and then we'll assert that by... Bible. The Wicked Bible. No, this is not one of the many study Bibles currently on the market and there's so many of those, but this actual Bible was published in 1631 by Robert Baker and Martin Lucas. They were the royal printers in London and this particular Bible was intended to be a reprint of of the King James Bible, which you may know, first was published in 1611. So this is 1631. But in this particular edition of the Bible that was printed by these two royal printers, in Exodus 20, verse 14, the verse we're focusing on this morning, the word not was omitted. So in that particular Bible, it said, thou shall commit adultery. Would you believe these two printers were called before a British court, known at that time as the Star Chamber, were fined 300 pounds, which was a lot of money in those days, and their printing license was revoked? Now, I'm afraid if that happened today, it would sadly become a Bible bestseller. but it was viewed by the British court of the day as a scandalous mistake in our English Bible. Now, last week we looked at you shall not murder, and I made the assertion that a lot of people would see that one as the easy commandment, right? Hey, at least I haven't killed anybody, somebody might say. Well, this might be viewed by our culture at large as the prudish commandment, perhaps the puritanical commandment, And we're going to see again as we dig deep, and some of you I know are familiar with the words of Jesus on this commandment. We'll get to those in a few moments, that is. But this commandment has a lot to say, not merely about behavior, not merely about externals, but a lot about internals. This commandment goes much further than a physical act. This commandment, I would say to you this morning, has the potential certainly to convict us, but it also wants to bless us. It wants to encourage us. That's why I chose the title this morning, The Blessing of the Seventh Commandment. God has many reasons for giving His revealed will in the Ten Commandments, and one of those purposes is to bless us. It's not to restrict us unnecessarily. Now let's just do our required review. We do every week when we look at one of these Ten Commandments. We're in a series on the book of Exodus and we're slowing down to take a commandment a week as we go through them. But you recall we just read it in Exodus 20 verses 1 and 2 where the preface to the Ten Commandments, I'm the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. And then he gives the Ten Commandments. And of course, you know, I'm reminding you, the Ten Commandments are given in the context of God's mercy and God's grace. I bought you, I've redeemed you, you belong to me. Now here's how you live like it. It was never intended as here's the way to earn my favor, here's the way to earn your way into relationship with me. The relationship was a given. here's how you live as if you're in a relationship with me. But of course we know that commandments have a function for a believer. One, they show us all, they show everyone their sin because we fail to keep these commandments and thought, word and deed. Then they show us Jesus who kept the commandments and who paid the penalty in his life, death and burial and resurrection for our breaking of those commandments, not his, but ours. But then lastly, these commandments are there to be a guide for us on how to live a life that pleases God. We can say they're a guide for our sanctification, our growth in Christ-likeness, a growth and a path that's imperfect and often feels like two steps forward and three steps back. But that's a purpose for these commandments. And we've also seen how the first four commandments focus on our relationship with God, how to love him with heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the last six are a guide to how to love our neighbors as ourselves. Remember, Jesus said you could sum up the law in that way. And so this commandment, the seventh, has some very direct application for us in the areas of marriage and sexuality. Thus, it has a lot to say in this cultural moment because our culture at large is very confused about both. And there's a lot of blessing here for us. In this, like the Sixth Commandment, thou shalt not murder the Seventh Commandment, in the original language, Hebrew, is only two words. Translated before us is, you shall not commit adultery. Here's what I want us to see this morning. I want us to see the root of this command Secondly, I want us to see the joy of this command. And thirdly, I want us to see the depth of this command, the root, the joy, and then the depth. So let's think, first of all, about the root, the underlying basis for this command. Certainly, it's the will of God, right? The will of God, the reflection of His own holy character. But this particular commandment has primary application, we would say, in the area of marriage. And it's interesting how that relationship is linked to who God is and our relationship to Him. So here's where I'm going with this. God's call to our covenant loyalty to Him is at the root of this command to maintain covenant loyalty in marriage. God's call to our covenant loyalty to Him is at the root of this command to maintain covenant loyalty in marriages. I mean, that's the thrust of this commandment, to maintain faithfulness in thought, word, and deed in marriage. It's a command to keep the one-flesh nature of marriage. I want to revisit Genesis 2. Here's the root of marriage in scripture. I'll read it for us. Then the Lord God said, it's not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. Now out of the ground, the Lord God had formed every beast of the field, every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs, and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. The man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. So God's design for marriage, it's very clear, is to be between one man and one woman in a covenant. That's what marriage is. I mean, hear again what Moses says to us in Genesis under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in verses 24 and 25. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. The old King James way of putting it, that leave and cleave principle. And they shall become one flesh. that has obviously a physical application, but it goes beyond that. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. So here's the root of the command, to keep oneself faithful in every respect in marriage, which is founded in God's design for marriage, which reflects His relationship with us. And nowhere is that more clear than Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5, I'm going to, bear with me, I'm going to read from this portion of Scripture as well. Verses 22 and following. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound and I'm saying it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Now, I read that lengthy section purposely to hear what God's design for marriage is and how marriage is linked to Christ's love for the church. And notice how the Apostle Paul pulls right out of Genesis. He says it's a profound mystery that refers to Christ and the church. So this commandment for covenant faithfulness is rooted in God's relationship to his church. When you look at the Old Testament, there is some, I could take you, we won't. There's some graphic language in the Old Testament to describe Israel's unfaithfulness to God as akin to adultery, sexual immorality. The prophet Hosea was charged with marrying a woman of ill repute, as one used to say. Her name was Gomer, which is interesting. He said, you're going to marry this woman and she's going to be unfaithful to you and that's going to be a picture of Israel's unfaithfulness to me. Do you see the roots of this commandment, the seventh commandment? There's deep seriousness to marital unfaithfulness. To violate this command is to dishonor and misrepresent the gospel itself. That's an important first principle for us to get. You know, it amazed me when I read the story, I'd heard of it, looked it up, about the Wicked Bible was the reaction of the day there in the 17th century. Let me read to you the way this happened. The printing of that particular Bible, again, was 1631. In 1668, the incident is being described, 37 years after it happened, and we read this. His Majesty's printers, at or about this time, had committed a scandalous mistake in our English Bibles by leaving out the word not in the Seventh Commandment. His Majesty, being made acquainted with it by the Bishop of London, order was given for calling the printers into the High Commission, whereupon the evidence of the fact, the whole impression was called in, and the printers deeply fined as they justly merited." And you think, hey, it's just a typo. What's the big deal? It's just a lapse in judgment that occurred What's the big deal? No, it's a huge deal. It wasn't just a typo. It was a disgrace to the Word of God. To violate this command is to bring shame and dishonor to the work of Christ. That's what we're being told. That's the root of this command. But let's see, secondly, the joy of this command. What do I mean by the joy of this command? What I want to get at this morning is embedded in this command is the truth, the reality of God's gift of physical oneness in marriage. It's His gift. Physical oneness in marriage is the glue of a marriage relationship. It's not the basis. but it helps hold it together. And the seventh commandment is given to help affirm and preserve God's good gift. Just to be direct, what this commandment is saying in no uncertain terms, that this gift of physical oneness, of sexual intimacy, is to be reserved in the context of marriage, which is defined in Scripture as between one man and one woman. We saw that in Genesis 2. Our culture hears and sees that as restrictive. Again, the words prudish, the words puritanical are used. Now, I find that to be highly ironical when you know something about the Puritans. The Puritans was a movement that started 16th century London. And it was a term given to that movement, to those pastors and those believers. It was meant as a pejorative, right? It was an insult. Those people, all they're concerned about is this purity. They're being hyper-religious, so to speak. Well, actually, what they were really standing for or against was imposed religion, imposed worship. They were standing for Christ as King. And his word is central. They were a huge part of the Reformation in England. I mean, the pilgrims who came and landed on our shores in the 17th century were part of this movement. Leland Ryken, who's the father of Philip Ryken, who I've enjoyed quoting. in this series, his father writes, speaking of the Puritans, it's his book, Worldly Saints, the Puritans as they really were, he says, they were great souls serving a great God. In them clear-headed passion and warm-hearted compassion combined. And Rikens got a chapter in that book, the Puritans as they really were, entitled Marriage and Sex. You see, the Roman church has succeeded, and some of the early church fathers, sadly, have succeeded in teaching that sexual intimacy in marriage is only useful for procreation. And anything beyond that, you need to forego. In fact, you know as well as I do, the Roman church has said our priests should be celibate, and so should our nuns. And the Puritans came and said nothing could be further from God's design. I'll quote Rykin again, the Puritan doctrine of sexual intimacy was a watershed in the cultural history of the West. The Puritans devalued celibacy, or holding it up as the highest virtue. The Puritans devalued that Roman Catholic doctrine. They glorified marriage as companionship. They affirmed marriage sex as both necessary and pure, established the ideal of wedded romantic love, and exalted the role of the wife. So it's funny to me to say that's puritanical. You don't know anything about the Puritans. You don't know anything about God's design for His good gift of sexual intimacy in a marriage. I'm going to quote 1 Corinthians 7, verses 2 through 4. But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." Boy, is that direct and clear in the Bible about this topic. And I want you to hear something, how this shatters this idea that marriage was just some old-fashioned institution that gave husbands ownership over their wives. Did you hear what Paul says? He says the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. It's mutual. You see, this gift that God has given within marriage is powerful. It has an ability to be abused and mistreated. I mean, it's a dangerous thing to use in ways God never intended. And that's why there's joy in it, because it's used the way God wants us to use it. This commandment is here for protection. It protects marriage. It protects husbands and wives. It protects children. It protects extended families. It protects communities. It protects churches. It's hard for me not to reflect on just this past week a very well-known pastor whom a number of us have heard speak at conferences that we've attended or we've listened to him on Ligonier broadcasts, how it came out that he's been released from serving a church for a, quote, inappropriate relationship. It's hard not to see that this commandment's been violated. And what's it done? It's left his family a wreck. It's left that church in turmoil. This is like dropping a bomb to violate this commandment. No wonder Proverbs 6, 32 and 33 says this. He who commits adultery lacks sense. He who does it destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor and his disgrace will not be wiped away. You see, that's why this is a blessing. God said, look, this is to keep you from self-destruction. To keep you from dishonor and disgrace. I won't ask for a show of hands, but if I ask you what you knew about David, King David, first thing I know you'd think of, oh, David and Goliath. And then you think of David and Bathsheba. Because his sin still sticks to him. Consequences follow. You see, God has given this command because he wants to protect his gift. His design is for our joy. So the root of this command is God's covenant. mirrored in marriage. The joy of this command is finding his purpose in the good gifts. But lastly, let's see the depth of this command, the extensive nature of this command. And this is where we go back to Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is not reinterpreting the law, he's giving proper understanding of the law. And remember, his big push is, it's not just external, as the Pharisees thought, this goes to your hearts. I'll read Matthew 5, 27 through 30. You've heard that it was said you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it's better that you lose one of your members than your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it's better that you lose one of your members than your whole body go into hell. So Jesus is saying very, very clearly that this commandment involves much more than a physical act. It involves even our thought life. And what the seventh commandment is calling us to is a word we don't hear much anymore, but it's very appropriate. It's calling us to chastity. Now, chastity is not celibacy. Chastity is the pursuit of biblically defined sexual purity and thought word indeed. is the pursuit of biblically-defined sexual purity in thought, word, and deed. The Westminster Confession of Faith, we could be using it every week as I work through and prepare the worship, trying to keep a little variety, but we could be using questions and answers as part of this series because for each commandment, the shorter catechism says, ask what's required and what's forbidden. by way of application of these commandments. And so, I'll read you question 71. What is required in the Seventh Commandment? And the answer is, the Seventh Commandment requires the preservation of our own and our neighbor's chastity in heart, speech, and behavior. What's forbidden in the Seventh Commandment? The Seventh Commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions. So the catechism is drawing from Jesus' words here. He wants us to see, Jesus does, that this gets at that whole idea of lust. Let me borrow from Kevin DeYoung. He writes this, the phrase, with lustful intent, that's the language of Matthew 5, 28, translates the Greek word epithumio. which means to desire, to covet, or to long for. Noticing that someone of the opposite sex is pretty or handsome is not a sin. The sin is when this noticing becomes epithumio, when the recognition becomes desire, coveting, lingering. Adultery, in other words, is a matter of the heart. And what does Jesus say? fight this fight. He goes so far as to use the language of self-mutilation and amputation. Is that what we ought to do? Blinding ourselves and cutting off our limbs? No, Jesus is speaking obviously in hyperbole because, I mean, common sense tells you if you gouge out your right eye, you still got the left eye, right? If you take off your right hand, you still got the left hand. He's just saying Don't play games with this. Take it seriously. Husbands and wives need to be cautious in how they relate to others outside of their marriage. Certainly, you're gonna have friends outside your marriage relationship, but you relate to them differently. You don't share deep things. You don't communicate in private, personal ways with a man or woman who's outside your marriage. You're careful. The Seventh Commandment speaks not just to adultery, but there's application to other sexual sins Jesus is telling us in Matthew 5. I'll just mention three. One of those sins I believe the Seventh Commandment, and Jesus helps us to see it, addresses is the sin of homosexuality. This commandment is rooted in a biblical definition of marriage. Adultery does not exist between members of the same gender. Now, there are other passages in Scripture we could go, they're much more explicit on that, but it's here. Another sin, the second of three I'll mention is the Bible condemns premarital sexual intimacy. This gift is reserved in the context of marriage. Hebrews 13 verse 4 says, let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterer, the adulteress. Again, the Bible, just to repeat, it's nowhere, we've seen it already, it's nowhere anti-sexual intimacy, it's nowhere being repressive, it's pro-marriage, it's pro-physical oneness, it's saying that gift needs to be unwrapped in the relationship of the covenant bond of marriage. And let me just say a word here to those who are in dating relationships, and maybe you're in, I'm thinking particularly if you're in high school or college, You need to keep this in mind, that the person you're dating could very well end up being the husband or wife of someone else one day. Now, you may be able to play, oh, I can't imagine that. I'm sorry, but it's true. And how do you want your future spouse to enter your relationship? How do you want them to have related to the people they previously dated? You need to think about that. So it says something about homosexuality, premarital sex, Jesus certainly says something about pornography. He certainly says something about pornography. What's involved in lust here, looking upon a woman with lustful intent. The sin of pornography involves secrecy and shame and deceit often. And while this can be a problem for both men and women, we want to affirm that it seems to be most often a problem for men. So what should we do? Men should take protective measures. Covenant Eyes provides an accountability software I would encourage you to consider. What needs to happen is accountability and openness about the struggle. And I want to offer this very serious invitation to any man in this room who is or has struggled with this sin. There is a group to which I can point you of men who can help hold you accountable and pray with and for you. My email address is on the bulletin. You can shoot me a quick email and say, hey, I'm interested in that group you mentioned. And it won't go any further than me other than to the one who leads that group. Jesus said, take it seriously. That's why the language of the gouged eye and the cut off hand. Parents, let me say a word to you. You know, Connie and I are a little further ahead in the parenting game, but if I had children now at this age, and I wanted them to have a mobile phone, and they're a great convenience for parents. I know, I've experienced that. But see, when my boys were coming along, it was the flip phone. That made it easier. But now you've got the smartphone, and the whole world of the internet's right there. Oh, that's so dangerous. Maybe there's technology where you can give your kids phones that won't allow them to surf the net, they can still make calls, they can still send you texts. But that's, I don't envy where you are, but it's something you need to seriously consider, using that technology wisely with your kids. You see, Jesus, he gives us some strong language, doesn't he? But they're good, they're necessary. You know, gasoline, when put in our cars, or a generator, is a great tool. I'm glad to have it. Right? Drill, baby, drill. I like having the oil. I like having the gas for my vehicle. But let me tell you, and some of you have done this, and I would never, trying to start a backyard fire using gas, just go on YouTube and you'll see all the disasters that have occurred. And some of you are affirming about me using gas on my brush fire. No! Here's my point. Gas in my car, that's great. Gas trying to start a fire in the backyard, that has the potential for catastrophe. That's the gift of sexual intimacy. Used in the proper way, in the proper context, it's a blessing and a joy. Chastity, used that way, is a blessing and a joy. Used outside in other ways could be a disaster. Let me finish with this. As I was preparing this message, I thought about the hymn. I believe we've sung it here at HLPC. The title of the hymn is Thy Mercy, My God. Sandra McCracken recorded an updated tune to this hymn. One stanza says, without thy sweet mercy, I could not live here. Sin would reduce me to utter despair. But through thy free goodness, my spirits revive, and he that first made me still keeps me alive. Let me tell you, when you talk about the seventh commandment and all that it involves, all that Jesus said, you could be left in utter despair. And maybe there's some here this morning that that's where you are, and you're struggling with that sin. And you have struggled with violating this commandment in the ways that we've talked about. Let's be reminded what Puritan pastor Richard Sibbes said, I quoted him last week, there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us. Let me give you the full context of that quote from his book, The Bruised Read. He says, if we have this for a foundation truth, that there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us, there can be no danger in thorough dealing. Do you hear what he's saying? He says, if we can really get our arms around the fact that there's more mercy in Christ than sin in us, that's gonna free me to fight sin, to do this thorough dealing. If we grasp the depths of the gospel, it gives us the opportunity and the encouragement to fight sin. We grasp what God has done for us in Christ and his mercy for us, then that encourages us. I hope this morning we've caught a glimpse of the root of this command, the joy of it and the depth of it. But I also hope as we leave here, we'll have that refrain in our minds that we've sung here in this room. And I hope that refrain sticks with you even as we come together to the Lord's table. You see, the gospel is true. Our sins can be forgiven. Our past can be redeemed and healed. Our relationships can be healed. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your law. We thank you for your revealed will in Scripture. Lord, this is in many ways a hard commandment for us to fully and deeply consider. I pray for those who are struggling in some way with applying this. May you bring mercy, grace, and change. And Lord, we pray that as we come to the table, may the mercy of God in Christ be brought to us in a fresh way. Lord, preserve and protect the marriages in this room, the marriages to come. Preserve and protect those. You've yet to meet the one they're gonna marry. Would you be, even for them and for their future spouses, would you be providing this protection? Lord, we ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Let me invite.