We'll be considering this morning the seventh commandment of the law of God, thou shalt not commit adultery. And in that connection we read Genesis chapter two, which records for us, especially in the last part of that chapter, God instituting marriage. So let's read now Genesis chapter two. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison, that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. There is delium and the onyx stone. The name of the second river is Gaihon, the same as it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river is Hittikal, that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. The Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. And out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all the cattle and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found in help meet for him. The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. God's Word thus far, and may God bless that Word to us as we use it as the basis and to give us direction in our understanding of Lords Day 41 of the Heidelberg Catechism. Let's turn now to read that, Lords Day 41, Questions and Answers 108 and 109. Question 108, what doth the seventh commandment teach us? And the seventh commandment is, thou shalt not commit adultery. What does that teach us? That all uncleanness is accursed of God, and that therefore we must, with all our hearts, detest the same, and live chastely and temperately, whether in holy wedlock or in single life. Doth God forbid in this commandment only adultery and such like-gross sins? Since both our body and soul are temples of the Holy Ghost, He commands us to preserve them pure and holy. Therefore He forbids all unchaste actions, gestures, words, thoughts, desires, and whatever can entice men thereto. As we're all no doubt aware, beloved, today, unbelieving men and women, old and young, delight in the sins of adultery and fornication. They seek to satisfy their sexual lusts in ungodly ways, in every way possible. And really, as concerns them, the Seventh Commandment doesn't really exist. They completely ignore it, many of them, and they live as they please in relation to the things mentioned and forbidden by the Seventh Commandment. That's the world in which we live. But the ungodly and unbelievers are not the only ones. Each of us has a sinful nature that is attracted to the sins that are forbidden by the seventh commandment. By nature we are interested in, and by nature we want to do, and to enjoy what the ungodly do in this regard, what they suggest, what they offer, and what they tempt us with. And the seventh commandment, therefore, is needed by us. And we need God by His grace and Spirit to apply to us this morning what the seventh commandment teaches. We need God by His grace and Spirit to keep us from or else turn us from the sins against the seventh commandment so that we honor Mary. Whether we are single or married, we honor marriage. And so that, in the way of obedience to this commandment, our marriages will be protected, and other marriages will be protected. And if we're still single, our future marriages will be protected. So may God so lead us and give us to have joy and contentment in the way of obedience to this commandment, joy and contentment in married life and in single life. Consider then together God's command for the protection of marriage. We'll notice, first of all, God's gift of marriage, secondly, what He commands, and finally, His abundant grace. Marriage is a gift. Marriage is a gift from God, and marriage is a good gift from God. That's something that we need to hear because that is denied today. The ungodly reject marriage. They pretend that marriage does not exist and does not need to exist. The homosexual despises marriage as God has given it and ordained it. And then even the Roman Catholic Church proclaims that someone is much holier if he or she does not marry. But the truth of Scripture is that marriage is a good gift of God. Marriage was instituted by God at the beginning of time, and instituted by God at the beginning of time as a good gift to mankind. instituted by God as part of His work of creation, not merely as a part of His work of salvation so that marriage applies only to those who are saved, but instituted by God before man fell into sin as a good gift to all mankind so that the institution of marriage and the things that God ordained concerning marriage apply to everyone in the world. As a good gift from God, it is therefore a good thing for a man and a woman to marry, and to become husband and wife, and to live one life together. That's a good thing. When God instituted marriage, as we read of that in Genesis chapter 2, then God taught us some significant things concerning marriage, truths concerning marriage that are fundamental, truths concerning marriage that are foundational, foundational for our marriages. One of those truths that God taught when He instituted marriage as recorded in Genesis 2 is set forth in verses 21 through 23 of that chapter, and that is where God made it clear that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. God did not create two men, nor did God create two women, nor did God create a number of men and a number of women and then say to mankind, now you figure out what you would like to do with each other, what kind of relationships you would like to have with each other. Homosexuality is condemned by God immediately in Genesis chapter 2 because God created one man and one woman, a male and a female. and thereby God clearly defined what a marriage is between a man and a woman. Secondly, in Genesis chapter 2 and verses 18 through 20, God taught that a husband and a wife in marriage complement each other You notice in verse 18 when this whole matter of marriage begins to be discussed in Scripture, the first thing that is stated there is, and the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him, a help suitable for him. So that God, from the very outset there, has as His purpose, in everything recorded from verses 18 onwards, has as His purpose to make a wife for Adam. But God willed that Adam realize his need of a wife, first of all. And with that in view, God gave to Adam the task of naming the animals. And so God brought the animals to Adam. And God gave Adam the commission, the command, the mandate to give names to every animal. And whatever name Adam gave those animals, that's the name that those animals have still today. God did that because God brought to Adam by bringing those animals to him, brought Adam to an awareness of the fact that the animals were male and female. And Adam could find no one amongst the animals that could be his companion, his partner. And so Adam realized that there was a void in his life. And God filled that void. He created a wife for Adam. Something was missing, and God provided. Adam was incomplete, and God completed him by bringing to him a wife. Therefore, it is by God's design that a man and a woman in marriage complement each other and complete each other. Eve was Adam's help, a help that was meet for him, that is, a help that was suitable for him. None of the animals could be a help that was suitable for him, but Eve was. She was the one he needed to fulfill his calling as a man, God had given that to him in Genesis 1 verse 28, to be fruitful and to multiply and to replenish the earth and to have dominion over the creatures that God had made. God provided Eve to help him. That's what God still does today. Now, there are exceptions. And there are some who remain single. And they are sometimes single even though it is their desire to find a spouse and to be married. And that can be a burden to them. By the grace of God, and by God's grace alone, they learn that that is their calling. And they learn contentment in single life. They learn, too, as the Scripture speaks of that, that they have a special place in the church. The Apostle Paul describes that in 1 Corinthians 7, and lays out in 1 Corinthians 7 how that those who are single are able to dedicate themselves in ways that those who are married cannot to the welfare of the church and of fellow saints. But the point is that for those who do marry, God is the one who provides the wife or who provides the husband. The spouse that you have if you are married is God's gift to you. God has given to you a companion. and given that gift to you to have until you die. And in that marriage, as Genesis chapter two points out, the wife is the help that is meet or suitable for her husband. She's not the head, he is. She helps the head. The man needs her to complement and to assist him, and God provides through the wife what a man needs. And thirdly, in Genesis 2, Scripture teaches us and God teaches us in the institution of marriage that marriage is a permanent relationship. That's noted in verse 24, "'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife.'" Marriage is leaving and cleaving. Marriage involves a man and a woman leaving their father and their mother. and leaving their brothers and their sisters, and leaving their friends and other companions, and now cleaving to their God-given spouse, clinging to that person and being committed to that person the rest of their lives. And of all the relationships they have with anyone on earth, their closest relationship is with their spouse. And that is for life. Because what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. God joins two together. And God alone has the right to separate them. And the only way he does that is through death. They may divorce. if there is the sin of adultery, but they're not really separated except through death. Then one more thing. In verse 24, God also teaches that a husband and a wife become one flesh, and they shall be one flesh. glued to each other. Their relationship is closer than any other earthly relationship. Their relationship as husband and wife is even closer than a mother-child relationship, which is a very close relationship. They enjoy joy in that oneness intimacy. They are united and they are one, not only physically, but also emotionally, and also spiritually. And they share everything. They live one life together. They have a loving devotion to each other as husband and wife. And that's exactly why it's very difficult when a spouse dies. Those who have lost their spouses through death have often said, I've lost part of myself. Good for us to be mindful in that regard of those who are widows and widowers. And as regards that oneness, for those who are believers, for two believers who are united in marriage, the most important of all is their spiritual oneness. They're not simply one as two human beings, but they are one in Christ, they are united as fellow believers. They are united by the Spirit of Christ who dwells in each of them, makes them to be the same as each other in Christ by faith and by his work of grace within them, so that that's what unites them together and unites them truly as a husband and wife. They are united as two who are both loved of God and both redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. They are two who are united together because they are joint heirs of the grace of God in Christ. And young people, any godly married couple, will tell you as young people that that's the most important thing about their marriage, which is why it's so crucially important that you marry only in the Lord, as 1 Corinthians 7.39 states, only in the Lord. And the injunction of Scripture that you marry only in the Lord means that you date only in the Lord too. And anyone who is married and who has a godly marriage with someone who is a fellow heir with them of the grace of life will say, if you don't do that, then you invite a lifetime of grief and heartache and trouble. A husband and a wife, when they are married, must stand together on the same spiritual foundation. They must stand together on the truth. They must stand together in Christ. Therefore, young people, you don't date just for fun. You don't date just anyone you please to spend time with, but you date one who truly loves God, and loves his word, and loves Christ, and loves his truth, the truth of his absolute sovereign grace and salvation in Christ his son. You search for someone to be a wife or someone to be a husband to you with whom you are united in what you believe. And you search for them, therefore, not just anywhere and everywhere. You search for them, for that kind of godly spouse in the right places. in the church. That's where, by God's grace, you will find a good godly spouse with whom you can be one all the days of your life together. And so out of a desire to be married in the Lord and a desire to protect your marriage, your future, marriage, look and pray earnestly for a godly spouse in the church, amongst your fellow believers in Christ. Yes, marriage is a good gift of God. It was created and given by Him. Concerning everything that God made, God said, Behold, it is very good, and that includes the institution of marriage. May we never underestimate the value of marriage and the value of our marriages in the Lord. There's one more thing that shows what a good gift marriage is to believers, and that is what our marriages picture. Marriage of two believers is a picture of the relationship between Christ and His bride, His wife, the church. That is to say, marriage is a picture of what is the essence of our salvation, namely the That's what marriage pictures. Marriage is a picture of what is at the very heart of being saved by the grace of God, namely that you are brought into a blessed covenant marriage with the Lord Jesus Christ. God's salvation of his elect people involves entering into a covenant relationship with and that is a relationship of intimate friendship and fellowship through Christ. and it's the closest possible relationship that we could have with Christ. When we are saved, we're not simply introduced to Christ or brought near to Christ. When we are saved, we're not simply added to the family of God, and now we can be in the family and in the home of God, but when God saves us, God marries us to the Lord Jesus Christ. We become his bride. We become His wife. We are His beloved. That's who we are now, as saved believers, the wife of Christ, in a marriage to Him. And that is the real marriage. That's the eternal marriage. That's the marriage that will be enjoyed by us forever in heaven. And now, in our earthly marriages, God gives us the privilege of picturing and reflecting that marriage. What a great honor that is. That certainly shows that marriage is a very good gift from God, a wonderful gift. The husband picturing Christ, the wife picturing the bride of Christ, the church. The husband, like Christ, loving his wife and willing to lay down his life for her. And the wife lovingly submitting to her husband her head. We show ourselves to be very unthankful for that marriage and for our part in that marriage whenever we disobey the seventh commandment of the law of God. And that leads us to what God commands in this Lord's Day and in this commandment. Marriage, as instituted and given by God, as we know, is under severe attack. Every imaginable sin is committed today against the seventh commandment. It's broken in all the ways mentioned in Lord's Day 41. It's broken by adultery, it's broken by fornication, it's broken by those who are unfaithful in holy wedlock and in single life. It's broken by unchaste actions, gestures, words, thoughts, and desires. It's broken by things that entice men and women to commit sins against the seventh commandment. It's broken today by unfaithfulness to one's spouse, a sexual relationship outside one's own marriage. It is broken today by divorce for any reason, not only adultery, and then by remarriage after divorce. It's broken today by people living together before they are married because they believe and they convince themselves they need a trial period. They need to determine if there is compatibility between them. It's broken today by unchaste words and actions, by the countless ways in which others are enticed and tempted to sin and even encouraged to sin against the seventh commandment. And it's broken by rampant sexual uncleanness in society today, pornography and filthy jokes. and the music of the world, and the literature of the world, and the movies of the ungodly. And the result? Ruined marriages, ruined lives, and perhaps worst of all, the children. It's sad to say that happens not only amongst the ungodly, but on account of sin, also among many Christians too. And when we see that and when we hear of that, we don't stand here and express our concern about them and what has happened to their marriages and what has happened to their lives, those who have fallen into and committed all of these sins and now sit there in ruin. But when we see and hear of these things, they're a warning to us and a necessary call for us to focus upon and give attention to our own marriages, to give attention to the seventh commandment of the law of God. To give attention to this command that God has given as His guide for thankful believers so that our marriages, by the grace of God, are kept from such sin and such grief. God has given this commandment for the protection of marriage. And for the protection of our marriages, of your marriage, God forbids, first of all, adultery. Adultery is when a married person has a relationship with someone other than his or her spouse. And it's not referring only, merely, to someone having a sexual relationship with someone other than his or her spouse, but anything that precedes that and anything that can lead to that, too. And adultery really involves someone conducting an attack upon his or her own marriage. because that person is introducing now a third person into that marriage. But there is no room for a third person in a marriage. It is an exclusive union between two. And so God says to us in the seventh commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery. You must never introduce a third person into your marriage and not even introducing that third person into your marriage in your and through your thoughts and through your desires. No one else may enter into your marriage. Cleave to your spouse. and leave everyone else alone. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Secondly, for the protection of our marriages, God also addresses those who are single. And God's address to those who are single is that if you are unmarried, then you may not become involved in a sexual relationship an unmarried person doing what only the married may do, what only belongs to a marriage relationship. To all who are single, God says, thou shalt not commit adultery and thou shalt not commit fornication. Thou shalt not participate in the things that belong only to those who are married and that belong only in a marriage. And if young people are tempted, then they must think of Joseph. Also faced with a strong temptation as he was separated from the church and separated from his family, isolated and lonely in the land of Egypt, and one of the most beautiful women in the land was desiring to have a relationship with him. And from an earthly point of view, he could have got away with it. But he said, how can I do this thing and sin against God? Against God. And in that situation, faced with that temptation, Joseph, by the grace of God, fled. Fled the temptation. That's what the Lord calls us to do. Then thirdly, for the protection of our marriages, God adds something more, something more that is addressed both to those who are married and to those who are single. The catechism points us to that when it mentions whatever can entice men thereto, and includes in that, because that's really a conclusion that says anything else, but includes in that all unchaste actions, gestures, words, thoughts, and desires, the kinds of things that can entice. Don't do anything to encourage adultery or fornication in yourself or in others. Don't do that by the way that you dress. Don't do that by suggestive words and suggestive actions. Don't do that by putting yourself or allowing yourself to be in tempting circumstances. Very dangerous, very treacherous. That's why we are warned against it. A few moments of pleasure. and a lifetime of sorrow. And then fourthly, for the protection of our marriages, whether it's the marriage that you're in, because you're married, or your future marriage, if it is the Lord's will for you to be married one day. For the protection of our marriages, God also requires something positive. Live chastely and temperately in married life and in single life. If you're a married man, then live chastely and temperately as a married man. Love your wife. Focus your attention upon her. and her only. Let her know that you love her. And not only letting her know that you love her for the first few months of your married life or the first few years of your married life, but continue to do that. To let her know that you appreciate her as a gift from God. And if you're a married woman, be a faithful wife, submitting to your husband, not taking his place in the marriage, in love for him and in love for God, being the help that God has intended you to be to your husband, not independent of him, but assisting and supporting him in his calling as the father, and the husband, and the family. And if you're single, be a faithful Christian as a single person. Remain chaste and pure with a view to marriage the Lord willing. If you don't, then you damage your marriage before it even begins. Pray for grace, young people, to be kept from sin against the seventh commandment so that you don't bring awful and painful scars into your marriage. So God sets before us those requirements of his law in the seventh commandment. When it comes to this commandment, we all must admit that we fail, that we sin. There is no one that can say he or she is innocent. If not in deeds, then there are our words and our thoughts. with the words of Christ pointing that out to us, who said in Matthew 5.28, whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her in his heart, and implied is whosoever looketh upon a man to lust after him in her heart, hath committed adultery. May God, by His Spirit, convict us so that we're sorry for our sins and we confess them and we seek His grace. And the gospel, the Word of God declares God's forgiveness for sins against the seventh commandment. In fact, it was the Lord Jesus Christ who demonstrated that. very clearly, and did that during his earthly ministry. More than once, those who are known to have broken the seventh commandment were in Christ's presence. And the Pharisees, who were also there often at the same time, believed God could never show mercy to those kinds of people, the publicans and sinners, those who were guilty of public sin. But Jesus did, in relation to them, what the Pharisees themselves would never have done, and what the Pharisees believed God would never do for those. There are two examples especially of that, of Christ's abundant grace toward those who transgress the seventh commandment. You recall there was the adulterous woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee, the woman who was weeping and who was anointing Jesus' feet, and criticism was leveled against her as well as against Christ for allowing her Someone known to commit sin against the seventh commandment allowing her to do this to him, associating with her. What did Christ say? Her sins which are many are forgiven. Then there was the adulterous woman brought by the scribes and Pharisees to Christ. and brought by them that they might trap him if they could, but also brought by them because it was their intention, it was their purpose in bringing her to the Lord Jesus to express that they believed she should be stoned to death. And they brought that up to Christ, and Christ answered them. And his answer to them was this, let him who is without sin, that is, let him who is without sin in connection to the seventh commandment, let him who has never committed adultery throw the first stone. No one threw a single stone. All of them left. And then Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn thee, and then added, go and sin no more. He forgave her, and then he issued that command, go and sin no more. And by giving it, and by the power of Christ who gave it, she was empowered to obey. Christ could forgive those sins and did forgive those sins because He would go to the cross for those sins. On the cross, He was punished for the sins of adultery and fornication that His people commit, that the elect commit. Therefore, He could say to those who committed that sin in His time, And to all of us, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. By faith worked in us by the Holy Spirit, may we hear Christ say that to us. being assured of forgiveness, not only, but then out of thankfulness for his abundant mercy, we detest all uncleanness and unfaithfulness in regards to the seventh commandment. And in the strength of Christ, we go and sin no more. May we strive and fight to do that. in the grace and strength of Christ. And because our marriages on earth are temporary, and none of them is perfect, and because there are some who never do enter into earthly marriage, we all look forward to the reality of the marriage that we are part of already, that we will be part of forever and ever. and that we will enjoy eternally in glory our marriage to our Lord Jesus Christ. May that give us hope and comfort and contentment as well in this life. Amen. God and Father, we thank thee for thy word. May it be written upon our hearts by thy Spirit Keep us from sin in this regard. Direct us in thankfulness to remain pure and holy in our sexual activities in life, even in regards to our entertainment, our words, our thoughts, our any actions that are involved in enticing ourselves or others to commit such sins. Sanctify us, we pray, and bless us by Thy Spirit. Strengthen and preserve our marriages, for Christ's sake. Amen.