Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. It's dangerous to get too close to a fire and to a possible sexual sin. That's why the seventh commandment teaches us to avoid all forms of such sin. The result: a life free of entanglements that can stop us in our tracks. Stay with us.
From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Wind with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, isn't the best course to do as Paul did and stay celibate? Then there is no sexual sin to deal with.
Well, Dave, of course, even those who have the gift of celibacy, and I think I've met some just like that, nevertheless oftentimes deal with lust. deal with temptation, So it's not as if we can say to ourselves, if I am celibate, I no longer have any of these temptations. Of course you do. But at the same time there are many people who are celibate to day who'd prefer not to be, but God has just not brought them a partner. It's very complicated, but what isn't complicated?
Is that we must pursue holiness and purity no matter where we are. in our journey toward marriage or within marriage. I've written a book entitled Why Holiness Matters. And of course, it deals with these kinds of issues. It's actually based on the Ten Commandments, but it expands much that is said on this broadcast.
For a gift of any amount, we're making it available for you. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Here's what you can do: go to rtwoffer.com or Call us at 1-888-218. 9337.
Meanwhile, Let us always remember the goal is purity. Yeah. Um They said, What would you say in the case of a man who's married to a woman and either because of some accident or some physical disability she's in the wheelchair for the rest of her life? Are you really telling me that even that man can't have an affair on the side? Asked in such a way as if to say, Can you really be that stupid Mr.
Lutzer as to say no to that? You know, we're living in a day and age when it seems as if our passions rule us, right? A man has a need, he's got to fulfill it. He can't be true. To a marriage commitment just because he can't have his sexual needs fulfilled in a certain way.
The obvious answer to that is, of course, a man like that should be true to his wife, because if you make an exception for him, then what about those who are single? What about the widows? What about all the divorced people? Don't they have sexual desires too? Does God's Word only apply in certain situations?
All of the things that I've said about the consequences, all of the things that we have said about violating all of the commandments apply to every single situation. Your passions lie when they tell you they must be fulfilled, regardless of what God's word says. You know what God says about marriage? He says that the relationship in marriage is so special. And I'm so sorry that my message today is negative because the commandments are rather negative.
You know, people talk about the power of positive thinking. I want to preach a message entitled The Power of Negative Thinking, frankly. tired of positive thinking.
Now The point is. Speaking more positively, Shouldn't be. Sure, we throw it in for extra measure. God says that the marriage relationship is so special, it is so sacred, that there is no condition under which it should ever be violated. Because it's special, that's why.
It's not just that God wants to rain on our parade. You know what it's like doing? When you commit adultery, it's like burning down a beautiful cathedral because you want to fry an egg, because you happen to be hungry. You're demolishing something that God says is special, all because you think that there are some needs that have got to be fulfilled. The Bible says they don't have to be.
There are all kinds of people who are living in prison today for the cause of Jesus Christ who do not have any sexual intimacy at all. And they are living. See, we are living in a society today where everybody says, well, if it's really a meaningful relationship and if it feels good, then do it. But God says, Fornicators and adulterers, I will. Judge.
That's God's saying it.
So it really doesn't matter whether or not you get found out, God sees. First of all, because of the command of God, secondly, because of the consequences, thirdly, because of the compensation. Compensation. Normally my Points to my message don't all begin with the same letter, but this time they do. By compensation, I mean that Jesus said that it was better.
And for this, I want you to turn to the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 5. Where Jesus is speaking about adultery and he reiterates the commandment in verse 27. And in verse 28, it says that adultery really begins in the heart, and for lack of time, we're going to have to skip that. But he says in verse 29, and if your right eye, and he's talking now about adultery. He says, If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you, for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish. than for your whole body to go into hell. Jesus is talking about lust. And what he does is, he takes the two parts of the body that are more often than not used in sexual arousal. The first is the I.
particularly for men. Even though we tell women, I'm not sure that they fully understand the extent to which a man can be aroused simply by sight. And then Jesus takes the hand. Women are often stimulated with tender caresses, usually coupled with sweet words. Jesus said, If your eye and your hand are causing you to fall into a pit, that's what the Greek word means.
If you find that your eye and your hand are causing you to fall into a pit, Jesus said, Do whatever you have to do. to be removed from that temptation. You say, well, Pastor Lutzer, he isn't speaking literally, is he? He doesn't mean that you should literally pluck out your eye or your hand. No.
But what he says is literally true, isn't it? It would be better to arrive in heaven with one hand than to be in hell with two. It would be better to be in heaven with one eye than to be in hell with two. What Jesus is saying is, whatever it is that is causing you to fall into a pit, deal with it drastically.
Now, I've got to summarize a whole separate message. I give you only the outline. One day I was thinking about what it would be like to have your right hand cut off and your eye cut out, and I came to some conclusions. Let me give them to you. First of all, it would be very painful.
Very painful. Just imagine without anesthetic, we take someone here in the front row with a sharp knife and poke it into their eye and then turn like this and. That would hurt. It would hurt. Jesus is saying, whatever you've got to do to get rid of sexual sin, do it.
Do it. I told a man involved with a woman who wasn't his wife, I said, You're going to have to go through a process that is equivalent. to death. saying no to that person. Whatever it is, do it.
A teenager told me, he says, You know, just taking pornographic magazines that I had hidden in the garage and carrying them out and putting them in the garbage was painful. He had become attached to them. Jesus said, Whatever you need to do to get rid of sexual sin, do it. Change jobs. I told a man that one day when he said he was falling in love with someone who wasn't his wife at work.
I said, change jobs. He said, Oh, he says, I can't do that. I have a wife and children to support. I said, what would you rather do? Change jobs or have your right eye cut out and your arm cut off?
Oh, he said, I'd rather. I'd rather change jobs. I said, you're lucky. Jesus said that you should be willing to cut out your eye. And to cut off your hand, even if that were necessary, if that were needed.
It hurts. Jesus said, Do it. Do it. And I say to you, teenagers that are here today, and young people, and singles, and adults. No matter how much it hurts, Jesus would say, Do it.
Not only does it hurt, but it is thorough. It is thorough. You know, once your eye has been cut out and your arm has been cut off, and they've been in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for a week. It's a little late to say, is this something I should have done? Right?
Do it thoroughly. Don't allow anything that is causing you to stumble. If it's a relationship that has to be broken, break it as neatly as you can, but also as completely as is humanly possible.
Somewhere I read that if you're going to jump across a chasm, it's much better to do it in one long jump than in two short ones. And when you get rid of sexual sin. Do it right. Do it right. Then, of course, and here's my point: it is worthwhile.
It's worthwhile. You see, if your whole body Has to be preserved because of the cutting off of a hand. Let's suppose your hand has cancer or gangrene. And the doctor comes along and cuts that off, you're thankful that the rest of your body has been preserved.
So Jesus is saying it is better.
Now, let me interpret that for you. Let's suppose that we had someone up here today in a wheelchair with his hand cut off and his eye cut out. Let's suppose he's a young person. He intended to be a baseball player. He intended to be an airplane pilot.
All of his dreams have been dashed to the ground. Because he intended that he had all of these expectations for his life, and now they haven't worked out. disappointment, bitterness.
Now here's the point. Jesus is saying it is better to go through life with unfulfilled desires and shattered dreams and to do that which is right rather than to fulfill those desires outside of the will of God. It's better for that young woman who desires marriage and intimacy, and all of them do as men do. And let's not laugh about that desire that's built in by the Creator. Better to go through life frustrated without intimacy.
Without that closeness that you desire, better to go through life unfulfilled and frustrated and be a friend of God and be able to look everyone in the eye than to fulfill those desires outside of the will of God. Jesus said, it is Better. Better. Not ideal, maybe, but better. That's what Jesus is saying.
Now the real bottom line is simply this. There may be those of you here who have either in your past been involved in immorality or even now may be. The question I have to ask you is: How are you going to respond in light of the fact? That you have now heard this message and sin has been pointed out to you? That's a very important question.
How will you respond? It will show to me The state of your heart. Will you lie? I remember a woman who convinced her husband or accused her husband of committing adultery. She had pretty good evidence.
Now, sometimes false accusations are made, that's true. But she had pretty good evidence, but not exactly conclusive evidence. Her husband Denied it. Oh, yes, it's true that he was with this other woman. Yes, it's true that he was in her apartment, but they didn't do anything.
Now, if you can believe that, I assume that you'll also accept a check drawn on the bank of the Mississippi River. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. We didn't do anything. In fact, you know what the man said? He put up his hand and said, If I'm lying, may God smite me dead.
It's pretty good evidence that he's telling the truth, wouldn't you think? A couple of months later, when the evidence began to accumulate, he admitted that when he put up his hand and said those words, he was lying through his teeth.
So I said to the wife, Well, after it all came out, did he ask your forgiveness?
Well, kind of. Kind of. Kind of. Think of how hard that man's heart was. Kind of.
That man should have been on his knees weeping, begging. Forgiveness. Kind of. The hardness of heart. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs that a man who's involved in adulterous relationships shall be tied by the cords.
Of his own sin. He becomes so blind that lying becomes second nature, and he adds sin. To sin, sin on top of sin, sin to cover sin, and on and on and on it goes as his heart becomes harder and harder and harder and harder.
Now, it's interesting that David, when he committed adultery, apparently, scholars told us, he may be held out for a year before he was willing to confess. Hardness of heart happens very easily once you're involved. But it's interesting that finally David came clean. Finally, David came clean. and he was willing to confess his sin.
And I find this amazing because nobody has gone to greater lengths to try to cover his sin than David. I mean, he told some lies, he killed a man, he did all of this to cover his sin, yet the whole thing came unraveled, and you might almost say that David is famous because of his adultery. I mean, there are people who don't know anything about David, and they know that he committed adultery. His cover-up didn't work very well. But finally, when he came clean and he cast himself upon God's mercy and his grace as he poured out his heart.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies. blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. said David.
Finally, when he was cleansed and forgiven and restored and in fellowship with the living God again, he said in Psalm 32, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile. He said, When I kept silent, my bones waxed old through their roaring all the day long. In other words, I was under the weight of guilt. But then he went on to say that after he was forgiven and restored, he was able to sing again, and God's guidance came back in his life.
He says, Thou shalt guide me. And so all of that was taken care of when David finally. Finally, came clean. finally came cling.
So Let me tell you that immorality is not the unpardonable sin. Immorality is not the unpardonable sin. There is grace, there is forgiveness, there is mercy, and there is cleansing. For those who are willing. to come clean.
in humility and brokenness and honesty. before the living God. Let's pray. Father, today we realize. The passions of the flesh and how misleading they are.
We understand the power of temptation. And we pray with all earnestness as you taught us to pray. Lead us not into temptation. But deliver us. from evil.
And we thank today, Father, of those who may be struggling with their past. We pray that you will enable them to put that behind them. To repent. To be cleansed, to be free, to be forgiven, restored. Because we know that you're a God of restoration and a God of forgiveness.
And we're reminded of the words of Jesus to the woman taken in adultery. Go and to sin No more. We think of those, Father, who perhaps have been living lives of duplicity and lies to cover sin. We pray. that you might break into their life.
Today. And that in all honesty, All honesty. they might come to you for cleansing and restoration and forgiveness. Do that, Father, we pray. We ask that you will enable all of us to walk before you in righteousness and holiness and freedom.
We pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Um You know, my friend, if we use the law only to condemn. And if we do not understand grace, That is really shutting people up to a life of condemnation without any hope. That's why we here at Running to Win are deeply committed to preaching about holiness, upholding the law.
But at the same time, always reminding people that there is grace, and Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled the law. He did what we can't. And thanks to His grace, we are welcomed by the Father based on the works of Jesus both in His life. and in his death. I've written a book entitled Why Holiness Matters.
Of course it stresses these things. It's based on the Ten Commandments regarding moral purity, regarding the reverence that we should have for life. but it is also a book of hope. It helps us to see the proper purpose of the law. For a gift of any amount we're making it available for you because we deeply believe it will help you and it will give you enlightenment even as you seek the Lord.
I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy. Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-888. two one eight ninety three thirty seven.
Right now You can go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218. ninety three thirty seven It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life.
Socorro listens to Running to Win and is facing a crisis in her home. Here is her story. it's looking like my marriage may soon be over. I've been faithful to my husband, but he says he's not happy, that he made a mistake in marrying me, and now wants a divorce. He's refusing Christian counseling and doesn't want to try to work things out.
Would you consider this to be desertion or spousal abandonment? Is what he's doing a biblical ground for me for divorce and remarriage in the future as God may lead?
Well, my sister, you've asked a very difficult question, and it's one for which I don't have a definitive answer, but just a couple of things. First of all, I'm very sorry that your husband is taking this attitude. And I hope that there's someone in the Church who brings him to reality when he says that he made a mistake in marrying you. That is a very hurtful comment, and it really does represent a husband who is walking away from a commitment that he made at the altar, before God, and before the many witnesses who were present.
So this is a very, very serious matter. Yeah. Now you ask the question, if he does leave the marriage, would this be considered as desertion or abandonment? I'm going to answer and say I don't know. And the reason is because it depends on a whole host of factors which I don't know about.
There's so much that goes into these disputes. I really do encourage you to consult your pastor who can give you counsel that is based on a whole lot more in terms of knowledge of you, your husband. and the whole situation. But this is what I would like to suggest. There are people today who divorce in the eyes of men, but I don't believe that they are necessarily divorced in the eyes of God.
And just because men have said the relationship or the bond is over, the covenant has been broken and no longer is valid, That doesn't mean that God does.
So, I think that if your husband were to leave the marriage and to remarry someone else, I think this would free you to marry. But as to whether or not you could remarry if he were to leave, and to simply uh live alone uh without marriage I'd like your pastor to uh weigh in on that decision.
Okay. Thank you, Doctor Lutzer, and thank you, Socorro, for trusting us with such a personal question. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven. That's one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven.
Yeah. Uh You can write to us at RunningTowin 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Most people say what's mine is mine, what's yours is yours. But then there are those who say what's yours is mine. It's more than burglary.
People steal from their employers with hardly a second thought. We forget that stealing any kind of private property violates one of the Ten Commandments.
Next time on Running to Win, we look at the commandment, you shall not steal. Don't miss the message on playing by the rules. Running to win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister.
Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
