As we continue to study Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount we endeavor in dangerous territory.  Dangerous because Jesus calls for radical change in our lives.  Dangerous because Jesus reveals to us the sin in our lives that must be rooted out in order to truly abide in Him. Dangerous because our definition of dangerous is something that could cause harm to us.  Rooting out sin in our heart is not easy.  In fact Jesus uses the analogy of gouging out your eye and cutting off your hand.  But I want us to think of this: If you have a life threatening disease wouldn’t you want to do everything you could to rid yourself of the disease?  Even if it meant multiple dangerous surgeries? 

The fact is, we do have a life threatening disease.  All of us.  We were born with it.  It is the disease of sin.  Sin causes disputes among brothers in Christ.  Sin causes deformation of character through one small gossip conversation at a time.  Sin leads to physical life threatening diseases because of one small sexual encounter after another.  Sin causes hate between husband and wife who were madly in love with each other just a few years ago.  The Bible says that the ultimate goal of sin leads to death.  John 10:10 says “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.”  Satan wants us to fall deeply into the disease of sin making ourselves comfortable thus rotting in its stench.  But Jesus calls us to life. Jesus calls us to rid ourselves of the disease and put our eyes on Him that we might receive the prize of life that only he offers.  John 14:6 Jesus says “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”  Jesus whole purpose of coming was to restore us to our creator and to promise us eternal life restored to Him forever.  Satan promises us eternal death separated from God lived out in a lake of fire.  Which would you choose?

The reality is that when we were born we were born into the disease of sin.  We were born into a disease that leads to spiritual and physical death.  If Adam and Eve had not sinned in the garden there would be no number on mans days of life.  But because of sin death entered the world both spiritually and physically.  Now we all know that physical death is a part of our life cycle. (Due to sin.)  But do you know today that we are born into spiritual death as well?  Sin separates us from God but Jesus restores us to God!  In order to be restored we must put our faith and trust in Jesus and believe that he came as God in a man.  That he died on the cross for our disease of sin.  That he overcame death the only power that Satan had (which he really didn’t have) and rose again on the third day.  That He restores us our creator God when we believe.  And that He offers us life abundant if we abide in Him!  Jesus came and showed us that the way to life was to believe in Him, he showed us the truth by revealing the lies of the devil, he showed us the life—His life as the one who was sinless and went to die on a cross for our sin disease that we may have His life.

So what does this have to do with the topic that we read about today in Matthew 5:27-30?  Everything.  The disease of sin causes symptoms which are sins.  Whether it is calling someone a fool, coveting your neighbor’s wife, lying to someone, whatever, they are all symptoms of the disease which lives in our heart.  You see back in the time when Jesus was walking the earth there was this group of people known as the Pharisees.  The Pharisees believed that sin could only be judged based on physical action.  For instance, if you committed murder, there would be a dead body to prove your action.  If you committed adultery there would be physical evidence of that action.  If you lied to someone there would be truth to reveal the falsehood.  The Pharisees saw sin as a result of action against God’s law.  But Jesus knowing man and woman’s heart radically changed this physical view into an internal and eternal view.  Jesus said if you call anyone a “fool” you have committed murder and are in danger of the fire of hell.  If you look at another person’s spouse lustfully you have committed adultery in your heart.  Jesus knew that we all have the disease of sin. 

Sin creeps into our lives in small inconspicuous ways.  When we think about adultery most of us would think about the action of committing adultery.  However, Jesus brings to our attention that even the thought of lustfully coveting another man’s wife is a sin.  Adultery is just another way of putting us in control and not allowing God to give us blessings the way He designed.  When we lustfully seek after another persons spouse we are saying to God that what “You” have for me is not good enough.  We are putting ourselves in control and allowing ourselves to be deceived because God is the one who is in control.  God is the one who created your spouse specifically for you.  Jesus is the one who said “What God has joined together, let no man separate.”  When we secretly covet our neighbor’s spouse we commit the sin of adultery.  We are separating ourselves from our spouse.  I want to take a minute and talk to all the single people in here.  You may think that this message has no relevance to you.  But I want to challenge you if you are not married yet, someday you probably will be.  Even before you are married you need to be on your guard that you save yourself wholly for your spouse.  This is God’s deepest desire for husbands and wives—that they would be completely devoted to God and to each other.  That means start now.  Don’t allow yourself to think lustfully about others as that will be a hard habit to break when you do get married.  God has so much more for us than lustfully seeking after other people.  Satan wants you to believe that there is nothing better. 

The thing is that Jesus wants us to let go of that life and turn and run as fast as we can into His light so that we may be set free from the burden of guilt and shame which is the result of living in sin.  Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Running into the light sometimes is a hard thing to do.  The light reveals what the darkness hides.  Have you ever awakened at night in a panic because you heard a loud sound outside?  What is the first thing you usually do?  Turn on some lights right?  The light may have revealed that sound was simply a raccoon jumping on your car or it may have been an intruder trying to break into your home.  The light shows us what action we need to take.  Jesus does the same thing for us.  When we walk into the light Jesus reveals to us what action we need to take.  We may need to cut off our hand or gouge out our eye because the life threatening disease of sin has caused death filled tumors on each of those parts. And the only way we can live is if we surgically remove them.  I don’t know about you all but I would much rather surgically remove a tumor that causes death than to allow it to grow and eventually kill me.  But so many times we allow ourselves to have death filled tumors growing in our heart.  Instead of coming to Jesus and allowing him to give us life, we run further into the darkness where death is looming just waiting to devour us. 

Jesus wants to do radical surgery in our hearts so that we may live life abiding in Him and to the fullest potential that He has created us for.  Sin creeps in through the secret doors of our heart.  Lust, gossip, lying, whatever it is it starts small and eventually metastasizes until we are completely overwhelmed by the disease.  That is why we need to daily seek God and abide in Him.  Like Pastor Chris said last week with his pumpkin leaf example: When we remove ourselves from the vine we wilt and die almost instantaneously.  If we don’t continually stay connected to Jesus then the sin disease will return to our heart and grow from there until we find ourselves doing things we never said we would do. 

Do you remember in the beginning when I said that we are venturing into dangerous territory?  Do you agree?  Allowing ourselves to be exposed to the light is an extremely hard thing to do.  The light shows us what we need to cut off in order to live.  The object that may need to be cut off may be the ugliest thing in the whole world.  But do you know what Jesus does?  He cuts it off and throws it as far as the East is from the West.  It is forgotten about.  Jesus then heals you and gives you life.  Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life.  You have to come to Him to be set free from sin.  Maybe you have an adulterous addiction on the internet.  Maybe you have a murder problem.  I don’t know.  But God does know.  One Pastor that I really look up to, even today, said in my youth: When you sin in secret, I want you to realize that God is sitting in the same room with you.  I know that sounds sort of cliché.  But David from the Bible writes in Psalm 139:7-12 7:

    7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

       Where can I flee from your presence?

    8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

       if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

    9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

       if I settle on the far side of the sea,

    10 even there your hand will guide me,

       your right hand will hold me fast.

    11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

       and the light become night around me,"

    12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

       the night will shine like the day,

       for darkness is as light to you.

That really made me think.  The sin disease longs for secrecy to grow.  Don’t let it grow anymore.  Go to Jesus.  Allow God’s Spirit to show you areas in your life that you need to bring to the light.  We all have them because we are all sinners.  Maybe you don’t have a problem with adultery but you do have a problem with murder.  It doesn’t matter.  Sin is sin to God.  It separates us from Him.  Get rid of it so that you can abide in Him and live life serving and glorifying God.  This week’s challenge is really tough if you will take it seriously.  This week I will walk into the light and allow Jesus to perform radical surgery on my heart.  Would you please say that with me? This week I will walk into the light and allow Jesus to perform radical surgery on my heart. Sounds pretty simple.  But if you walk into the light and allow Jesus to perform radical surgery on your heart…He will.  His spirit will bring to mind things that need to be dealt with Biblically.  Deal with the sin disease today.  Don’t wait.  Sin leads to death.  Jesus leads to life.  Which one will you choose?