This sermon emphasizes the importance of holiness and purity in the church and in individual lives. It highlights the need to cut off anything that leads to sin, even if it is as valuable as a right eye or hand, to avoid spiritual destruction. The message calls for repentance, cleansing, and a focus on holiness above all else, exalting righteousness in thoughts and actions.

Praise the lord. Rise up as we pray together. Heavenly father we thank you for our bible study tonight. We bless your name because you've given us the strength, the desire and the love to come before you and to take this bread of life. Lord we pray as we take this bread of life you feed us and give us spiritual strength in Jesus name. We ask you lord to open our eyes of understanding that the things we didn't know before, the things we knew but we have forgotten. Lord we pray you remind us, you write upon the tables of our hearts that your word will be fresh, will be pungent, will be powerful in every one of our lives in Jesus name. And the grace and the strength, the spiritual energy to be able to carry out your word, to be obedient to your word. You grant unto us tonight in Jesus name that we'll be able to stand on our two feet with conviction knowing who has called us and knowing what he has called us to. That we with one mouth and one heart and one soul and one purpose and one intention will glorify your name every moment, every day of our lives in Jesus name. That lord whether we're with people or we're just alone by ourselves, our lives will shine forth the light of the glorious gospel. Teach us tonight lord and let our heart give accent, answer and give complete submission to everything you teach us tonight in Jesus name. We thank you because we know you have answered. In Jesus name we pray. Thank you very much. You can sit down. I welcome every one of you to the bible study tonight in Jesus name. And for those who are joining us for the first time, maybe a friend has invited you, a neighbor has invited you, a member of the church, a fellow student has invited you and you are here with us tonight wanting to study the word of God with us. I pray that the study will be of tremendous benefit to every one of you in Jesus name. This is our bible school. This is where God develops soldiers of the cross, giants in the faith and the future ministers, evangelists, pastors and teachers of the world. And you'll do yourself a world of good as you come every time, day after day, week after week, Monday after Monday as God gives us opportunity and strength and we study the word. And for those who have just given their lives to the lord and you're even so quick as to be with us today, this is the best place you can be. Jesus healed one man who had been sick for such a long time. And had been looking for that healing for a long time and he couldn't find. Actually the story is that all the sick people at that time, they were brought to the side of the pool. An angel will come from heaven and they troubled that water. Whoever gets him first will get the healing. He's been there for such a long time. And he didn't have any helper, any relative, brother or sister or uncle or cousin to put him there. And Jesus said, will thou be made whole? Will you be made whole? Do you want to get well? And he began to tell a lot of stories. I've been hearing for a long time. And nobody has been able to help me to put me in the pool so I've not got my healing. And Jesus said, get up, take up your bed and walk back home. And it was a wonderful thing. The lord healed him. The point of the story is this. The next time Jesus found him, he found him in the temple. Not in a nightclub. Not with the prostitutes. Not in the sports or the games or the lunch. He found him in the temple. And then he said, you have been made whole. Go and sin no more. I'm rejoicing with you that you came to the lord. And then in the first place we're finding you. And here we are today. And you are here with us at the Bible study. May the lord strengthen you in Jesus name. For the old timers who have been coming for a long time. Regularly. Consistently. I pray the lord will bless your faithfulness. Today we come to Matthew chapter 5. We'll be studying from verse to verse. And from one section of this wonderful sermon on the mount. Section after section. In Matthew chapter 5, we're looking at verse 27 today. All through to verse 30. You have heard that it had been said by them of old time. Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish. And not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish. And not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. In those verses of scripture which we have read together. You have a lot inside those verses. I tell you, you understand. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Also is the light of the world. That is the light of the scriptures. The light of revelation. And the light of everything that came from the very mind of God. Until Jesus Christ came, people thought they knew God. But only Christ can reveal God to man completely. Until Christ came, people thought they knew the scriptures. They knew the word of God. In fact, the members of the Sanhedrin, they were supposed to memorize some of those signs and have it, store it in their head. And they were recited and parodied. And you will see that the new scriptures and the new God. It was until when Jesus came, it began to open it for them. Even the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, they thought they knew the scriptures. They thought they knew the Lord. Some of those disciples of Christ had been followers of John, John the Baptist. And they thought they were strict. They thought they were righteous. They thought they were following the Lord. Until Christ came and began to reveal the mind of God, the word of God, the proper interpretation unto them. In fact, you remember when Jesus rose from the dead, there were two men. They were disciples of Jesus and they were going on the way to Emmaus. And Jesus joined their company. And then he began to ask them, what is it you are talking about? And this time, they couldn't recognize him. And so they said, are you a stranger in the land? Don't you know what just happened? And he said, what is it? And they began to talk to Christ about himself. How they took him. How he was betrayed. How he was nailed to the cross. How he was buried. And then on the third day, now we are hearing the story. That they went to the tomb, to the gravesite, and they couldn't find him. And then Jesus began to open the scriptures unto them. And then they got to the table. And he broke the bread. And he gave it unto them. All of a sudden they knew, this is Christ. And then they said something. Did not our hearts burn when he opened unto us the scriptures and showed us the light? That's the point I'm making to you. Until you meet Christ, you will think you have studied the Bible. But when you meet Christ, and then he begins to interpret the words of the Father, the mind of the Father unto you, then do you understand the impact, the import, the intention of the scriptures of the Lord when he gave us those scriptures. When Jesus said, you have heard it had been said, thou shalt not kill. And the majority of the people in the world at that time claimed they had kept the word of God. And they thought they were innocent, they were righteous, they were pure, they were sinless because they didn't kill. Until Jesus now said, but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. By the way, why did Jesus Christ give us such deep interpretation, revelation of his word? That all the world may be guilty before him. In Romans chapter 3 verse 19. Romans chapter 3, what do you mean from verse 19? Yeah, it says now. We know that what thing soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. And that all the world may become guilty before God. As we listen to the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning the world, everybody becomes guilty. Was that the intention of the Lord to just make us feel guilty, make us feel sorrowful and such? No. He wants to make us feel guilty so we will know that forgiveness is of the Lord. He wants to make us know the need for forgiveness and the need for grace and the need for salvation. The same thing in what he comes to today. As he begins to tell us, people will say I've heard that before, thou shalt not commit adultery. Who doesn't know that? In what country don't we know that? In what community are we ignorant of that? Thou shalt not commit adultery. Even the laws of the land incorporates that into the constitution, into the laws of the land. Thou shalt not commit adultery. We know that if a school teacher defiles a student, a lady student and becomes pregnant, that school teacher can be dismissed. And if a lecturer does anything like that to give a mark of grace to a lady and they know he did it by asking for kind of reward by using her body in fornication and adultery, the university authority can dismiss that lecturer. And if it is known, especially in overseas, in Europe, that a man will defile a minor, that is somebody less than 16 years of age, and if it is proved that fellow can go to jail, who doesn't know? Thou shalt not commit adultery. That's the problem. We think we know that that is the law, that is the word of God, until Christ now begins to say, but whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, you read the whole thing, don't you see? Whosoever looketh on a woman, no, that's not it. Whosoever looketh on a woman for the purpose, for the intention, for the wrong negative desire to lust after her has committed adultery already in his heart. It's just like if I told you, whoever looks on money with the intention of stealing the money is a thief. That's what Jesus is saying. He is not saying, whosoever looketh on money is already a thief, no. Whosoever looketh on the money with the intention of stealing the money, if he had the opportunity, is a thief already in his heart. And so, whosoever looketh on a woman, well, he doesn't have any intention, he doesn't have any desire, he doesn't have any purpose to do anything wrong. It's alright, but whosoever looketh on a woman with the purpose, the intention, the desire, the imagination, the pursuit, the passion of wanting to commit sin with her has committed adultery already in his heart. As Jesus gave the interpretation, he removed the veil of deception, a way to make everyone in the world see the need of salvation in Christ. Christ makes the world to see the need for divine mercy. And then he makes the church, the body of Christ to see the need for cleansing, the need for sanctification, the need for purity of heart. We're going to divide the study today into three parts. We're looking at the sinfulness of acts and thoughts of impurity. There are two things. Number one, the acts of impurity, sinful, dirty, it brings condemnation, it brings judgment. Dirty acts, sinful acts, licentious acts, immoral acts, impure acts brings condemnation. Number two, the thoughts, the thoughts of impurity, the thoughts of uncleanness. We need to be free from the act, the external act, and then from the thoughts, the inward intention and passion to do evil. That's the study, and then we have three parts to the study. Number one, command against an immoral deed. God's command against an immoral deed. Number two, condemnation of an impure desire. God's condemnation of an impure desire. Number three, consideration of an illustrative deliverance. The consideration of an illustrative deliverance. We come to number one, the command against an immoral deed. In Matthew chapter five, we're reading from verse twenty-seven. Matthew chapter five, verse twenty-seven, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. It says, ye have heard. We have heard. Even before I became born again, I heard. Even before you read your Bible, you heard. Number one, you heard from the voice of conscience. Your conscience told you, this must be wrong. Whether you come to church or not, whether you've read the Bible or not, that's why you cannot grab the woman in front of her husband. You know it's wrong. That's why you need to wait for the man, for the husband to travel out, to be absent, before you want to do anything bad with the woman. You knew. You have heard. The voice of your conscience told you, it is wrong. Number two, you have heard from the voice of society. From the voice of society. Everybody in society, even though they also may be guilty of it, they themselves, they say, look at that man. A useless man. Look at that man. A man that doesn't have, he doesn't know anybody. Whether it's a pepper seller or onion seller or whatever, you know, it makes him such useless. Even the society, they tell us, thou shalt not commit adultery. You have heard from the voice of conscience and from the voice of the society. Number three, from the voice of self-interest. If you want to live long, stay away from adultery because the husband of that woman is going to be after you if he discovers you are messing up with his wife. For your self-interest, also to avoid disease, so you don't die young and so you don't get all these incurable diseases, self-interest is shouting loud. Leave those women alone and leave those men alone. You have heard from the voice of self-interest. You have heard from the voice of judgment. From the voice of judgment. You know, sometimes it's jungle judgment. What I mean by that is, you know, there are people that if you commit adultery in some places, the husband gets so angry, he doesn't wait to even take you to court and arraign you or accuse you before a lawyer, before a judge, he takes laws into his hand because anger gets into his mind, his heart, his brain and anger covers his face, he carries a cutlass and if you are not careful, you are dead, you are gone. You have heard from the voice of judgment. That's not strange. Thou shalt not commit adultery. You have heard now as you come to church, you have heard from the voice of priests, from the voice of preachers. Thou shalt not commit adultery. That's not strange to us. We know fornication is sinful. We know that nobody can pretend to be born again and be committing fornication secretly. Even if people don't know, he knows in his heart that it's just a self-deluded man, a self-deluded woman, a person adultery, fornication privately or publicly, whether it is known or it is not known, he doesn't have salvation. You have heard that it had been said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery and that is the commandment of the Lord and it's the moral law. This moral law had been there before the law of Moses. That's why God told Abimelech, a dead man in Genesis chapter 20, far before the time of the law. You, a dead man, because that woman with you is another man's wife. And then Abimelech said, O Lord, but I have not touched her. And I didn't even know the woman is another man's wife. And then God said, that's why I kept you from the woman. God now very quickly restored the woman unto the husband. Genesis, before the law of Moses and then after the law of Moses after Christ has come and after Christ was buried and after Christ rose from the dead. In the acts of the apostles, they were telling those Gentiles in Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15, I'm reading from verse 28, For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no greater burden than these necessary things on you, that ye have stained from meat to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. You see, after the law of Moses, Acts of the apostles, after the Holy Ghost had been poured out upon the believers, the era, the period, the age of the Holy Ghost, and yet it says you abstain from fornication. And then it says in verse 29, From which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well, fear ye well. Therefore we understand that this commandment is still standing. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Christ has not come to excuse sin for mankind. He has not come to conceal, to cover up sin. He has come to expose and to cleanse the sin of the world. Yes, he has not come to condemn us and leave us in that condemnation. No, he has come to reveal the guilt and the condemnation of all men in order to make men seek forgiveness from God, mercy from God and salvation through Jesus Christ. His light searches us so that his love may save us. Let's look at the commandment from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. What do you mean from verse 14? Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Very clear, very definite. And there was no allowance at all. There was no condition at all. And this is not what you call situational ethics. That is, some people will say, alright, thou shalt not commit adultery if? No, there is no if. It's absolute. It's complete. It is not, thou shalt not commit adultery if the woman does not agree. Even when she agrees, you must not do it. Thou shalt not commit adultery if her husband does not give consent to it. There are times some foolish husbands will give consent to another man committing adultery with their wives. They are looking for children and the man knows that he cannot produce a child from the woman and therefore the man will say, I'll close my eyes to whatever you do. Go ahead and do whatever you want to do and bring a baby to this family. The Bible does not say thou shalt not commit adultery if the husband does not give consent. Even when the husband foolishly gives consent, thou shalt not commit adultery. The Bible does not say thou shalt not commit adultery, especially when you have your own wife. Even when you don't have your wife. Even when your wife has run away. Even when you don't have a legitimate scriptural way of keeping your body, thou shalt not commit adultery. The Bible does not say thou shalt not commit adultery if you are not a widow. But if you are a widow and your husband is gone and now you are alone by yourself, who can accuse you? No, there is no condition, there is no situation. Even when you are a widow, even when you are a widow, a man who has lost the wife, thou shalt not commit adultery. It doesn't say thou shalt not commit adultery except when they force you into it. It's not my fault. My director is asking for it. And I will lose my job and I will not be able to have anything on hand to do if I don't agree with this man. Oh Lord you know my heart is not in it. But it's this man. The Bible does not give that condition. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Whatever the situation, whatever the condition, wherever you find yourself, thou shalt not commit adultery. It's an absolute commandment of the Lord. And if that is so, you don't have any excuse if you privately crawl inside a room and nobody sees you but almighty God sees you and then you are messing up your life. The commandment of God is very clear. God's command against an immoral deed. In Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 22. If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die. Both the man that lay with the woman and the woman so that thou shalt put evil away from Israel. Christ hath not come. The deeds have abundance of grace like we have today. And yet it says if you find a man in Israel lying carnally with a woman, thou shalt put both of them to death. Can you imagine? Today in the church, there are pastors and there are preachers that commit fornication, adultery with members of their church. They keep on preaching. In the land of Israel, if you committed adultery with a man, whether you are a priest, a Levite, or an ordinary man in Israel, you are gone. You are dead. And there was no allowance at all that because of this, because of that, once it's discovered, you are gone. And today, if the church will be the church, any church, whether it's deeper life, whether it's Pentecostal, whether it's Evangelical, whether it's Historical, whatever kind of church, if a man is living in adultery, take the microphone from the man. Don't take the pulpit from the man. He has no right. He is dead. You cannot just be standing reading the Bible to us and preaching to us. You have nothing to preach. You are dead. A dead man cannot evangelize. A dead man cannot win souls. A dead man cannot preach. A dead man cannot minister. A dead man cannot work in the church. He is dead. When you find a man, when you find a woman, and it goes into adultery. In fact, this one is not talking of repeated adultery. This is just an incident in Israel. And it was so serious and strict that if anybody did that, the woman is gone, the man is gone. They are dead. That's how strict the word of God is. Proverbs 6. In Proverbs 6, verse 32, but whoso committed adultery with a woman, whoso, that means whosoever, anybody, however intelligent, however wise, however rich, however popular, however talented, however gifted, however important, however significant in the land, whosoever committed adultery with a woman lacketh understanding. He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. Somebody who has destroyed the soul has also destroyed his ministry. If you claim to have the ministry and then you commit immorality, you have forgotten, you have given up your ministry before you did that. You are not conscious of being a minister. You are not conscious of having a soul. You are not conscious of having a future. Already you gave up your future before you did it. You have lost it. You gave up your soul. Whosoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He destroys his own soul. We come to Romans in the New Testament, Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1, we are reading from verse 29. Romans chapter 1, verse 29, being fused with all unrighteousness. And in the very first one, fornication. You see the scriptures, very clear. Being fused with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debauch, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbites, haters of God, despiseful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil, sins disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. You see the point we are making. Fornication is on top of the list. Adultery, on top of the list. Immorality, on top of the list. Impurity, on top of the list. So that means you cannot say, I'm not a smoker. You're a senior brother to a smoker. I'm not a drunkard. You're a senior sister to a drunkard. I'm not a thief. You're a senior brother to a thief. Because it's the fornicator that tops the list. It's the number one. It's the one to get the acts of the judgment of God first. Fornication. Then all the other sins. And then we're told in verse 32, who know in the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death. New Testament. New Testament. They who commit such things, they are not worthy of smile. They are not worthy of mercy. They are not worthy of excuse. You know when people commit fornication, or they commit adultery, there are people that say, but you know, God is merciful. Let us be merciful. Yes, God is merciful that in New Testament age, we don't stone them. That's great mercy. In the New Testament time, we don't burn them with fire. That's God's mercy. In the Old Testament, the fellow will be stoned. The fellow will be burnt with fire. But now, the fire is taken away. The stoning is taken away. That's the mercy. And then Calvary, the cross is there. And the person can go to the foot of the cross and say, God, I've blown it. I'm dead spiritually. I need your mercy. That's mercy enough to even keep the man alive and keep the woman alive and to be able to kneel down and pray for salvation. That's the mercy. But you know, that mercy is just for you to be able to reconnect with God and get saved. Not that you committed adultery yesterday, last month, or last year, and then you're back preaching again. You've blown that one. You see then, that the New Testament is telling us that adultery is still wrong. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 4. Marriage is honorable in all. Marriage is honorable in all. And the badge on the file. But all mongers and adulterers, New Testament. New Testament. The time of grace. The time of love. This is after the cross. This is after Pentecost. And after Christ has come, the Bible says that all mongers and adulterers, God will judge. It's still wrong. Adultery is still wrong. Fornication is still wrong. Immorality is still wrong. And whoever does it, destroys his own soul. But hold in. Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2. I'm reading from verse 19. Why don't you back up to verse 18. And unto the angel of the church in Tartarus write. The saint says, the son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass, I know thy works and charity and service, and faith and thy patience in thy works, and the last shall be more than the first. And the last shall be more than the first. And the last shall be more than the first. You see that's religious activity. That's church activity. Your works, your activity, your service, shall be more than the first. I remember when I was in school. It was a boarding school. We all lived there. All the students lived there. And the first year when I came in, we were all boys. And in the following year, the principal wanted to make it a co-educational school. That is to bring in the girls. So that we'll have boys and girls studying together. In those days, it was new. And the principal lectured us for many months before those girls came to school. He said, I'm taking this step. The girls are coming. And as a result of those girls coming, some of you are not going to finish your education here. Because if I find that you try to have a girlfriend or do anything, he told us everything. He said, you are gone. Circular school. Just education. And then eventually, those girls came the following year, 1957. And he kept on reminding us. I told you, it's not a co-educational school. If I find you doing this or that, you are gone. He wrote a paper. He gave it to everybody. Then he said it to every kind of us, every day of the assembly. And then we had one man in my own class. I remember his name. He was very active. Very, very active. And he would take care of a lot of things in the school. And the principal would praise him and would exalt him. And say, oh, you students, look at this young man. This is the model. Copy him. Follow after him. And a principal put him up almost every week in the assembly. If he wanted to do anything, he would call him and say, now you go and do this, you go and do this. And anyway, that's the reward of his loyalty and faithfulness and activity. But one day, the principal discovered a letter that he had written to a girl in the school and said, let us meet in this place by this time. The principal got that letter and the principal came to the assembly that morning. And he said, students, today the assembly is going to be longer than usual. And then said, he called the name of the student. I still remember it was very dramatic that day. He called him up. And the man did not know because he was used to the principal calling him up every time to exalt him and to praise him. And he said, stand there. And then he called. I remember the name of the girl. He called the girl up. Stand here. And then the principal opened the letter and said, pay attention. And then read the letter to the whole school. And some of the bad language, dirty language there, the principal explained. And he said, I said, before these girls came, if you do this, you are gone. And then he gave him six strokes of the cane. And that man, he was a soldier. And when he beat somebody, he really beat the person. And after beating him thoroughly, we didn't leave the assembly. He said, you, you and you follow him to the hostel, pack his load. Before we left the assembly, he was shown the way out of the school. He was gone. Secular. That's how I was raised up in education. And if a person that didn't know God, the man was even an atheist. Did he even believe in God? Did he even believe the Bible? If he was that strict, now look at what Jesus said. I know your works like that man I've told you now. That your last works are more than your faults. Then he said in verse 20, notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants who commit fornication. And to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication. And she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds, and I will kill. This is Jesus. This is our Savior. This is a God of love, but will not tolerate sin, will not tolerate adultery. He says, I will kill her children, her followers, her disciples, her supporters with this. And all the churches shall know that I am He, with such as the reins and the hearts. And I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, unto the rest in Tyre, as many as have not this doctrine, which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden, but that which ye have already. Hold fast till I come. That's the commandment of the Lord. Hold it fast. This word of righteousness. This authoritative teaching of holiness. Hold unto it. I come to point number two. Condemnation of an impure desire. Condemnation of an impure desire. We're looking at Matthew chapter 5 verse 28. Matthew chapter 5 verse 28. It says, but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her. Already I've explained that to you. Whosoever looketh on a woman, what the purpose, what the intention, what the desire, what the plan, what the imagination, what the strategy, the method to commit adultery with her. Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. The Lord is saying that your intention carries weight along with your action. Your purpose, your motive carries judgment along with your practice, along with the things that you do. The thoughts in your heart, the desires you manifest in your heart, your intention, your goal, your dream. The things you are planning to do carries the evaluation, examination of the Lord as much as the action itself. That's why Jesus said, whosoever looketh on a woman, on a lady, on a girl, of course, whosoever if a woman looketh on a man to lust after him, you have committed adultery already in your heart. And these are the words of Christ. You know sometimes as you look at religion today, and as you look at churches today, they have alleged the words of God entirely. In fact, you know, really, if we know that Jesus is coming very soon, and we know the teaching of Christ, I think what a reasonable believer, a person whose heart is longing to get to heaven, what a believer should do is just to bury himself in Matthew chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7, and re-examine himself. And get deep into that word, and say, Lord, before the judgment day, before the time of the rapture, I don't want to find anything that will disqualify me from making it at the rapture. And just read and study and apply and examine your life according to this word. That you will know that by the grace of God, whatever happens on earth, whatever doesn't happen on earth, at least you make it to heaven. And Jesus said, whosoever, you know the Lord is no respecter of persons. And just like I told you, when I was in school, I was surprised that, you know, my principal, if he had said, this is it, whoever, you know sometimes what, some of our brightest, brightest students, and he did some things that, you know, the school authorities had said, in this our school, we are not going to do this. Because he was raising us up to be a model. A model that, I don't know, it wasn't a dream, but he said, you must shine when you come out of this school. Anywhere you go, they must know that you are from this school. That was the concept he gave us. And if anybody went against that, that was it. That was it. The fellow was gone from the school. If that man could be like that, hey, this is Christianity. This is Christ, King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is no respecter of persons. And when Christ shall come, the people that will go with the Lord when he comes, they are the people that take heed to these words that he has taught us. Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her in his heart already. Now, that's talking about the very thought in the heart. Now, there is something, when you read that, you say, this is tall. This is high. You think, this is new. No, it's not new. Not new at all. Let me show you. In Exodus chapter 20, we are reading from verse 14 and then we are reading from verse 17, bringing those two verses together. Exodus chapter 20, reading from verse 14, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Now, verse 17, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife. The previous verse, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Don't touch her. She is not your wife. But in verse 17, apart from even touching her, Thou shalt not covet, Thou shalt not desire, Thou shalt not wish, I wish she were my wife. You will not even do that. The Old Testament, the same thing. That's exactly what Jesus Christ is pointing out to us now. And then he tells us in Proverbs chapter 24, in Proverbs chapter 24 verse 9, the thought of foolishness is seen. Just a thought. Old Testament. It's not just the New Testament. It's because the people read the Old Testament, they didn't understand. That's why Jesus Christ had to come and tell them point blank. Whosoever looketh on a woman with the intention, the purpose, the plan, the desire, the imagination to lust after her as committing adultery was already in his heart. The thought of foolishness is seen. And then he tells us in Proverbs chapter 15, Proverbs chapter 15, reading from verse 26, the thought of the wicked, just the thought, the thought, the thought of the wicked are abomination to the Lord. Just the thinking, the imagination. In fact, why did God destroy the old world? Genesis. In Genesis chapter 6, I'm reading to you from verse 5, the imagination of the heart. Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, and God saw the wickedness of man that it was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The imagination of the heart, not the action alone, not the deeds alone, not the external things alone, but every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually. Which means that even as far back as Genesis, the Lord condemned the evil, sinful imagination of the heart. We come to 2 Samuel chapter 13. And so you will know that this is not even just peculiar to the New Testament, it's also in the Old Testament. 2 Samuel chapter 13 from verse 1, And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fierce sister, whose name was Tamar, and Abnon the son of David loved her. That love there, you know the English language just has one love, love. But you know in the original in which the Bible was written, it has different words. The one that is erotic, eros. The one that is fleshly, the one that is carnal, the one that is dirty, the one that is unclean, the one that leads into perversion, eros in the Greek. But now it says loved her. It's not the kind of love you want to have, it's the kind of love that leads the heart astray. And then it says in verse 2, And Abnon was so vexed and felt sick for his sister. That's a kind of perverted heart, sick. And then it says in verse 3 now, let's go back to verse 2, And Abnon was so vexed that he felt sick for his sister Tamar. For she was a virgin and Abnon sought, sought, sought, sought it hard for him to do anything to her. But Abnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeiah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very subtle, cunning, crafty, deceptive man. And he said unto him, Why art thou being the king's son? Lean from day to day, lean from day to day. This is a kind of love, passion, evil desire that even took appetite away from him. He couldn't eat again. His mind, his thought, his passion, his desire, his imagination, his dream was all on Tamar. He had not done anything with her but the thought of the heart was strong already. That's what Jesus is talking about. And then it says in that verse 4, it says, Why art thou being the king's son? Lean from day to day. Will thou not tell me and Abnon said unto him, I loved him and my brother Absalom's sister. And then the story goes on. That's just to show you that even in the Old Testament, the thought of sin is evil. And the thought of sin, the imagination to sin is evil in the sight of the Lord. What are we to do? The Lord wants us to repent if we find ourselves in such a situation. The Lord wants us to quit that kind of heart and wants us to remove that sin away from our hearts. You know you cannot center your affection on two things, two different things at the same time. If your attention is on evil, that attention cannot be on something good at the same time. If your mind, if your heart, your imagination, your desire, your passion is on immorality, then that same passion and fire and zeal cannot be on purity at the same time. Your heart, it says you cannot love, you cannot serve two masters. You either reject one and hold on to the other or else you hold on to this and reject this. You cannot serve God and another sin. Therefore, the Lord is saying if your heart has been like that, like that of Abnon, centered on something bad, something evil, it says you need to repent of it and be cleansed in the blood of the Lamb. If you have not been saved, you need to come to the Lord very quickly and just stretch yourself on the altar of the Lord and say, Lord, here am I. I need forgiveness, I need salvation. If you were saved before, you need restoration. Your heart is taken away now from the Lord. Your heart is now concentrating on something evil. You need to come to the Lord. So, Isaiah chapter 55, Isaiah chapter 55, we are reading from verse 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. The unrighteous man must forsake his thoughts. It is the unrighteous thoughts that generate unrighteous actions. And the Lord is saying if you want mercy, you will forsake those sinful thoughts and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And then it says, let him return unto the Lord. How do you use the word return? If somebody has gone away, then you call him and say, hey, so and so, return. Somebody has returned to the Lord, obviously he has gone away from the Lord. Sinful thoughts draw you away from the Lord. Sinful imagination draw you away, drive you away from the Lord. Sinful passion makes you to be far away from the Lord. Don't say I'm still saved, I'm still a child of God. When you are drawn away from the Lord, those sinful passions, those sinful desires, those dirty, dirty things that take your hearts away. You know there are people, you finish the Bible study, and then after finishing the Bible study, you go to browse on the internet. All those dirty, dirty things, no matter what you have learnt in the Bible study, no matter what you have heard, no matter how you have prayed, no matter how many days you have fasted. As you go back to those pornographic things, you are gone. Because it draws your heart away. That's why it says, let the wicked forsake his way, and your righteous mind, his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. And then if he returns to the Lord, that means it's not just your body that returns, your mind returns to the Lord. Your soul returns to the Lord. Your heart returns to the Lord. Your whole personality returns to the Lord. And if you are returning to the Lord, you have to jettison this, reject this, abandon this, quit this, leave that thing, and return. When the prodigal son returned to his father, he didn't carry with him all the husks of the swine. He didn't take with him all the things in the far country. He left everything there, and then he came. Even his dirty clothes that was on him, the very first thing the father said, take that clothes away from him. As you are returning to the father, all those dirty pornographic things, reject, you throw them away, you burn them. And then you close off that kind of internet browsing. You are losing your soul through that thing that you see on the screen. Return to the Lord. Let him return, it says, unto the Lord. And he will have mercy on him if he returns. Not if he remains there, if he returns. He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. You see then what the Lord expects that we do, how the Lord expects that we be, if we are going to have the mercy of the Lord. I come to point number three. Consideration of an illustrative deliverance. Here now comes Jesus. I'm sure you know that Jesus stands in many offices. Number one, he is Savior. Number two, he is Sojourn. Number one, he is teacher. Number two, he is doctor. He has been teaching us now his word. Now he wants to bring in some things that doctors have to do. Have you sometimes seen somebody that has one eyeball very big, and then it's protruding, coming out? And if you look at that eyeball very well, there's disease, there are germs in there, it's cancer. And then the fellow goes to the hospital, and to save the second eye, what the doctor will do is to perform operation. And that operation will remove that cancerous eye, so that it will not affect all the cells of the face, and then the other eye, and then the mouth, and then the body, and the fellow might die. And you say, doctor, why are you doing this? It says it's better for this man to remove one eye that has the possibility of killing the whole body. It's better to remove that eye than to leave that eye and then to make that fellow die. Sometimes somebody has an accident, or maybe the leg has cancer in it. And then he goes to the hospital, and they treat him, and treat him, and treat him, and there's no improvement, no cure. And eventually, the consultants will come together, and as they put heads together, they say, well, there's only one thing we can do now. Before this disease spreads from this leg to the other parts of the body, and then we lose the whole man. But let's think about the man. He has two legs, he has two hands, he has two eyes, he has a mouth, he has ears, he has a heart, he has a mind, he has a brain, he has quite a lot. This leg is nothing. This leg is almost without any consequence. And if you leave this leg the way it is, the leg will kill the whole man, amputate the leg, cut off the leg, and save his life. That's what Jesus is saying. It's using an illustration that if the eye will destroy the whole body, pluck it out and throw it away. If the leg, one leg or one arm, will destroy the whole body, cut it off and throw it away. Let's read it together. In Matthew chapter 5 verse 29, And if thy right eye offend thee, it will make thee to offend God. And it's talking about the offense of morality. It's talking about, because you see, verse 29 says, and. That's a word of conjunction, linking you together with the previous verse. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Surgery. Illustrating to us the kind of drastic action that needs to be taken to save the whole body in Versace. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Now let's understand this illustration that the Lord Jesus Christ is giving. Number one, the doctors don't start with that. The doctors will apply other kinds of medication. And the doctors will apply other kinds of therapy. And try to save the leg, and save the arm, and save the eye if they can. They'll give a lot of treatment. There'll be a lot of consultation. What they call consultation, we call counseling. So, before you do this, this is not just a foreseeing you're going to have a problem with this eye, have a problem with this hand or this leg. I call you to... No! Consultation, counseling. All the methods. Denying yourself. Shutting off that thing. Making it to have some distance between you. Avoiding any language that will be very suggestive when you're talking together. Avoiding the kind of interaction or closeness that will breed immorality. Your purpose is false. And then if you're going to be with him, and you have another person with you, so that in the company of other people, the temptation is weakened and lessened. You'll do a lot of other things. If after all the treatments that the doctors can give, and they use this, and use this, and apply this medication, apply this, and give this injection, and the cancer is still there, and the problem is still there, as a last resort, then the consultant will say, very quickly we need to do something urgent. Cut off the leg, pluck out the eye, cut off the arm, and save his life. The same thing spiritually. It's an illustration. It's not talking about your physical hand. It's not talking about your natural eye. It's talking about somebody as precious to you as your right eye. Causes you to be falling into sin. And you've tried every other method to be free from that sin, and you're not free. Cut him off. Cut her off. That's what Jesus is saying. If somebody as useful as your right arm, with which you're right, as profitable, making money, the way you use your right hand to make money by walking, if somebody as profitable to you as your right arm, is causing you to offend God, we're talking about morality now. And then you've tried every method. You always want to see him, want to see her. You're gone. It says it's profitable for you to cut him off, to cut her off, than to remain in that situation and go to hell. Now, that's for the individual. Let's come to the body. The body of Christ. What's the body of Christ? I said, what's the body of Christ? The church. Here is the church. And there's somebody in the church, in the body. You know, we are members of his body. And the eye cannot say to the ear, we have no need of you. And the hands cannot say to the legs, it's talking about the church, and it's talking about the eye, the ear, the hand, and the leg. And the hand cannot say to the leg, we have no need of you. Therefore, if we find a member of the church very, very useful and profitable, but that useful, profitable person is defiling women in the church. And we're hearing stories. And then we're calling, we say we're hearing stories about you. And then we take some precautions. It's all right. Maybe because you're popular, everybody knows you. You discipline him. Don't do anything again. The fellow is sitting down. In the discipline, he still continues to corrupt the whole, all those women. And those women, it's like they don't have their sense, or they don't have their spiritual understanding. And this has some support for him. And it's leading them into sin. Now the Lord is saying, if you leave this man like this, in the body, that's a member of the body, your eye or your right hand, it will corrupt the whole thing, and everything is gone. So Jesus said, we have to come to the last resort. Cut him off. Cast him out. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, here is that situation. And as you read this, it says, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as names among the gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. Father coming to church. That woman coming to church. The son coming to church. And the son, and he was speaking in tongues. And he was singing in tongues. And he was having the ministry of intercession. And he was having all this manifestation of gifts of prophecy, and revelation, and power. And yet, it is commonly reported among you, that one should take his father's wife. And then it says, and ye have probed her, speaking in tongues, just went on. And all the gifts of the spirit in the Corinthian church just went on. And have not tried the much, that he that has done this deed, might be taken away from among you. I used to be in a church. Of course, you know, I wasn't born again in deeper life. I was born again through the ministry of other people. And in that, our church, we exalted next to preaching was music, singing. And those people, they specialized in singing. But you know, in our church at that time, there was somebody, terrific in music. He'll go to this city, in our church there, and train the people. He moved from city to city, until the leadership there discovered, ah, he's been defiling those ladies. One in this city, two in this city, another one, another one there. But you know, we loved, when I say we, I don't mean me, I mean, you know, our church there. They loved the music so much, they couldn't handle the man, just stayed there. Because music was like, exalted to the heavens. But what the Lord is saying, is that if there is a man, if there is a woman, no matter how profitable, precious in the church, if it's into this immorality, and will cause this to fall, and this to fall, there is no church. Once immorality pervades the whole place. And so Jesus said, take that right eye, pluck it out, send it away. And take that right arm, cut it off. You are to love the church more than the individual. You cannot just say, the individual is so useful, and the individual is so profitable, and therefore the individual is there, and the church is dying, spiritually. And you know, in our church, we love preaching. They love music, we, in this deeper life, preaching will come first, number one. And we have some of our preachers, and they're terrific. When they come like this, they say, if I did some of the, I've heard the language they refer to some of it, they say that's a junior kumui. Because the people, they just come, they go through the scriptures, we had one man, in this church, not in Lagos, thank God. But we had him. When we came to the other congress, those who are here, that man, when he took the book, when he took that character, Timothy, and he went into the scriptures, I'm telling you, even myself, the general superintendent, when I listen to that man, I said, give me that cassette, and I listen to it, that man can talk. But, immorality. In their state, where they came from, one of the ladies, just, you know, in the youth choir, sang. And you know youth choir, any time you hear them, those children, they give to the church. God bless you children. But you know, that, thank you very much, put your hands together for Jesus. Amen. So, they sang. And that girl was innocent. And the pastor called the girl and said, what's your name? How old are you? A teenager. And eventually said, I'm your daddy now. So far so good. The pastor is daddy to everybody. But you know, when you say I'm your daddy, if you have another thing on the back of your mind, God is watching you. And eventually, the parents of that girl, part from that location, and went to another stage. And the pastor said, leave this girl here. They said, no, we're going to keep her daughter. We don't want a daughter to be with. He said, it's God who keeps children. This one is my daughter. And even offered to be using church money to pay her school fees. And eventually started immorality of that girl. And eventually that girl went to school outside her stage. Even when she was phoning the girl, come, come, come. And the girl was calm and immoral. She didn't go back to school. But one day, thank God for this technology, for this kind of satellite, or preaching from the headquarters there. And the message went far away to where that lady was. And she came under conviction and ran to the campus and said, help me. I cannot help myself. I'm into real, real immorality. Where? With who? With so-and-so. Then they had to say, we have to go to Lagos and see the G.S. We cannot handle this by ourselves. Well, you know, the man responsible for that happened to be a mighty preacher. But, you understand, deep alive, this Bible is our church, our compass. And no matter who, an eye, a hand, a leg, Jesus said, he is the head of the church. Cut him off. Cast her out. Before we even did, the man knew we were going to stand on the Bible. Before we did that, the man had run away and didn't leave his telephone number. We don't even know where he is now. He's gone. Where are you today? You are useful in the church here we are together. As you are useful in the open and you have all these talents and all these gifts, are you stained by the word of the Lord? We love you. We don't want to cut you off, but if you become a cancerous eye, a cancerous hand, and you want to destroy the whole body, you force us to eject you and to cast you out. This will not happen to you. You have heard that it has been said by them of old times, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right hand cause thee to offence, cut it off. Cast it away from you, for it is profitable for you to enter into life with one hand, than for you, for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if thy right eye cause you to offence, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for you to enter into life with one eye, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. This heaven, I will get there. Make up your mind, whatever it is, get rid of them, so we can march unto heaven. And when the Lord shall come, you will be there, and I will be there. Rise up and let us talk to the Lord in prayer. And tell the Lord to help you. Tell the Lord to assist you. Tell the Lord to have mercy on you. Let him that thinketh and standeth, take heed, lest he fall. Let him that thinketh and standeth, take heed, lest he fall. I told you to stand up, and you tell the Lord, and say, Lord, here I am. Check up your heart, check up your life, and say, Lord, you have to help me. I need your grace. I need your strength. I need that divine ability. I want to stand. And church, don't let us exalt any geek in this church, above the soundness and the holiness of the body. Not exalting preaching, above holiness. Not exalting music and singing, above holiness. Not exalting talent or gifts, usefulness, profitability, above holiness and righteousness. Preaching doesn't take us to heaven if there's no holiness. Singing music will not take us to heaven if there's no holiness. Gifts and talents will not take us to heaven if there's no holiness. Ability, wealth, riches will not take us to heaven if there's no holiness. Programs will not take us to heaven if there's no holiness. Let's exalt holiness above every other thing. Not ability, not strength, not geek, not talent, not communication, not position, not power, not authority, not methods, not strategy. Whatever it is you have, whatever it is you can do. If you don't have holiness, you are gone. That's why you need to pray to the Lord. Oh Lord, help me. Oh Lord, help me. So that I don't exalt my gifts, my talent, my ability, my usefulness, my wealth, my riches, my profitability, above your world. My intelligence, my strength, whatever it is you have, you are using in the church. Holiness is what takes us to heaven. And the Lord is saying, whatever it is that will hinder you from getting to that heaven, take care of it. Let him that thinketh in standard take heed lest he fall. Think about your life. Think about your future. Think about getting to heaven. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. He knows you through and through. He knows your heart. He knows your life. He knows where you are today. He knows where you have been yesterday. He knows where you have been before. For the blood of Jesus is still available to wash and to cleanse, to purify and to purge. If you sincerely come before the Lord and you say, Lord, here I am, cleanse me. He will cleanse you, but let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man, his thoughts, let him return unto the Lord. Let him return unto the Lord. And then it says, you will have mercy on him, you will abundantly pardon. Call upon the Lord. Hand over your life unto the Lord. Don't exalt activity in the church above your living right. Living according to the Word. Be pure within, pure without. Whether people are watching you or not, make holiness your watchword. Make it your lifestyle. Make it your passion. Make it your goal, your dream, your desire. That's all you want. All the praise of men will fall to the ground. If you are a backslider in the private, in the secret, be cleansed, be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus gave himself for us that he might cleanse and sanctify us of the washing of water by the Word. That he might present us unto himself a glorious church. Not having spots or wrinkles or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. He wants the holiness within and holiness without. Holiness in your life, holiness in your experience, holiness in your spirit, holiness in your soul, holiness in your appearance, holiness in everything that you do. Holiness unto the Lord, our watchword and song. That anywhere you find yourself, in your office, in your community where you live, in the church, in the house of fellowship, your life will be holy. There will be no secrets in him that you are doing, that you will not see the light of day. And if you know you are dirty within, you can call upon the Lord and ask that the blood of Jesus will cleanse, purge and purify you. If you know you are backslidden, you tell the Lord, oh Lord I need your mercy, I need your cleansing. And it says the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God. He that doeth righteousness, that one, that's the one that's a child of God. Hand over yourself to the Lord and say, Lord, here I come. Cleanse me, wash me, purge me, purify me, make me clean within and without. Let my life be all yielded, consecrated, surrendered unto you. So that Lord, when you will come again, you will see that purity, that righteousness. The white leaning, the righteousness of the saints in me and on me, when you come. The Lord is coming back, and the children of God expect to go with him. And the Bible says, he that has this hope in him, purifies himself, even as Christ is pure. Let him cleanse you, wash you in the cleansing blood of the Lamb.