understanding we need help. There are many of us today Lord that have we're not fornicators. We have not committed adulterers. We are not adulterers in that sense, Lord, but we have lusted and we are just as guilty as those who have acted out these things.
We need your grace. In your name we pray. Amen. So my title this morning is a question. What voice is framing your life? And before Jesus here in this text confronts lust, he addresses before he addresses eyes and hands and before he addresses hell, he exposes something that's more foundational.
And I think that is impactful formation.
Every single person in this room today is being formed by something or someone.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 8:52
You're being formed. Your associations matter. Who you hang out with, that matters. Who you give yourself to, that matters. We should not just be in the business of just giving oursel to anybody. I know we live in a time where we feel like we should be accessible to everyone.
And when we're not or we don't answer our phone or we don't we don't answer the text quick enough or we don't respond quick enough, it almost makes us feel panicked inside because we haven't done it quick enough, responded quick enough, been available quick enough, been available enough.
And the reality is you don't have to give yourself to everybody when it's convenient for them.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 9:45
Jesus was in the business of not giving himself to everyone. Matter of fact, he gave himself to the 12 very different than he gave himself to the three. And it is wisdom for us to understand that although we can be acquaintances and although we can be kind, there are just some people we should not be giving oursel to.
Can I get an a amen just to make me feel good a little bit? Okay. Make sure you're alive out there. All right. Young people today, this is going to be especially hard on you. It seems mean. It seems cruel. Young ladies in the house, you should hold a high standard on who you date. You don't just give yourself to any old person, any old guy, any old man.
You don't just give yourself to them because they're cute.
Cute is not a qualification for marriage. Cuz cuteness goes away.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 10:58
I need A double amen for that. Young people in the house. Check out my head. I used to be cute. I had hair up there. It was luscious lux. Beautiful indeed. There was a time that I could come out of the water and it was awesome. It was cute.
But cuteness goes away in time. And if you give yourself to somebody because they're cute, you've given yourself to something fleeting.
Young people, be careful what and whom you give yourself to. Older people. Sometimes we've had such a hard week that by the time we get to the weekend, we want to give oursel to entertainment.
I just want to be entertained. But can I just be honest with you? Some entertainment you should not give yourself to. You should be cautious about what you give yourself to. Now, I like movies. I love movies. I am what you would call a movie connoisseur. Matter of fact, if you ask me, I'll give you a list of some of my top movies.
I've even ranked them. I have them on a notepad. I'd be happy to share my notes with you. And I love some movies and I rank them and I will give you that list and I will tell you should probably watch all of them on Vid Angel, but I will just tell you what my list is.
But you should be careful what you give yourself to. Men, you should be careful what you give yourself to. There are some things that are just for your wives. There are some conversations you should just have with your wives.
Be careful what you give yourself to because you're being formed by the company you keep.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 13:17
Listen, in this text, Jesus does not begin with behavior.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 13:26
He begins with hearing. You have heard that it was said. Now, that means something. That means something. That means that something has sha been shaping you long before this moment. You did not arrive here neutral. You were taught. You were trained. You were formed. How many of you know you're impacted by the people that raised you? You're impacted by the acquaintances you keep.
You're impacted by the church you go to. Can I get an amen? It just affects you.
Every life has a framework. And every framework is built by a voice.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 14:08
Some of you were framed by culture. There are some of you in here today. Your life has been framed by pain. Some by survival. Some by church tradition and some by silence.
But hear me clearly.
Just because you heard something does not mean God stopped speaking.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 14:35
Jesus steps into this sermon not to cancel the law but to reclaim authority over formation. It is he and he alone who should form your life, your belief systems, your voice, the steps you take, where what your hands do and what your lips say.
Tonight the this morning
The question is not have you sinned but who has been shaping you?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 15:10
Who's shaping you?
Point 1You are being framed by a voice
Number one, we'll jump right in here. You are being framed by a voice. Many of the people in that day had been framed by the Pharisees. They had been taught by the Pharisees. They knew clearly what the law was and understood that there was a certain idea of what adultery was. They had been taught and actually quite honestly this framework came directly from God.
So when Jesus says you have heard it said this is something God had said and the Pharisees had repeated but Jesus takes it further. Why? Because he's still speaking. He's still speaking. And Jesus starts by acknowledging influence. You've heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." You've heard that it was said, meaning repetition has done its work.
Meaning familiarity had bred comfort. Meaning obedience had been shaped by exposure.
Nobody wakes up and destroys their life randomly. We drift according to what we listen to consistently.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 16:36
Culture preaches sermons on the daily. The news and media preach sermons on the daily. The music you listen to preach sermons on the daily. You're being framed by what you listen to.
Social media disciples relentlessly and your wounds rehearse lies faithfully.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 17:04
Some of you have made gods out of your wounds.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 17:18
Some of you have put your hurt and your wounds in the throne in place of God and you worship at the shrine of your pain and you are instructed by it.
It has become your tutor and the choices you make and the attitudes you bear and the way you live is instructed by the pain and the hurt and the suffering in your life.
But that should not frame your life. Should not instruct how you live. It should not form you. Only one should form you and his name is Christ.
Do not substitute your pain for Christ. And that which you talk much about, you give lordship to.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 18:09
Track with me today. I'm trying to help some people in here today. Some of us need to begin to talk more about the Lord.
We need to begin to lean into the Lord. We need to allow him to form our life. The way we think, the way we live, the way we act, the way we talk, the way we walk. We need to allow him to form our life. How do we do that? We need to hear more from him than we do the world.
Some of us need our daily bread, not our monthly bread.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 18:52
You guys are quiet and you don't have to shout it. I saying that I said because that would be weird. But just listen to me today. If you find yourself angry like we just learned recently all the time, you're probably not being formed by God.
And you're not being formed by God is because that's not what you incline your ear towards because you're formed by what you hear.
That's why when Jesus thinks that they get it wrong about adultery, he begins to speak again because our formation is accomplished in hearing and in his teaching.
How many of you would say there are areas of your life you need some different formation? Okay. Right. You need to hear something different on the regular.
Regular leted preferably on the regular. On the regular. God is still talking. Jesus does not deny the command. He deepens it. He says, "You thought righteousness was about compliance, but righteousness has always been about formation."
Because what you hear long enough, you eventually live out naturally.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 20:40
The question is not what rules do you know. The question is whose voice do you trust? Because whatever voice frames your thinking will eventually command your behavior.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 20:45
Point 2Desire is not neutral, it is directional
Number two, desire is not neutral. It is directional. It is directional. Matthew 5:28. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Desire is not neutral. It is directional. So Jesus then shifts the conversation inward. It's not just external display. It's an inward behavior or an inward problem. Everyone who looks with lustful intent has already committed adultery in the heart.
Jesus moves the issue from action to affection, from behavior to desire, from hands to the heart.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 21:51
He's moving it inward.
And I'll say this, many of us think that lust is attraction. But lust is red. It's reduction. It's reduction.
You're reducing people to a level that God did not intend or you're elevating people to a level that God did not intend.
But I would say mainly reduction. Men, if you look at a woman and you set in your mind and you lust after that woman, you have reduced a child of God, daughter of Christ.
You're reducing her. It's not how God intended for her to be viewed.
So lust is not attraction. It's reduction. Turns a person into an object and intimacy into entitlement.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 23:03
Lust is not about sex. It's about control. It says, "I want access without covenant, pleasure without presence, benefit without responsibility."
Pastor Shawn Gray · 23:16
Jesus is not raising the bar to shame you. He is revealing the fracture beneath the surface to save you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 23:30
Because if righteousness is external, we can manage appearances. Because if a righteousness is internal, but if it's internal, we need transformation.
The heart is not a storage unit. It is a command center. And whatever is ruling there will rule your life.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 23:50
And eventually we're going to get a clear picture of what's ruling your harp because what's in here will eventually come out there.
Point 3Cutting is an act of submission
Number three, he moves on. Cutting is an act of submission. It has been It's been fun watching people navigate this section. Now, he really doesn't want us to do cutting. This is just a play on words. I'm pretty sure that if it would save your soul to cut, he'd be happy with you cut and not end up in hell.
Well, he don't want me to hurt it. Please the Lord for him to crush his son. Are you with me today? Cutting is an act of submission. Listen to this. If your right eye caused you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than the whole body be thrown into hell.
And notice what he's saying is that hell is grave.
The gravity of hell is greater than your hand or the gravity of you losing it. The gravity of hell is graver than you losing your eye.
Don't listen. Don't diminish the gravity of sin and attempt to justify it.
This is a grave issue. Then Jesus says something sounds extreme. If your right eye caused you to sin, tear it out. If your right hand causes it to sin, cut it off. Cut it off. Now, he's not indulging self harm. He is demanding seriousness when it comes to sin.
This is not about mutilation, but it is about mortification.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 26:28
And notice what he targets. He targets the eye and the hand, input, output.
Notice this is really important. He targets input and output.
He's trying to help us understand that it can be just as detrimental what goes in as what comes out.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 27:00
And often times what goes in affects the heart more than what comes out. See the Pharisees only worried about what came out. They didn't worry about what was going in. So they were often tainted by what came in. Jesus says, "Cut off and pluck out that thing which taints the heart." If that gateway not just what goes out, but what comes in, what you consume and what you touch.
Some of YOU need TO CUT off that TV show. Facts. Straight facts. Some OF YOU need TO CUT OFF that relationship. Some of you need to be cutting off what you're taking in. Some of you need TO CUT OFF THE alcohol. Cut off the pot. Nobody in here does pot, right? Some of you need TO CUT IT off here.
Here's here's here's one that's crazy you didn't see coming. Some of you need to cut off that Christian podcast. Some of you need to cut it off because just because it has Christian in the name or a pastor leading the podcast don't mean you should be listening to it because not everything that's godly is godly.
Not everything that has Christian on it is truth.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 29:09
Some of YOU need TO CUT OFF THE christian radio. I AOL it did there for a second. AOL it I was a AOL dial up. I just That was weird. It was I just AOL dialed up that thing. Some of you need to cut it off. Some of you, some of you need to go to the Lord before you go to a friend.
Some of you need to cut off the order.
Some of you need to put that book down. You need to put it down. You need to stop reading it. You need to pick up the Bible. Yeah, but Vlad, it doesn't matter about Vlad and his long hair. You need to pick up the Bible. Are you with me today? You need to put it down. But it's innocent.
No, you're being formed. You're being formed. Some of you need to stop taking lunch breaks with a person of the opposite sex when you're married.
And you think it's cute that you have a work husband or a work wife, but it's not. And you need to cut it off. You need to stop it.
It would be better for you to stop that and someone be mad at you than you to go to hell.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 31:07
It's serious. And let me tell you, in case you don't think it's serious.
No one thought lust was serious either until Jesus said, "But I tell you that this is just as grave as committing adultery.
Because formation doesn't begin with the act. Formation begins with a glance.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 31:34
In other words, formation doesn't doesn't begin with output. Formation begins with input. So don't just cut off the act. Cut off what comes in that affects the heart that makes you long to perform the act. Okay. I don't think God's mad about cutting it off. And I don't I think he I think we should be cutting more off.
No one negotiates with cancer. Well, I mean, God wouldn't really want me to cut that out because at the end of the day, it's a part of me.
He don't want me to mutilate myself. See, here's the problem. You don't see it as grave as he does. That's why we sit and pontificate and wax eloquently in small groups about wanting to keep something because it's precious to us. At least our flesh is precious to us. But he views your flesh as cancer. Matter of fact, your flesh don't go with you to heaven for a reason.
We don't we don't wonder. We don't negotiate with cancer. The problem is we think our flesh is good, but he knows it's bad and infinitely wicked. And it'd be best for you to lose members of it than to lose yourself in eternity.
No one schedules coexistence with an infection. You cut it out because delaying cutting it out cost you everything.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 33:28
There's a correlation here, family, because the word of God is described as a sword, sharper than any two-edged blade, dividing soul and spirit, exposing motives, separating what feels harmless from what is actually killing you.
Jesus puts a flaming sword at the Garden of Eden so people can't get in. He cuts them off because it would be grave for them to be stuck somewhere for all eternity to eat from a tree AND BE stuck IN SIN.
HE cuts them OFF. He cuts them off. See, God's not scared to cut people off. And we should not be scared to mortify our flesh either. God, help us to see the gravity of what the desires of our flesh can do.
We do not cut sin with willpower. So what do we cut it with? Truth.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 34:46
So Sean, IF I CUT IT OFF, what DO I DO? With A butter knife, a table knife, with a hacksaw, with A chainsaw? HOW DO I CUT IT? HOW DO I CUT IT? HOW DO I CUT it off? Razor blade? How do I cut it off?
Scalpel? No, with the truth. With the two-edged sword, that's what you cut it off. That's how you cut it off. Psychology doesn't cut it off. The truth cuts it off. Come on now. Counsel doesn't cut it off. 10 steps to a better YOU doesn't CUT IT OFF. That don't CUT IT OFF. The truth cuts it off. Willpower doesn't cut it off.
Behavior modification doesn't CUT IT OFF. THE truth cuts IT OFF. HE HAS spoken AND HE IS continuing TO speak. We have heard and we're hearing again. Some OF US ARE satisfied with hearing. WE don't need another word from God and we wonder WHY WE can't CUT IT OFF. We're satisfied with THE word from yesterday. But worms have grown into that and it's tainted and God has a NEW word FOR YOU today.
HE wants TO illuminate something FOR YOU today. AND some OF YOU ARE captive TO SIN because YOU don't allow HIS word TO CUT IT off and to pluck it out.
The word separates truth from lies. It divides devotion from desire. It exposes attachments we labeled harmless.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 36:22
Every time you open the word, God is asking what needs to be cut off so that life can remain.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 36:33
Some relationships should be cut off. Some habits need to be cut off. Some access points must be cut, not because they look dramatic, BUT because they ARE quietly shaping you away from holiness.
Because they are forming you into something different than his hands intended to form you.
And hear this clearly.
Whatever you refuse to cut, you are choosing to submit to.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 37:14
Cutting is not cruelty. It is obedience. It is saying, "God, you decide what stays and you decide what goes. Even when it hurts, even when it costs, even when it feels extreme, you get to choose.
Jesus is not calling for self-punishment. He is calling for surrendered formation.
Because whatever you refuse to cut will continue to shape you. And Jesus loves you too much to let what is destroying you remain attached to you.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 37:53
He loves you too much.
Point 4Eternity is worth the loss
Number four, eternity is worth the loss.
For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Eternity is worth the loss. Jesus closes with urgency. It is better to lose a member than to lose your whole self. That's not cruelty. That is clarity.
Jesus is saying stop trading eternity for convenience. Stop sacrificing your future on the altar of your voracious appetite.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 38:52
It's ferocious. But ferocious appetite. Veracious could be a word. I don't know. Maybe. Probably not.
Some losses hurt now but save you later.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 39:21
C. Can you just contemplate for a minute of some losses that hurt in a moment but saved you later? Can I mean I can testify to that one.
I was engaged and then I was not engaged and then I was engaged again and then I got married. That was a loss in the moment that saved me later. And boy am I blessed. Are you with me today? So all young people that think your life has come to an utter end, I get it.
I understand your pain and it is real and it is true and it should not be laughed at. But listen, life exists beyond your pain. It exists beyond your pain. And sometimes the pain helps you regain your life.
Sometimes God saves you from the pain and sometimes he uses pain to save you from something else.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 40:41
But life exists beyond what you want and beyond your immediate pain. Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. This is not easy to do because I'm in pain right now. But my life does not exist in this moment.
This moment is but a blip in the radar of eternity.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 41:14
And it is amazing because that picture of what I have in Christ makes these moments more bearable.
I can be joyful for all that the Lord has done for me.
Oh, some of you have in recent months gone through extreme loss.
But what you gained in Christ is far greater than all your losses multiplied times 10.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 41:50
The reality is some relationships must end, some habits must die, and some access must be revoked. Not because God is harsh, but because hell is real and holiness is protective.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 42:02
Jesus is not asking for perfection. He's calling for allegiance.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 42:20
Choose, young people today, and we're all young because we all feel young. Choose what lasts. Choose what forms you. Rightly choose the voice of God over the noise of desire.
That's what Jesus is teaching us here. Immediiacy often leads us to destruction. Family, this text is not about sexual failure. It is about spiritual formation.
It is about who gets to speak the loudest in your life because whatever voice you hear most will frame what you love most.
Pastor Shawn Gray · 43:09
And whatever you love most will shape what you obey most. Listen, Jesus is not here or on the mount and here speaking to us today to embarrass us. He's here to reclaim you. That's what he's here for. He's still speaking, still teaching, still cutting away what threatens your soul.
The question is not, do you hear him? The question is, will you let his word cut?
Pastor Shawn Gray · 43:47
What has quietly been shaping you away from life? Because the framework of your life will always be shaped by what you hear. You have heard it said, "But I say he's still speaking."
Now listen to me today. I'm going to give you a moment to respond. I don't do this very often, but I think it's paramount that we give a moment to respond here. And here's why. Because we live in a noisy generation and we need to incline our ear to the Lord.
Oh, he has spoken this morning. And his heart is to form you with his words and the truth. Now you can respond by sitting where you are. You can respond by coming forward. You can respond by whatever posture you want to respond by, but we should respond to the Lord. We spend a good portion of time hearing him speak.
We should spend a good portion of time thanking him that he speaks.
We should spend a good portion of time this morning considering what needs to be cut off.
What relationship? What attitude? What behavior? What person? What TV show? What entertainment? What podcast? What needs to be cut off?
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