I'm turning now in the second book in the Bible, the book of Exodus, chapter 20, and reading verse 14. Exodus, chapter 20, and reading verse 14. Thou shall not commit adultery. We come in our series in Exodus, slowing right down, focusing on the Ten Commandments, and this week we reach the seventh commandment, and we're reminded by the fact that, well, without our Savior coming into this world and living that perfect life on our behalf, there would be no place in heaven for us. He has kept the commandments of God perfectly, a perfect blameless life of love on our behalf. It's impossible for us to keep the commandments of God to that perfect, it's a perfect standard of God, and we are sinners and we're fallen. We need God's grace, we need a savior, and we're justified by his grace, by his blood washing away our sins, but we're also sanctified by his grace, and we're given a new nature at our spiritual birth and we're giving a determination and a desire as never before to strive to keep the commandments of God. Well, in our day, I don't need to tell you this, we all know about this, but we've now been living in our land in this permissive society for decades. And these laws and this particular law is scoffed at. and laughed at and seen as antiquated. We don't need these Victorian outdated laws anymore. This is the attitude of our society. It's restrictive, it's unnecessary. That's how people view, and this is very much promoted and pushed in every sector of society. But when you see the consequences of the new morality, which has been here in our country for over 50 years, this new morality which swept in around the 60s, the drug and the sex revolution, it's clear, it's obvious why God, well, it's a violation of his holy law, it's a violation of who he is, it's his blameless character. But we see why God, another reason why God has given us as his highest creation, these laws to protect us out of love and care for us. The keeping of these laws, the giving of these laws is to protect societies, families, individuals, children from so much ruin and corruption and the devastation that comes about. And with this very law alone, as we shall see, the devastating consequences when this is taken lightly and we cross the threshold, the devastating consequences of violating this commandment. Consider how wicked destructive the act of adultery is the sin of adultery is few things are more selfish and wicked than this sin for a Moment of sinful pleasure. I'm willing to wreck my marriage. I'm willing to cause devastation Psychological torment and trouble in my children's. I've just for one act one moment of pleasure. I'm willing to do all this I'm willing to cause so much destruction in my marriage, my family, children's well-being. In fact, one single act of adultery is not even the consequences and the troubles is not even restricted to one generation. It can be generational. The effect can be generational. Financially instability and psychological trouble in the minds of children, the bad example to children, the emotional trauma, the devastation it brings upon the victim who's been violated and betrayed and stabbed in the back, the wife or the husband who has been betrayed, and the pain and the anguish they feel, and it's also self-destructive. We read in the scriptures that it's, I sin against my own body if I violate this law, if I commit adultery or fornication, No wonder why the scripture calls the person guilty of the sin a fool and a man void of understanding. Because the consequences, well, I will be judged by my God eternally if I don't repent. But even in this life, the consequences, and we see it in society, are so devastating and ruinous. And the real losers, sadly, are the children. And that's what's really heartbreaking. It's the children who suffer the most when this commandment is dragged through the mud and scoffed at. Dear friends, we do live in a hyper-sexualized society. And this behavior adultery and fornication and so on, it's seen as normal. It's even promoted as a healthy lifestyle. This is how it's viewed today. It's promoted as morally acceptable. This should be accessible to everyone, even children. It's so disgusting and filthy what's being promoted today, even in schools. It's seen nothing more as a pleasurable activity. We can do away with the old antiquated Victorian laws. They're not Victorian. They go all the way back to the Ten Commandments, and they're written in the human constitution. They're given by God. But people, well, they suppress the truth and unrighteousness. Deep down, they know that this is true. Deep down, they know that these laws are given by God, and it's written in the conscience of human beings. But this is, today, it's bombarded The promotion of this promiscuity is bombarded, we're bombarded by it on every hand, in the fashion industry, in the entertainment industry, the encouragement especially of women to dress provocatively. And it's so sad when we see this coming into churches, how tragic it is. where there are, and the mode of worship will do this as well. If worship becomes casual, so does the dress. It's always the case, it always happens. When God's regulations for worship are abandoned, and it's a casual worship atmosphere, well, the code of dress changes as well. It's promoted in the media, the internet, government legislation and the education sector, This is the hideous smoke belching out of the bottomless pit, which we read of in Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 9, I beg your pardon. You had this picture in Revelation chapter 9 of the star, Satan, falling from heaven. And he's given permission to open the bottomless pit, and you see this ghastly smoke belching out of the pit. and blocking out the sunlight, the light, the truth of the gospel, blinding people's minds. With what? With sexual immorality. This is one of the sins. These lies of Satan, these doctrines of hell, belching out of the bottomless pit, telling people that this is perfectly acceptable to live this way. And yet the consequences, cry out loud, it's not. This is ruined. This is wrong. This is evil. It's one of those soul-destroying sins. And we know when the floodgates of hell are open, when this type of lifestyle is brazenly celebrated and promoted on every hand. And as I've already mentioned, the consequences are so exceedingly painful. The misery it inflicts, the heartache, the devastation. Men are turned into predators. And It's been said, some people have done research on this, it's been said that the sex trafficking trade, slavery, this huge industry is probably going to outgrow the drug trafficking trade in its profit it makes. Unbelievable. What's happening? But this is what happens when we make a mockery of God's laws and we turn aside the commandments of God. Well, as we look at this commandment this evening, thou shall not commit adultery, we realize just as is the case with all the commandments of God, it's not just the physical act that makes me guilty of breaking this law, it's the heart sins as well. This Physical act is the parent sin. It's the climax. But I can break this law in my heart as Christ. Again, we refer to the Savior expounding the law on the Sermon on the Mount. If I look at a woman with lust, I commit adultery with her in my heart. I'm guilty of the sin. And so it's not restricted to marriage. Those who are not married are guilty of this as well. Fornication, sins of the heart, filthy images on the TV screen or on the computer screen. It enslaves. I become enslaved. And it strips away one of the qualities that makes me an image bearer of God. That's what it does. When I give way to my desire, I'll explain in a moment, this aspect of love, this biological aspect of love God has given to us as human beings, it's a gift to be expressed exclusively in marriage. Where it's consummate, the marriage is consummated. It's a gift, it's a wonderful gift that is given in marriage. and exclusively for marriage between a man and a woman. Sadly, we have to articulate that today. But when this is brushed, when this is exercised, if this is expressed in any other context, it's utter abuse. And it's a scandal. And it's a shaking of the fist of God. And the consequences are, well, they're terrible. And they get worse. And it gets worse. But this is what happens. But it's... we see that the relationship of man and wife and marriage, and the gift of God has given, mutual love, one for another, and the biological love, well, we remember that in the scriptures, in the Bible, Marriage is a picture. Marriage is a picture between God's love, Christ's love between him and his church, the mutual love of Christ and his church. Christ purchased us with his blood. We are his redeemed. And there's the wonderful picture that marriage gives us. His intense love for us. He is our bridegroom. We are the bride. And this brings me to the next way which we can break this law, which is spiritual adultery. there is such a thing as spiritual adultery. There's the breaking of God's commandment with the physical act and lusting in our hearts, but then there's also the spiritual aspect of the breaking of this commandment, spiritual adultery. And this is, God takes his people to task in the Old Testament time and time again over their spiritual adultery. So many references in the Old Testament, I can go to, I'll just go to one, but time and time again, the people of Israel paying lip service to God, they profess to love the Lord and they continue to go to the temple and so on on so many occasions and to sing his praises, but they worship idols as well. And God accuses them of adultery, violating the relationship. In Jeremiah chapter three, verse 14, for example, we read, turn, O backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you. I am married unto you. I've committed myself to you. I've rescued you from Egypt. You are my people. Serve me alone and no other gods. And time and time again, Israel turned their backs on the Lord and worshiped other gods, spiritual adultery. And we see this in the New Testament as well. Not so much idol worship, although there are references to idol worship in the New Testament, but what's the New Testament equivalent to spiritual adultery? Worldliness. That's the great warning in the New Testament. Yes, there's references to idol worship, the sinful practice of worshiping other gods, But there's also the great warning in the New Testament scriptures of worldliness. And this is one of the greatest threats and problems churches face today. Worldliness entering into churches and into the lives of Christians. There's the warning of John's first letter, chapter two, verse 15, a passage that we know very well. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And then James is even more explicit in the letter of James chapter four, verse four, where he mentions adultery. But he clearly means it in a spiritual sense. He adulterers and adulteresses. Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God. It doesn't mean we're unpleasant and unkind and hostile to people. That's not what James is speaking about. I'm friendly. I'm courteous. I have a care and a burden for lost souls, but I don't do the things that they do. I don't live the life that I used to live. I don't live for the pub culture and go out drinking. I don't do that anymore. I used to. I used to be an utter worldling. I used to watch all the filth on the TV. There are some things you can watch which are wholesome on the TV nowadays, not much. But I used to just drink in the world. And that used to be me before conversion. And here's the warning to Christians, don't go back to the old life. You adulterers and adulteresses, no you're not. Friendship with this evil, godless culture is enmity with God. I make myself an opponent of God if I do this, if I give myself to this world, if I'm taken up by this world and I revel in its sinful culture. And again, this is a great problem we see today in many lives of professing Christians, professing to love the Lord, and they embrace this pop culture and the rotten entertainment, the celebrity culture and all this. It's dreadful. And if I'm, well, if this is the case with me as a, as someone who professes to know Christ, I'm guilty of spiritual adultery. So we do see this massive falling away in many Christian circles and churches today, where sadly worldliness is promoted, promoted wholesale in the, as I've already mentioned, in the worship of God being defiled, there are Principles. There are regulative principles for worship in the Bible. And these principles, by many churches today, have been completely abandoned. And the genre of this world, the pop culture and the rap and art, it's all been brought into the church. And you see the principles again and again and again in the Bible. Don't do that. Don't bring the world into the church. Don't defile my worship. And these things have been abandoned. It's spiritual adultery. It's the breaking of this commandment. It's a betrayal of Christ's, the commitment we owe to our savior. He has given his life for me. He shed his blood on my behalf and he calls me to leave my old life, take up my cross and follow him. We also Individuals, Christians, churches can be guilty of breaking this commandment, again under the context of spiritual adultery, when we make alliances with other religious organizations, churches, or charities, Christian charities, which are compromised, wholly compromised, where they, or they're associating with other churches. and other pastors and leaders and institutions which have been corrupted. They call themselves evangelical. They call themselves Bible-believing. But they've abandoned great and soul-saving doctrines in the Bible. The doctrines in the Bible, they've been abandoned. You see this, for example, with the ecumenical movement. where you have all these different denominations and different churches coming together under the guise of unity. It's not really unity. It's not the biblical definition of unity, which is based upon the doctrines of the Bible and the truth of the Bible, because all that's required basically with this ecumenical unity is as long as you name the name of Christ, you're in. you can believe pretty much what you want. You don't have to believe that Jesus Christ is the exclusive way to the Father. You don't have to believe that he's the only way to heaven, to be in this unity. And this is what's happening. Many churches are blurring the lines, doctrines divide. You've heard that saying before, but actually it's committing spiritual adultery. It's a violation of the relationship with my savior. The Lord Jesus Christ himself says, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say, the commandments, the instructions that I've given? Why do you call me Lord and deny these doctrines? And this is what many churches, they may not realize, they may not be fully aware of this, but when they join themselves to bodies and institutions, Seminaries and colleges and other churches which deny these doctrines Well, I'm a partaker of their evil deeds according to the to what we read in the scriptures and you know where I'm going first the third the second letter of John chapter 1 verses 10 through 11 if there come John's warning to Believers not to receive anyone even if they call themselves Christians But they've denied the faith Don't receive them into your homes. If they come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, denying these teachings, receive them not into your house, neither bid him God's speed. For he that biddeth him God's speed is a partaker of his evil deeds. So many, it's a trap that even individual Christians can make. This is the trouble we have nowadays with the internet, where you may have some Preacher and he's very good on a particular point He's very good or articulating a particular doctrine or one or two or three doctrines and he's an exceptionally good speaker But he misses the mark woefully on other key doctrines and I get drawn in by these his teaching and I end up leaving the church. I'm in because of because of his erroneous teaching this is this can happen sometimes and Committing spiritual adultery there. We need to understand that it's not just the physical act or lusting in my heart It's there's such a thing as spiritual adultery as well Well, let's look at the biblical safeguards the safeguards which help us to keep this commandment Particularly this commandment because this is what this is what we're looking at this evening. We remember that wonderful passage in Psalm 119 verse 11 Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. I treasure the scriptures. I treasure the word of God. I strive to live by the word of God. I endeavor to read the scriptures daily and study the scriptures daily and as much as I'm able come to the house of God to hear the word of God so that I don't become an ignorant Christian. I've come to the faith and I've discovered so much, but there's a great deal more to learn. And I want to learn more. I don't want to remain a Christian who is biblically illiterate. No, I want to know my Bible well. I want to know my Savior. I want to know my God. I want to know more of Him. I'm hungering and thirsting after righteousness. That's one way we safeguard ourselves. What an encouragement that I often give in this pulpit and other preachers give is the need for God's people to come to the services as much as they can, as much as they're able to hear the word of God. Our personal devotions are important, but so is coming to the word, the house of God and listening to the word expounded. We have no sympathy for people who These people who say you don't need to go to church to be a Christian this foolish argument that they that they make Yes, church attendance can't save me only Jesus Christ can save me. It's true But if I truly love the Lord if I have been if my heart has been melted by his love He's forgiven all my wretched sins. I And I love him who loved me first. If that love is truly there, then I will love his people as well. And I will love to come to the house of God. And I will come with anticipation. What will the Lord say to me? I need his practical guidance. That will be my attitude if I'm truly the Lord's. If there is, that is a powerful evidence of grace, that I am truly his. But you hear friends from time to time, oh, I prefer to stay at home. I prefer to stay at home. I don't go to church. Well, I can be a Christian without going to church? Well, that's a worrying sign that there is no work of grace. And besides, I put myself into a very vulnerable position concerning this and the other commandments. I don't have accountability with anyone. When I associate and when I commit myself to God's people, I bind myself with God's people and I serve with God's people, I become accountable. There's accountability. And we keep each other in check and we encourage each other. And I'm hearing the word of God. It's a safeguard against breaking this commandment. It's not the only safeguard, but it's one of them and it's an important one. But you have these people who think that they can grow as Christians and they can flourish as Christians by doing Christianity as they please, from home or surfing the net. That type of Christianity, dear friends, that type of Christianity is not found in the Bible. It doesn't exist in the New Testament. You read the New Testament and God's people are always together, serving together. as a body of Christ, as a body of Christ. Another safeguard is this. We read it in the narrative of Joseph in the book of Genesis, when he was approached by Potiphar's wife, alluring him to commit that filthy sin. Did he stop and try to reason with her? Did he try rebuke? No, he ran. He didn't waste any time. He ran. He knew that he was in great danger. And he probably knew the weakness of his own flesh. And so he didn't try to persuade her. He ran. And that's the same instructions were given in the New Testament. Flee. Run. Flee youthful lusts. Flee fornication. How can I practically put this into practice? How can I look at this from a practical point of view? If I put myself in certain circumstances and situations or scenarios where I become very vulnerable or the temptation to fall into this particular sin, I'm very vulnerable and I'm exposed, I shouldn't be in that predicament. I shouldn't put myself in that scenario. I should take drastic action. as the Lord Jesus Christ teaches himself. If your eye causes offense, pluck it out and cast it from you. He's not speaking in a literal sense. He's not telling us to pluck out our eyes. What he is teaching, though, is take drastic action when it comes to sin and when it comes to temptation. If, for example, I have a social media account, I use it to contact family and friends, for example, but I'm constantly finding myself being tempted to look at things I shouldn't look at. Best you close that account, friend. Log off. Don't use it. Take drastic action. If I have a TV at home, there are some wholesome things we can watch on TV, but if I have a TV at home and I feel myself tempted to switch it on late at night when there may be things on there which may be inappropriate, get rid of it. Get rid of your TV license. So take drastic action. Don't put yourself in scenarios where the flesh is weak and you can't handle the temptation. Avoid these situations. Flee from them. Run from them, we're told. Pastors, Christian workers, when you visit someone of the opposite sex, never go alone. Make sure you go with your wife or someone else. Don't give any appearance to evil. Give no appearance to evil, we're told in the scriptures in 1 Thessalonians 5. Many other safeguards we can look at. If I'm a married man, don't be so busy in the Lord's service that you have no time for your wife. That's an abomination. Of course, we're calling people in our fellowship to serve the Lord, but don't do it at the expense of abandoning your wife. so that she's always at home, and you're always at the services, and you're doing Sunday school, and you're doing this, and you're doing that, and you're never at home with your wife, that's a terrible thing to do. And there have been cases, by the way, where men have been serving the church, and they're so busy, and they neglect their wives entirely, and they end up committing adultery with another woman in the church, because they've gone past the threshold. There are these safeguards for the Christian. If I keep myself within these safeguards, I actually make it difficult for myself to fall. And that's the point. There are safeguards that the Bible gives us where it actually makes it difficult to commit adultery. But if I go past these thresholds, then I put myself in danger. And I'm very foolish if I do this. So don't neglect your wives and vice versa. Wives, don't neglect your husband, your husbands. There must be that balance. Service to the Lord is important. It's vital. And so you share. Wives come to one service. If I have children, small children, wives come to one service, husbands the other service. I'm serving in Sunday school and there's other things to do in the church. The wife serves and so does the husband. There's a sharing. But time spent together is vital. Work at my marriage, if husband, wife, work at your marriage. Love does not run on autopilot. Love is not based upon feelings. That's a carnal approach to love. My love is based upon the vows I made before Almighty God. I've chosen to love my wife. Come thick and thin. I've chosen to love my husband. Come thick and thin. It's a choice I made. It's a promise I made before Almighty God. And I will love her. Come what may. And I will love him. Come what may. It's not based upon feelings. Sometimes feelings can be challenged. So I can't rest upon my feelings. Feelings are a wonderful thing to have, but if I stick to these principles, and I love my wife, and I love my husband, and I invest time in our relationship, the feelings will come. The feelings will be resuscitated. If there are challenging times, God can revive that. God can revive that, and He is faithful. So, these are the safeguards. There are many others. But this is so important to keep the flame of love alive. Effort must be made. Love does not run on autopilot. It's a choice I make. It's an effort I must put effort in to keep the flame of love alive between husband and wife. But as we draw closer to conclusion, we see the opposite virtue of this commandment. Do not commit adultery. What is the opposite virtue? Faithfulness. and purity. And as is the case with all the commandments of God, this reflects God's glorious character. He is faithful and true. He will never be unfaithful to his people. He will never abandon his people. Even when we are foolish and we fall into sin, even when we do let him down, even when I do grieve the spirit, And I come with trembling and fear in prayer, with tears, pleading with the Lord, Lord, forgive me. I've been such a wretch. Forgive me, Lord. He is faithful and true to forgive me of my sins. He will never, if I'm truly the Lord's, he will never abandon me. He will never leave me to my enemies. He will never let my sin So consume me as to cause me to go out of the... No, he will lay his hand upon me. He will trouble my conscience. He will bring me back. He is faithful and true. The good work I have started, I will complete. So we see the glorious character of God shining through these commandments. He is pure and holy, and yet he is faithful and true to all that he has promised. And he promises to help us on the pilgrim journey. He has given us his very Holy Spirit. We have the divine comforter, we have the helper, ever at hand. We're temples of the living God, we're told in scripture. And we must endeavor to honor Christ, honor God in our bodies. And he's given us all the promises and all the grace we need to help us to that end. so that it may be said of us on that great and coming day, on the great wedding supper of the Lamb, it may be said of us, and I close with this verse, Revelation 19, verse seven, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage supper of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Amen.