I'm going to read Exodus 20, verse 14, the seventh commandment first. Thou shalt not commit adultery. And then Proverbs chapter 5. My son, attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding that thou mayest regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to hell, her steps take hold on hell. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are movable, that thou canst not know them. Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house. Lest thou give thine honor unto others, and thy years unto the cruel. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth, and thy labors be in the house of a stranger. And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof, and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me. I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. Drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own and not strangers with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as a loving hind and pleasant roe. Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray." Thus ends the reading of God's holy and inspired word. We return again to the Ten Commandments and we'll consider this morning the seventh commandment. We've looked at the first table and considered the object, the matter, the manner, and the time of worship. We've looked at the fifth and sixth commandments regarding the sanctity of authority and the sanctity of life. And now we come to consider the seventh commandment or the sanctity of marriage. This morning I want us to consider the heinousness of the sin of adultery. And then briefly, I want us to consider the various sins that can be subsumed under this commandment of adultery. First, the heinousness of the sin of adultery. Here are a number of reasons why adultery is sinful. In Job 31.11, we read that this sin of adultery is a heinous crime. In Jeremiah 29-23 it is called vility. I think it's important for us to understand the biblical rationale for the heinousness of this sin. Adultery is sinful first because it degrades sexuality. We learn in Genesis 1, 27 and 28 that God made man male and female. He made man and woman different. He gave them attraction for one another. God ordained sexual pleasure in Genesis 2.24, we learn, in a particular context and only in that context. We also learn from the Genesis 1 and 2 account that sexual union is just part of an overall intimacy of one with another. And so, Sex or sexual union outside of marriage degrades the very thing that God has given man. It's a pathetic substitute for sexual union within marriage. You see, in Jeremiah 5.8, God could say of those that were adulterers in that time, He says, they were as fed horses in the morning. Everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. It was just animalistic. It's a pathetic substitute. for sexual union in marriage. Also, adultery is sinful because it betrays trust. It not only degrades sexuality, it destroys trust. Marriage is the deepest connection that we can have with a person. And it requires faithfulness and loyalty. We've made a promise. We've made a vow before people and before God. And so adultery is a violation, it's a betrayal of a most sacred trust. It destroys trust. The prophet Malachi tells us in Malachi 2.14 that adultery is treachery because it's a violation of a very serious trust. Thirdly, adultery is sinful because it endangers or it damages others. You see, the adulterer may say, well, it's only affecting me and it's only affecting someone else that has consented with me. But Paul says in Romans 14.7, none of us liveth to himself. We have other relations and it affects our relations. It hurts the innocent party, the spouse. It hurts them at a very, very deep level. It's worse than bereavement. It's worse than losing your spouse. To find that your spouse has not been loyal and has betrayed you. Just imagine being an innocent party in a situation like this. All your memories would be polluted. All your good memories with your spouse would be polluted. All your previous intimacy with them would be defiled. Innocent parties in adultery ask the question, did he or did she ever love me? Am I or was I worth loving? Very, very painful. You don't live for yourself. You've taken a vow to someone else and it hurts them at their very deepest level for you to violate that vow. How about the hurt to the children? Their lives are shattered. We live in a culture where we are reaping what we're sowing in regard to this sin and its violations. Imagine the questions children ask themselves. Am I to blame? Who do I choose? How do I respect my parent that's committed adultery? How do I keep the fifth commandment regarding this? And it hurts society. It affects the health of our society. It radically impacts the economy of a society. You know, there are on the order of 10,000 divorces per day in our nation. Can you contemplate that? That nearly 50% of marriages don't make it and it's not much different amongst professing believers? Adultery not only degrades sexuality, it not only destroys trust, it also damages or endangers others. Fourthly, it's destructive to the body. And if it's destructive to the body, then it is, again, a violation of the sixth commandment. Thou shalt not kill your hurting yourself. Proverbs 5.11 is speaking of the adulterer. And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed. Sexually transmitted diseases are not new. They are not new. Proverbs 7.23, "'Til a dart strike through his liver, as a bird hasteneth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.'" Here Solomon pictures the adulterer. He's going along just like a bird, just about to enter a snare. He doesn't get what's going on. "'Til a dart is through his liver." He doesn't recognize it's for his own soul, his own life. It's destructive to the body. It's destructive to the soul if not repented of. Adultery is heinous and it's sinful because it's destructive to the body. It's also sinful because it distorts our view of God. God tells us in Isaiah 54.5 that He is our Maker and He is our Husband. God has allowed marriage to be a reflection of Christ's love for the church. Ephesians 5.25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. Throughout the prophets, we see that adultery or apostasy is likened to adultery. Spiritual apostasy is spiritual adultery. It's turning away from our husband. It's leaving our God. You understand how hard it is in a culture, in a family where there are broken relationships to comprehend the fact that God's covenant stands. God doesn't back out on His covenant promise. It distorts one's view of God. Adultery is also sinful because it impairs the mind. You see, we're all, when we walk into sin, we are at that moment, I would contend, insane. Because we fail to realize that we're about to do something before God. But an adulterer, in a unique way, enters into a very deluded world. We read in Hosea 4.11, "...whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart." We're not surprised that wine takes away the heart. But we learn that whoredom does as well. One that steps into this sin and continues in this sin has a very distorted view of reality. They're living in a dream world. They're living in a fog. Adultery also destroys the reputation of one that enters into it. Proverbs 6, 32 and 33, But whoso commiteth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding. That's his problem with his mind. He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away." It's shameful. It destroys one's reputation. It's also sinful because it's inconsistent with the Spirit's work in indwelling believers. We learn in Galatians 5, 19 and 21 that sexual sins are the work of the flesh in contrast to the work of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 3, 16 and 17, we read these words, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." If we recognize that we're indwelt by God's Spirit, we would be kept from the sin of adultery. It's inconsistent with one's knowledge. of the fact that they are God's child and that they're indwelt by the Spirit. It's also inconsistent with Christ's sufferings. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 15, we read this, "...know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ, Paul's asking a rhetorical question. Don't you understand that? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? Paul goes on in the argument in verse 20. For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. God has redeemed us both in body and in spirit. And so we're to be sanctified both in spirit and in body. We're to seek purity. Sexual purity. Adultery is also sin because it's inconsistent with our heavenly calling. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 7. 1 Thessalonians 4. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." Clearly in the context we'll see later, Paul is dealing with sexual impurity. We've been called to sexual purity. That's part of our heavenly calling when God has affectionately drawn us to Christ. He's called us to purity. sexually. Sexual sin, adultery is also sinful because it incurs temporal judgments. We just read of that in Proverbs 6.34. You can expect temporal judgments upon yourself if you commit this sin. Adultery also incurs eternal judgments if unrepented of. In 1 Corinthians 6, Ephesians 5, and Revelation 21.8, we have three lists of types of people that will not inherit the kingdom of God. And adulterers are listed in all three. Adultery incurs eternal judgment if unrepentant. 1 Corinthians 6, 9 and 10, Ephesians 5, 5 and Revelation 21, verse 8. And we'll speak about this in the application at the end a little bit more. It incurs eternal judgment if unrepented of. I think it's important for us to see the biblical rationale for the heinousness of the sin of adultery. It doesn't stand alone. It brings in many other factors, doesn't it? Many other sins come with it. And the damage is very, very severe. Now, let's consider briefly the sins forbidden in this commandment. In this commandment in Exodus 20, verse 14, we read, "...thou shalt not commit adultery. Now, the word adultery, both in the Hebrew and the Greek, can be taken in a very specific sense as well as in a very general sense. In a specific meaning, adultery means sexual intimacy between one or more married persons. At least one of the individuals is married. But there's a general meaning And that is all sexual intimacy outside the bounds of marriage. And so it refers to something specific, but it also refers to many other sins of similar type. We kind of find the word fornication in the New Testament used that way. The authorized version translates the Greek word pornea. as fornication. And so it has a general and a specific usage. It refers to sexual intimacy by those that aren't married, but it also refers to the generic sin of sexual uncleanness. And again, uncleanness is used in the New Testament as well to describe this sin. And uncleanness is a very good translation because the Greek word comes from a prefix that means not. And the suffix of the root means clean, so it's not clean or impure. It's another term used, and that is concupiscence, a very big word. Most of us don't see that word used very much ordinarily. That comes again from this prefix epi, which means upon. and the root, thumio, which means heart. So, it's speaking of a desire. But in the context in which it's used, it's speaking of evil desires, heart issues, heart uncleanliness, uncleanliness of the mind. Thomas Watson, in summing up this commandment, says, the sum of this commandment is the preservation of corporal purity. In Shorter Catechism, question 14, we're asked, what is required in the seventh commandment? And there we read, the seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbor's chastity in heart, speech, and behavior. We find in question 15 in the answer that the seventh commandment forbideth all unchaste thoughts words and actions. So it's not just unchaste actions, it includes unchaste thoughts and unchaste words. Let's consider some adulterous actions in the Scripture. And I'm not going to go into excessive depth in some of these because I think it would not be for our edification. But if anyone wants a more extended list and Scripture references, I would be glad to send you them. The first sin that falls under this commandment is forbidding lawful marriages. Forbidding lawful marriages. In 1 Timothy 4.3, we learn of in those dark times, There will be times when men forbid to marry and command to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." Paul in verse 1 of that chapter informs us that these types of doctrines are doctrines of devils. And it's amazing to think that Rome would pick up These kind of doctrines that are so explicitly demonic and demonstrated to be so in the Word of God. This isn't a dark passage. It's very, very clear. But forbidding lawful marriages only produces uncleanliness and impurity. I don't care what the modern media wants to convince you or what Rome is attempting to do in seeking to justify the impurities that have been found out among its priesthood, but forbidding lawful marriages does promote impurity. It denies the fact that purity exists in the marriage bed. Think of Hebrews 13.4. Marriage is honorable in all. Not in some, in all. and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." You see, sexual intimacy in the bounds of marriage is pure, God says. It's not impure. Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 7, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband. That's how you avoid fornication. You don't enter into fornication by getting married. You prevent it. And so, forbidding lawful marriages is a violation of this commandment. And it leads to very heinous violations of this commandment. Secondly, fornication or premarital sexual involvement is a violation of this commandment. And it is so even if one's engaged. Because the sexual act is not to occur prior to leaving and cleaving. In Genesis 1, 26-28. And the cleaving clearly involves taking a vow of commitment. Wilhelmus of Brockville, The Dutch theologian says, of premarital fornication, even amongst those that are engaged, he says, it frequently takes away the blessing from the marriage having been begun in sin. Now, obviously, God forgives those that repent. Obviously, God is a God who restores the years that the locusts and canker worms have eaten. I say this to warn all the youth present with us. Don't fall prey to it. You may be engaged to a godly man or woman. You may plan to live a godly life in God's church. Don't let down your guard. Don't let down your guard. Yes, God can forgive you, but there will be consequences to your sin. And it will be painful. So be on guard. Fornication, premarital sexual engagement, fornication when there's no intent to marry the one that we're involved with. Think of Acts 15-20. The council to Jerusalem as they're dealing with the issue of justification by faith. It's a central issue there. But what was the decree given? that we write to them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood." At the heart, they're saying the ceremonial law is no longer required. It's no longer imposed. And yet, fornication is brought into the decree. Because they recognized, as Paul does in Galatians in the latter chapters, that to seek salvation from your own work leads to a life where the flesh is in charge and where the works of the flesh will be carried out. And so they focus on one of those obvious works of the flesh, adultery or fortification. Also, living together or cohabitation is sin. It doesn't matter how much the people that live together tell you they're committed to one another. It doesn't matter how many years they've been living together. The Puritans called this concubinage. It's having concubines. In Romans 13.13, it's referred to as chambering. An example of one involved in this type of sin is the Samaritan woman in John 4.17-18. I'll turn there. John 4.17-18. Jesus said unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. In that saidst thou truly." In other words, you've had many men living with you. In one sense they've been your husbands, and yet the one you're living with really isn't your husband because you've just been living with him. Another sin that's dominating the landscape of our culture. Also, desertion or divorce without just cause is a violation of this commandment. We learn so in Malachi 2.16, Matthew 5.32, 1 Corinthians 7.12 and 15. If we are converted, we're not to leave our unconverted spouse. It's a whole other thing, Paul says, if your unconverted spouse leaves you, but you're not to leave them. And also, clearly, adultery itself is a violation of this commandment. Proverbs 2.17, we learn that adultery or marriage is a covenant of God. It's a covenant that we make with someone else, but we make it in God's presence. In Job 31, 9 and 11, we learn that it's to be punished by the judge. Yet again, we live in a society where the judge almost encourages it. Certainly doesn't punish it. Hardly at all hinders it. Polygamy as well as a violation of this command, bigamy or polygamy, having two or more wives, clearly goes against God's plan in Genesis 1, 27 and 28, 2, 21 through 25. God gave Adam Eve, not Steve and not Eve and Susan. He gave him Eve. And so, though the patriarchs practiced bigamy and polygamy, clearly it was sinful and was not for their spiritual welfare. And I think throughout the Pentateuch in particular, but also the rest of the historical books of the Old Testament, you see the harm of polygamy. Also, incest is a violation of this commandment. Leviticus 18 speaks of that sin. I believe that's what Paul is getting at in 1 Corinthians 5.1. There he says to the church at Corinth, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication as is not named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife. He says there's a common report. It's well known. I don't know something has been hidden. It's been spread abroad. Everybody knows there's fornication among you. And such fornication, he says, is not named among the Gentiles. In other words, this goes against nature. This is so obvious that the Gentiles, those outside of Christ, know it's wrong. That's Paul's argument. You don't even get it. He goes on to say you're glorying in this. You think this is great. You're so tolerant. Paul says even the Gentiles know this is abomination. It's not even named among the Gentiles that one should have his father's wife. He doesn't say his mother. He says his father's wife. His father obviously must have been remarried. But the point is it was still violation of incest laws because he was engaged in relations with his father's wife. Also, rape is a violation of this commandment. And that would include all forms of rape, including child molestation of whatever form. Deuteronomy 22-23, if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her and lie with her, then the man only that lay with her shall die. because she wasn't consenting. The rapist under the Mosaic Covenant deserved the death penalty. It's a reflection of God's hatred for that sin. Oh, that those that committed rape receive that penalty today. Of all those child molesters that are routinely being picked up They'd be taken out of this life instead of sent away to prison for a few years and then placed back in your neighborhood and my neighborhood. We see another example of rape in 2 Samuel 13, 14. I won't turn there. Also, we learn that sodomy is a violation of this commandment. 1 Timothy 1.10, Paul speaks of them that defile themselves with mankind. In Romans 1.26-27, Paul speaks of God giving a culture over that won't worship God, but worships the creature rather than the Creator. He speaks of men having relations with men and women with women. Just another form of bestiality. Then prostitution, Leviticus 19.29 and Jeremiah 5.7. A sin that's growing in our nation. You might not realize it. You might not drive on certain parts of the town. You may not go to certain cities in our nation where it's prevalent, but it is a growing industry. And is pornography really just another form of prostitution. It also includes personal fornication. It involves our thoughts. Matthew 5, 27 through 32. And in Leviticus 15, we learn that we are responsible for our thoughts even when we're asleep. Because where do you think those evil thoughts that you had when you were asleep come from? They come from thoughts that you've had awake and consciously thought of. They're from sin that dwells within. They're to be confessed. Adulterous eyes. Peter speaks of eyes full of adultery. In Ezekiel 30, verse 14, we learn of a case where a woman sees images of men portrayed on the wall and dotes over them. Speaking of pornography. Of being attracted through images of the other sex. How about adulterous gestures? How about the whore in Proverbs 7.13? It says, "...she caught him and kissed him." That's where it starts. With an embrace. With a kiss. How about Isaiah 3.16? The daughters of Zion are haughty, they're proud, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, or wandering eyes, walking and mincing as they go and making a tinkling with their feet. We ought to weep when the daughters of Zion walk around looking like whores. They did so in Isaiah's time. And God, through Isaiah, speaks to them. Are they not, are not many who claim the Lord Jesus as their Lord? Do they not walk around immodestly? There's also adulterous speech that's a violation of this commandment. Also, not marrying in the Lord is a violation of this commandment. 1 Corinthians 7.39 to marry in the Lord. And lastly, I would contend that this commandment can even be committed in marriage. It can even be committed in marriage by two ways. It can be committed by failing to give what Paul calls in 1 Corinthians 7, 3-6, due benevolence. It can also be committed by failing to maintain holiness and purity of mind while in marriage. 1 Thessalonians 4, 3-5 I believe is describing this sin. Many of our Puritan forefathers thought so as well. They also thought that the phrase, inordinate affection in Colossians 3-5 referred to this sin. 1 Thessalonians 4, 3-5, "...for this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God." You don't have a wife just to fulfill your carnal desires. That's what Paul said. that there's a purity of mind that's to be demonstrated in sexual intimacy. Now, in closing, an application. I think there's a few applications. First is, thanks be to God for deliverance. Paul lists all these various sinners in 1 Corinthians 6, 9 and following. He says, will not inherit the kingdom of God. And it goes on in verse 11 to say, "...and such were some of you." But ye were washed. But ye were sanctified. He says you're not that anymore. There may be some that are here today. There may be some that hear this message sometimes later. You've committed this sin. Can you still be described as an adulterer? Or is it true that such were you? Are you still in that state? Is that your estate? Wedded to the idol of sexual pleasure? Or have you, by faith, come to be wedded to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself? Praise be to God that He takes sinners violent, heinous sinners who love pleasure. Well, whatever form they enjoy the most. And He's pleased by His grace to make them His trophies. Trophies of grace. If you're still wedded to this sin, turn to Christ. Be freed from it. It will take you to the pit if not repented of. Secondly, thanks be to God for restorative grace. Some of you have been innocent parties in a divorce that began with adultery. And there's pain involved. And yet, God is a God of restorative grace. He's a God that restores the years that the canker worm has eaten. Praise be to our God. that even those trials, those very significant, painful experiences that we've had, some of us, in this situation, God uses them for our good to make us who we are by God's grace. Thirdly, is this not a matter for lamentation and weeping regarding the state of our nation, our culture, and the evangelical church in this world? Those that profess the Lord Jesus Christ that this sin is so common amongst His people. We ought to weep. What example are we setting to the heathen? How are we portraying God's love to His people and His covenant commitment to us when we can't keep our covenant commitments to our spouses? How can that be? But we also ought to see the important place of marriage in the society. Yes, in the church, but in the society as well. We need tough divorce laws. We need the laws that are on the books to be enforced. We need enforcement of the obscenity laws that are in place that the Justice Department is significantly ignoring, even in the present administration. In Reagan's administration, there was a significant effort to enforce, to put place in obscenity laws in federal government and enforce them. And since Clinton took office, they have not been significantly enforced. And even the new administration has not significantly enforced them. So we need to weep for our church, for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to weep for our nation. and pray that God would send the rod and that we would hear the rod as His people and as a nation. Let us pray. Great God and Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for Thy Holy Word. We thank Thee, O Lord, that Thou dost give us Thy Word for our good. Even sometimes when we have to consider very, very dark things and very heinous sins, we thank Thee, O God, that Thou hast given us Thy Word for a good reason, that we might hate this sin. Give us a growing hatred for it, O Lord. Cause us to see that though it might appear a delight in the body, help us to see that its aftertaste is oh so bitter and will remain for so long. We pray, O God, that Thou wouldst keep us pure in this wicked and perverse generation. We ask in Christ's name, Amen.