When the Law of Moses was given to Israel after the Exodus out of Egypt the laws that were given were mostly understood and kept according to this physical world. When the law that said “Thou shall not kill” was given men knew that GOD commanded men not physically to kill one another. When the Law “Thou shall not steal” was given Man knew they would come under God’s judgment if they stole something that belonged to someone else. When the law that said “thou shall not commit adultery” was given Man knew they would come under God’s judgment if they slept with another man’s wife.
However at that time and even now those with carnal minds did not actually understand these Laws according to the standard of God. The Bible repeatedly makes it clear to out that GOD does not only look at physical things, GOD looks at our hearts.
1 Samuel 16:7
“For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
The Bible teaches us that God is spirit. Therefore those who desire to please God can NOT please God by simply paying attention to the physical things of this world and their physical bodies. God is before creation, God existed before the physical things of this world came into existence. Therefore the things that please God and the things that God looks at are not merely physical things. The things that please God are spiritual things, things that can’t be seen with physical eyes. And spiritual things are matters of the heart.
John 4:24
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Therefore if someone thinks they are not a murderer because they have not physically killed someone then they don’t actually understand the way GOD views things. Because the Bible says anyone who hates his brother is a murderer.
1 John 3:15
“Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
In the eyes of God, you’re not a murderer just because you physically kill someone. Any normal human person good or evil can spot a murderer if they see them commit murder. But is God a man(Numbers 23:19)? Does GOD see like man sees? No. God sees the seed of hatred and murder in the heart of a man before the man ever commits the act of murder. Therefore if a man already has hatred for his brother in his heart God already finds this man guilty of murder.
If you caught me sowing weed seeds into your beautiful garden would you wait until the seeds grew into full-grown weeds before you saw me as guilty for destroying your garden? No. Seeing me plant the seeds in your garden would be enough for you to find me guilty of trying to destroy your garden. Therefore when a man accepts hatred for a brother into his heart he has already allowed seeds of murder to be planted into his heart! So GOD always finds this man guilty!
We have to remember that the Bible teaches that our hearts are where the Holy Spirit dwells!
Galatians 4:6
“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!””
Romans 5:5
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
2 Corinthians 1:22
“who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
Therefore if you are allowing wicked seeds to be planted into your heart you are defiling the temple of God! And what does the Bible say will happen to those who destroy God’s temple?
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
Therefore when Jesus came to earth and began teaching he emphasized this point over and over again.
What does Jesus teach us about Lust in Matthew 5:27-28?
Matthew 5:28
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Adultery is NOT only sleeping with another man’s wife, adultery is committed in the heart before the act is ever physically committed. God didn’t need to see you physically commit adultery to find you guilty of adultery, God has already seen the adultery in your heart the entire time. You may have never gotten the opportunity to commit adultery, you may be afraid, or the woman may not be interested. So is a man not an adulterer because he hasn’t physically committed adultery if he’s wanted to commit adultery but never gotten the opportunity? No, he’s still an adulterer who never had the chance to fulfill his desire.
Again what does Jesus teach us in Matthew 5:11 & 18-20?
Matthew 15:11,18
“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man… (18)But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”
Therefore those who are still focused on physical clean food and unclean food, physical adultery instead of adultery of the heart, and physical murderer instead of murderer in the heart have completely missed the revelation of Jesus Christ. These people are like the Pharisees who have heard the message but the understanding of their hearts is darkened so they do not understand it. Therefore this group is still slaves to their flesh and have yet to break free from the grips of sin through Jesus. So within their hearts, they still find themselves lustful, angry, hateful, with evil thoughts, and more. The power of sin still reigns over them because they are still carnal and concerned with the physical things of this world that are perishing since this world is ending.
So Paul writes this about them:
Galatians 5:4
“You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”
Your physical body is going to go into the dirt and will turn into dust. What you put into this body will not go into your heart, but the things that you allow to be conceived in the heart, by these things you will be judged.
1 Corinthians 4:5
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.”
Therefore we are commanded not just to not physically do evil acts which is easy and even the wicked people of the world know when they are physically doing evil. As Children of God who have been born again, we are commanded to not even let any evil things enter into our hearts. We must guard our hearts from evil so no evil thing gets conceived within our hearts. This is what God is looking at concerning us. Because if you never allow adultery to enter your heart spiritually you will never do it physically! If you never allow murder into your heart spiritually you will never do it physically.
The heart is the birthplace of the evil that men do. First, a sin begins in the heart and then it travels to the mind, and then a person wrestles with the desire to do the sin within themselves, and THEN men commit the sin. But if the sin is already in your heart and if you are already wrestling within your body with a desire to do a sin then you are already guilty of that sin in the eyes of God.
In closing:
I heard someone say recently “It’s not wrong to have homosexual desires, it’s only wrong to sleep with someone of the same gender, therefore as long as you don’t sleep with the same gender you’re not doing anything wrong”
And I had to correct this statement that it is a lie! It is WRONG to have homosexual desires because that means a person has allowed homosexuality to be planted into their hearts like a seed that later grew into a person doing homosexual acts. It is wrong to have the desire! Because the feeling of desire to do something is WITHIN YOUR HEART, and this desire is in your heart when your heart is God’s temple where HIS HOLY SPIRIT dwells.
Therefore our hearts must be purified! It is God who can change and purify our hearts, but we must turn to GOD in repentance and ask him to purify our hearts.
Ezekiel 36:26
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Psalm 51:10
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
If you find yourself wrestling within your body with a desire to do a particular sin NOW is the time to repent. Don’t wait until you have physically done the sin. GOD sees it in your heart before you have done it. In the eyes of God, you are already guilty of it because you are allowing the sin to exist in his temple and so you are wrestling within your body with it. Repent of allowing that desire to exist within your body and ask GOD to remove it.
This is the standard the Lord has given us. Our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees(Matius 5:20)!
Therefore guys, keep your hearts pure, don’t allow any evil thing to take root in your heart for even one second. And if you find that evil is in your heart go to GOD immediately in prayer for help. Renounce the wicked imagination that entered the heart in the name of Jesus.
Jeremiah 17:10
“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the [a]mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
That is all for today guys!
God bless you ALL who are in Christ Jesus our Lord!
Eddie Fews
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