GREATEST OF ALL TIME | Week 6 | Sermon · Rewind

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Jun 3, 2024 · 45 min watch · 3 min read

GREATEST OF ALL TIME | Week 6 | Sermon

Big Idea

What we consume will either form us more into the image of God or deform us — and only falling in love with God can break the power of lust.

In Matthew 5:27–29, Jesus pushes past the seventh commandment's prohibition on adultery to expose the deeper root: lust in the heart. Pastor Daniel argues that our porn-saturated culture has not ushered in freedom but bondage, because God designed us for genuine intimacy — not objectification. The solution is not willpower alone but a four-part response: admitting brokenness, fleeing sexual immorality, fighting for healthy intimacy, and waging war against the flesh by the Spirit. Ultimately, lasting change comes not from striving harder but from falling so deeply in love with God that the lesser gods lose their grip.

Key points

1
1Lust is the hidden root beneath the visible fruit of adultery — ignoring it guarantees eventual destruction.
2
2Everything we take in forms or deforms us, because out of the heart flow all of our actions.
3
3Temptation unchecked leads to sin, and sin left unchecked leads to death — but Jesus shows us it is possible to be tempted without sinning.
4
4Sexual sin is uniquely destructive because it is a sin against the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
5
5Winning the war against lust requires admitting brokenness and confessing to both God and another person — forgiveness comes through confessing to God, but healing begins when we confess to someone else.
6
6Healthy marital intimacy is a God-given weapon against lust and must be intentionally cultivated, not taken for granted.
7
7The Spirit of God living in believers has the power to put to death the deeds of the flesh — we are not condemned but are called to feed the Spirit and wage war with the flesh.

Application

Pastor Daniel calls every person in the room — regardless of where they are in the progression from temptation to sin to death — to stop hiding and start fighting. Practically, that means four things: honestly admitting your brokenness before God and at least one other person (healing requires both); taking drastic, tangible steps to flee sexual immorality — whether that means new software, an accountability group, or even swapping your smartphone for a dumb phone; intentionally cultivating genuine intimacy in your marriage rather than letting the enemy slowly starve it; and daily choosing to feed your spirit through prayer, worship, and Scripture so the Holy Spirit can put to death the pull of the flesh. None of this is about striving harder — it is about falling more deeply in love with God, because only a greater love can displace the lesser loves that have held you captive.

Take it into your week

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“Matthew chapter five, here's how Jesus addresses this issue in verse 27. He says, you've heard the commandment that says, you must not commit adultery”
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From the transcript
“He does it six times in the sermon on the mount. He tells a group of Jews who have the law, they have the old testament. He says, you have heard it said this, but I tell you this”
From the transcript
“Here's what Proverbs reminds us. Proverbs chapter four verse 23 says that above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it”
From the transcript
“Jesus will plainly tell us in Matthew chapter 15 that from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander”
From the transcript
“James reminds us in James chapter one verse 14 that temptation, it comes from our heart, our own desires. They will entice us and drag us away. These desires will give birth to sinful action and when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death”
From the transcript
“Matthew chapter five verse 28 in the ESV says, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intents has already committed adultery with her in his heart”
From the transcript
“Look at what Jesus says here in the very next verse in verse 29. Here's the solution. If your eye, even your good eye causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away”
From the transcript
“Remember what James said? James tell us that here's what we have to do as we admit our brokenness. We have to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we can be healed”
From the transcript
“First Corinthians chapter six says this when it comes to winning the war with lust. It says, run from sexual sin. No other sin so easily and clearly affects the body as this one does”
From the transcript
“Here's what the scriptures tell us about cultivating intimacy. First Corinthians chapter seven verse three. It says, the husband should fulfill his wife's sexual needs and the wife should fulfill her husband's needs”
From the transcript
“Paul will say in Romans seven, why do I sit in messages like this? Why do I hear messages where I know what God's standard is, but I walk out of the door of church and I don't know how to do it”
From the transcript
“he concludes Romans seven saying, I just must be a terrible person. And then he goes to Romans eight. And he remembers that you and I in Christ are not just what we do”
From the transcript
“Look what he says in Romans eight verse 13. He says, for if you live according to that flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”

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7-day devotional

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Jesus had a way of pressing past the surface of things. In the Sermon on the Mount, He doesn't stop at the prohibition against adultery — He traces the sin all the way back to its source. 'Anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.' That's a hard word, but it's also a merciful one. Jesus isn't trying to condemn; He's trying to diagnose. He knows that treating only the visible symptoms while leaving the root untouched guarantees the problem will grow back. Pastor Daniel pointed out that our culture sells lust as freedom — a path to fulfillment that doesn't hurt anyone. But Jesus sees it differently. Lust reduces a real person, made in God's image, to an object. It corrupts the imagination long before any outward act takes place. Recognizing this isn't cause for despair. It's actually the beginning of honest self-knowledge, and honest self-knowledge is where real change starts. You can't address what you won't name. Jesus names it here so we don't have to keep living in the fog of half-admissions and vague regret. He's inviting you out of hiding and into the light — not to shame you, but to free you.

For reflection

In what ways have you been treating the symptoms of lust in your life rather than looking honestly at the root?

Pray

Pray for courage to be honest with God about what's actually happening in your heart.

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Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message takes a hard look at what Jesus actually means in Matthew 5:27–29 — and it turns out He is after something much deeper than behavior on the surface.

Discussion questions

1
In Matthew 5:27–28, Jesus moves from the act of adultery to the desire behind it. What do you think He is getting at by tracing the sin back to the heart rather than stopping at the outward action?
2
Proverbs 4:23 says to guard the heart above all else, because everything we do flows from it. Pastor Daniel built on that idea by saying everything we take in either forms or deforms us. What does it look like, practically, for a community of people to take that seriously together?
3
James 1:14–15 maps a progression from temptation to sin to death, but Pastor Daniel also pointed out that Jesus was tempted without sinning. What does that tell us about where the real battle is being fought — and what it means that escape is genuinely possible?
4
Pastor Daniel drew a distinction between confessing to God and confessing to another person — saying forgiveness comes through the first, but healing begins with the second, drawing on James 5:16. Why do you think the relational, human dimension of confession matters so much for actual healing, not just forgiveness?
5
Romans 8:13 says the Spirit has the power to put to death the deeds of the flesh. Pastor Daniel framed the whole four-part response — admitting brokenness, fleeing, fighting for intimacy, feeding the Spirit — not as striving harder but as falling more deeply in love with God. How does framing it as love rather than willpower change the way we think about lasting change?
6
Pastor Daniel challenged everyone in the room — wherever they are in the progression from temptation toward sin — to stop hiding and start fighting. As a group, what does it look like for us to be the kind of community where that kind of honesty and that kind of fight are actually possible?

Pray together

Ask God for the courage to stop hiding, the grace to love Him more deeply than anything competing for our hearts, and the Spirit's power to put to death what pulls us away from Him

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Week 6 · 8 messages

Where these passages are preached

Matthew 5 Proverbs 4 Matthew 15 James 1

Explore related topics

Breaking Free From Bondage Heart Change Through God's Love Lust and Sexual Purity Marriage and Intimacy Overcoming Temptation

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