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Job. Book of Job chapter 31. If you are using, of course this
is right before the book of Psalms, if you're using a pew Bible,
you'll find this on page 714. Page 714. Page 714. We'll be reading the first 12
verses of Job chapter 31 in your pew Bible page 714. This is the
Word of God. I have made a covenant with my
eyes Why then should I look upon a young woman? For what is the allotment of
God from above in the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Is it not destruction for the wicked and disaster for the workers
of iniquity? Does he not see my ways and count
all my steps? If I have walked with falsehood,
or if my foot is hastened to deceit, let me be weighed on
honest scales that God may know my integrity. If my step has turned from the
way, or my heart walked after my eyes, or if any spot adheres
to my hands, then let me sow and another eat. Yes, let my
harvest be rooted out. If my heart has been enticed
by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, then let
my wife grind for another. and let others bow down over
her. For that would be wickedness,
yea, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment. For that would be
a fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all my increase. And then on page 101, just one
verse, Exodus 20 verse 14, which of course is the seventh
commandment which we've been considering. Exodus 20 verse 14, thou shalt
not commit adultery. Well, beloved congregation of
our Lord Jesus Christ, we're continuing with the general theme
of the seventh commandment, sexual purity. This is part two. Today,
again, we consider with this theme the law requires the preservation
of sexual purity. The law requires the preservation
of sexual purity. As we mentioned last week, we
are in the midst of a sexual revolution. in which traditional
values have all but been abandoned. And a new attitude condones virtually
any deviant sexual behavior. Things that could not have been
imagined even 10 or 20 years ago seem to be the things that
are being practiced and promoted in our society. In the midst
of such confusion, it is good to know what to do. And we indeed
have the word of God. We therefore have an absolute
standard to measure sexual behavior and attitudes. And it is good
then to be able to model what proper sexual expression looks
like. Now last week, we considered
two major points. First of all, the extent of the
requirement, and we noted that, of course, it applies to ourselves,
but it also impacts others as well. Because most sexual sins,
or many of them at least, require two or more parties. And so the
comprehensiveness, or the extent of it, it extends to ourselves
and to others. And then secondly, the comprehensiveness
of the requirement to, that is to say, to preserve sexual purity. The comprehensiveness meant that
in our heart, and in our speech, and in our behavior, we are to
keep this commandment. So in the heart, in the innermost
part of our being, in our speech, speech that is not corrupt, speech
that is edifying instead, that is building up rather than tearing
down, and in behavior. And we particularly mentioned
modesty in lifestyle and in dress. Modesty in lifestyle and in dress. Now today we look at the accomplishment
of this requirement. We do so particularly by looking
at Job chapter 31 verses 1 through 12. The accomplishment of this
requirement and focusing first of all on the resolve from the
heart. The resolve from the heart. Job
31 verse 1 I have made a covenant with my
eyes. Why then should I look upon a
young woman? So the eyes, of course, are an
important gate into the soul. They're an important gate into
the soul, the eye gate. We're reminded, of course, from
this passage of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Remember
what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5 verses 28 and 29? But I say to you that whoever
looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery
with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you
to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you, for it is more profitable
for you that one of your members perish than for your whole body
to be cast into hell. We're also reminded of other
passages. In 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 2. I may have the wrong passage here,
just one second. 2 Peter, I'm sorry, 2 Peter chapter
2. Peter writes, verse 14, Peter
writes, having eyes full of adultery, having eyes full of adultery,
filled with adultery, and that cannot cease from sin, enticing
unstable souls. They have a heart trained in
covetous practices and are accursed children. Of course, we can also
think of Achan, You remember Achan who saw the goods after
the destruction of Jericho, all of which were supposed to be
devoted to the Lord. He saw with his eyes. He coveted,
therefore, those things in his heart. And of course, he himself
was judged along with his family. Or as we sang earlier today,
from Psalm 119 where David says, keep my eyes from vanity. And so the importance of the
eyes. So what is Job saying here as
he's pleading his case, if you will? He's saying, I have made
a covenant with my eyes. So to make a covenant then, to
cut, literally to cut a covenant, is to enter into a pledge with
himself and with God. I have been utterly serious about
this, I've made a vow, I have cut a covenant. And then the
end of verse one, why then should I look upon a young woman? In
other words, looking as if minding her, using the mind, it has that
implication there of meditating on that, it's not just not just
happen to see someone, but rather meditating on that, minding it. And so Job is saying, I have
made a covenant with my eyes. Indeed, why then should I look
upon a young woman? But we also see, in terms of
this resolve from the heart, we also see the rationale for
the resolve and the covenanting. Look at verses two and three
of Job 31. For what is the allotment of
God from above and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
Is it not destruction for the wicked and disaster for the workers
of iniquity? There is the threat of judgment. Verse four, does he not see my
ways and count all my steps? God's omniscience. Children,
can you see God? No, but he always sees me. Be careful. Little eyes, what
you see. Be careful, little feet where
you walk, and so forth. God's omniscience. In verses five through 12, we
have the certainty of divine justice. Verse five. Notice the
possibility of sinning here, if I have walked with falsehood,
or if my foot has hastened to deceit. And this falsehood here,
it's the notion of vanity or folly. The possibility of sinning,
if I have done that, what's going to happen? Verse six, let me
be weighed on honest scales that God may know my integrity. God weighs us in a balance. Verse
seven, we see the false steps, the corrupt heart, the lustful
eyes, and the blot clinging to any acts. If my step has turned
from the way, or my heart walked after my eyes, that's interesting,
isn't it? Or my heart walked after my eyes. You can just see your heart walking,
right? You can just see the mind walking. after, yearning for, or if any
spot adheres to my hands. What are the results then? Verse
eight, lack of prosperity and posterity. Then let me sow and
another eat. Yes, let my harvest be rooted
out. Verse nine, notice the deceitfulness
of lustful desires. If my heart has been enticed
by a woman or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, if that
has happened, the deceitfulness of that. Then verse 10, what
is the result? It is that one's own wife would
be corrupted. Then let my wife grind for another
and let others bow down over her. And then we see the destruction
in verses 11 and 12. For that would be wickedness.
Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment. For that would be
a fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all my increase. So we see then the resolve from
the heart. I have made a covenant with my
eyes. And there was all this rationale then that follows that. Well, that's the resolve. But
let's look again at the exact accomplishment of this requirement,
both internally and externally. First of all, internally, it
is that of the fear of God. It is that of the fear of God,
of living in the fear God in Proverbs chapter 5 in Proverbs
chapter 5 starting in verse 18 let your fountain be blessed
and rejoice with the wife of your youth as a loving dear and
a graceful doe let her breast satisfy you at all times and
always be enraptured or intoxicated with her love verse 24 why should
you my son be enraptured by an immoral woman and be embraced
in the arms of a seductress. The ways of man are before the
eyes of the Lord and he ponders all his paths. God is the one who knows and
sees all things. God is a God of holiness and
one to be feared. And so internally then, in terms
of accomplishing this requirement of sexual purity, it is the fear
of God. Secondly, we could point to faith
in Jesus Christ. This fear of God, this fear of
God is what can drive a person to Christ. This fear of God is
what can drive a person to the Lord Jesus. In Romans chapter
6, starting in verse 1, what shall we say then? Shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who
died to sin live any longer in it? Do you not know that as many
of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? We were buried with him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. For if we have been united together
in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in
the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man
was crucified with him. that the body of sin might be
done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for
he who has died has been freed from sin. What's the answer?
It is union with Christ by means of faith in him. Thirdly, internally,
the application of the promises of cleansing the heart. the application
of promises of cleansing of the heart. If you are Christ's, if
you belong to Christ, then of course he must be both your Savior
and your Lord. You don't get him as Savior without
getting him as Lord. 2nd Corinthians 7 verse 1. Therefore,
having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God. And so application of the promises
with regard to cleansing of the heart. Fourthly, the help of
the Holy Spirit. The help of the Holy Spirit.
He is the one who works in our hearts and lives. Romans 8 verse
13, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But
if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will
live. Verse 14, for as many as are
led by the spirit of God, these are sons or children of God. And so the help of the Holy Spirit
that we need. Fifthly, internally, frequent
and fervent prayer. For it is the spirit, as Paul
says here in Romans chapter 8, it is the spirit who stirs us
up to pray. It is the spirit, later on in
this chapter, verse 26, likewise the spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For we do not know what we should
pray for as we want. But the Spirit himself makes
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And
so we pray then, for the help of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit
himself giving us the grace to pray. And giving us the grace,
therefore, to cry out to God, as in the words of Psalm 51,
where David, in dealing with his own sin, says, wash me and
cleanse me. Or Psalm 119, as we mentioned
before. Verse 37, turn away my eyes from
vanity. Oh God, turn away my eyes from
vanity. I need help. Turn my eyes from
this folly. Or as Jesus himself taught us
to pray in Matthew 6, the Lord's Prayer, lead us not into temptation. And the final point here with
regard to the internal is watchfulness over our hearts and spirits.
Watchfulness over our hearts and spirits. To oppose uncleanness,
in other words, we need to oppose uncleanness in the very first
desires in the heart. We need to Oppose the rise the
risings of it in the mind So that when you first start to
detect these things You squash them you take care of them You
watch over your heart and your spirit And whenever you feel
tempted you cry out for help and you resolve I'm not going
to go in that direction. Well then, what about externally? Well, watchfulness over our senses,
which of course follows from the internal, does it not? Watchfulness
over our eyes to turn them from lust. We've been looking at Job
31 verse 1, I've made a covenant with my eyes. but also over our
ears, over our ears. Do you remember in Genesis chapter
39, do you remember, children, what happened with regard to
Joseph? Verse 7 and following, it came
to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing
eyes on Joseph and she said, lie with me. But he refused and
said to his master's wife, look, my master does not know what
is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he
has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I,
nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you
are his wife. How then can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God? So here it wasn't the eye gate,
it was the ear gate. But Joseph resisted that temptation. He was watching over what he
was hearing, this attempt to seduce him by the master's wife. So watchfulness over our senses.
Secondly, diligence in our callings. Diligence in our callings. Idle hands make for trouble. Therefore, keep busy. One's idle
hands are the devil's workshop. And that is certainly true with
regard to sexual matters. And then thirdly, externally,
temperance in eating and drinking. Excessive eating and drinking
will pamper the body. And drinking especially can excite
the lusts. And therefore, temperance in
eating and drinking. I have two points of application.
The first is this. How are you doing with regard
to keeping yourself pure? How are you doing? Now, no one
ever said the Christian life is easy. Anyone who says that
to you, run from that person. That's a false prophet. Do not
hear that person. No one ever said the Christian
life is easy. Being a follower of Jesus is
a high and holy calling. We are to take up the cross and
follow him. The bride of Christ is to be
chaste and pure, dressed in white. And so we are to be dressed,
as it were, in white, showing the purity. And so that needs
to be our desire. And we need to see that worked
out in our lives more and more. However, what's the problem?
As we've been talking about justification in Sunday school, what's the
problem? We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
We have all failed in all of these matters and breaking every commandment
We have failed. I mean, why do you think Jesus
talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount? Because
he knew what kind of temptation we would face. Why do you think David prayed,
keep me away, keep my eyes from vanity? Because David recognized
that temptation. and indeed he himself at one
point succumbed to it. We have all failed and come short
of God's glory in this matter. And so the challenge then, although
I do challenge you, how are you doing? How am I doing? At the same time, although it's
an important question, we need to live in the fear of God At
the same time, we need to be reminded, this is the second
point, that we rejoice in the fulfillment of this commandment
by Christ. For my friends, he is the one
who faced every temptation that we do, including sexual temptation,
yet without sin. He is the one. who exhibited
total and perfect covenant faithfulness to his father and to his bride,
the church. Something which we cannot claim. He affirmed the essential dignity
of men and women made in the image of God. He sought to save men and women
from out of bondage to this sin. And isn't that what we read today
in John chapter eight? Isn't that the point there? In
John chapter eight? It of course was not merely,
it was not merely the fact of teaching against hypocrisy, it
certainly is that. But it's also where he said to
the woman, woman, where are your accusers? He said, no man, Lord. What does he say? Neither do
I condemn you. Go and sin no more. He sought to save men and women
from out of bondage to this sin. Think of the Old Tester. Think
of Rahab the harlot. Rahab the harlot, who of course
becomes one of the ancestors of Christ. And so I conclude
with this. Not only is he willing and able
in general to save men and women, Jesus is able to save you too. He is the one who took upon himself
your sin. He is the one who fulfilled all
righteousness for you. And he sends his Holy Spirit
who sanctifies you, gives you the grace of repentance. So trust
in him. Trust in him. Learn of him. Amen. Will you please stand for
prayer? And, Father, we confess that
we are sinners. We have offended in thought,
word and deed. We have been those who have ratified our corrupt nature. We have, Lord, carried out what we are already, and that
is sinners. And so, Father, we do pray that
thou wouldst indeed have mercy upon us. Lord, we need thee. We need the grace of the Holy
Ghost. We need the grace of Christ.
And so we pray, O God, cleanse us from our sin. Give us a love
for thee, a love for thy word, a love for others. And enable
us to live pure lives. as we rest upon Christ and his
righteousness for our salvation. We pray in his name. Amen. Please turn now to Psalm 86,
Selection A.
"The Seventh Commandment--Sexual Purity" (Part 2)
Series Seventh Commandment
| Sermon ID | 122324335413399 |
| Duration | 29:47 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Job 31:1-12 |
| Language | English |
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