Please turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 5, as we continue to move through the Ten Commandments. We'll look at the seventh commandment tonight, Deuteronomy 5.18, but I did want to read the larger context, so I'll start reading in Deuteronomy 5, beginning in verse 6. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. These words, the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain, from the midst of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice. And he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, I pray that you would grant us wisdom and grace now as we consider the seventh commandment. I pray for the ministry of your Holy Spirit to be at work in our minds and hearts. Help us to see the gross sin of this particular commandment. Help us to recoil from it. And I pray for our young people and our children. God, help me with wisdom to be able to explain these things in a way that is biblical first and foremost and is helpful to them. God, I pray that you would watch over them, that you would bless them, that in their youth they would remember their Creator, by the grace of God, calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and hopefully to be kept from the violations associated with this particular commandment. Again, Father, forgive us for all of our sins, wash us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and fill us with your Holy Spirit. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, we're looking at Deuteronomy 5.18, and it is the commandment that prohibits adultery. You shall not commit adultery. I want to look first at the basis of the commandment, secondly, the prohibition of the commandment, and then thirdly, the positive aspect of the commandment. I'll do what I've done in the past in terms of the positive aspect, simply read the Westminster Larger Catechism. If you're tracking with the prohibition, hopefully you will see positively do the opposite. Do not commit adultery by inference means have good marriages. Be faithful with reference to the marriage bed and do those things that are pleasing in the sight of God. But in terms of the basis of the commandment, The underlying principle, or the foundational principle, is the institution of marriage. In other words, God gives this particular law for the good of families within Old Covenant Israel, and certainly, by way of extension, the people of God in New Covenant Israel. And when it comes to marriage, God has three purposes for marriage. In the first place, companionship. It was not good that the man was alone, and so he fashioned Eve and brought her to him. If there is never the opportunity on the part of marriage partners to engage in conjugal relationship, there is nevertheless a marriage in place. Companionship is absolutely crucial, and that is one of the defining aspects or characteristics of marriage. The second, obviously, is procreation. Be fruitful and multiply. This is an end, or a means, rather, to that particular end. To fill the earth, to exercise dominion, and all those sorts of things. And then a third purpose is the practice of intimacy within marriage. Our confession of faith refers to this as the prevention of uncleanness. Now, I realize that sounds less than romantic, but it's one of the purposes for marriage and one that we ought to prize and value and thank God for. So we have the basis of the commandment being God's purposes in marriage. As well, the basis is rooted in the law of God. The Decalogue prescribes fidelity in the marriage covenant. You shall not commit adultery. That's the prohibition. When we look at the rest of God's law, we see that there are a whole host of sexual sins that are condemned by God through Moses, through the prophets, through our Lord Jesus Christ. through the apostles, you can trace them all back to this seventh commandment. It is absolutely crucial that we get this down because sexual immorality is an affront to the living God. So not only the Decalogue, but we have new covenant teaching as well. In the New Testament, we have Hebrews 13.4, marriage is honorable among all and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. So there, again, it's reiterated God's desire or design, rather, for this integrity in the marriage relationship. In terms of the sanction, I don't want to save this for the end. I'll just mention this now. There were certain sexual sins that demanded capital punishment in the Old Covenant. We won't go through each and every one of them, but the death penalty for criminal activity in the Old Covenant was prescribed for certain sexual sins, or as far as I know, for most of the sexual sins. As well, Proverbs tells us that there is the wrath of man. Remember when Solomon in Proverbs chapter 6 is prohibiting his sons from engaging in adultery, in adultery he talks about the man whose wife one violates and that man will inflict bruises, that man will inflict blows upon the person that engaged in that breach of the marriage covenant. And then of course hell. Hell ultimately lay in the future for those who engage in sexual immorality and do not repent of it. We see that in Revelation chapter 21. In the lake of fire there are adulterers, there are sexually immoral people. Thomas Watson made this observation with reference to the Seventh Commandment. He says the adulterer not only wrongs his own soul, but does what in him lies to destroy the soul of another, and so kills two at once. He is worse than the thief. For suppose a thief robs a man, yea, takes away his life. The man's soul may be happy. He may go to heaven as well as if he had died in his bed. But he who commits adultery endangers the soul of another and deprives her of salvation so far as in him lies. Now what a fearful thing is it to be an instrument to draw another to hell. So it's a very, very powerful statement, and again, as we look at this prohibition, you shall not commit adultery. And then we look at the rest of Scripture and see the multitude of ways that men and women sin against God in a sexual manner. It really is, on the one hand, quite repulsive. On the other hand, it is obviously an effect of the fall. We transgress God's law, we reject God's government, we reject his authority and his law, and then life ends up looking much like it does today. There is utter disregard for the sanctity of the marriage bed. There is utter disregard for the sanctity of marriage. There is utter disregard for the sanctity anymore of gender. We see all of this stuff being propagated and all of this stuff being pushed at times on young children in terms of what they believe is some sort of sexual liberation, but it's bondage and it's going back into the household of Egypt and is living under harsh taskmasters. Now secondly, in terms of the prohibition of the commandment, I want to look first at the acts prohibited by the commandment. First of all is adultery. And basically adultery is intercourse, the sexual intercourse of a husband with the wife of another or a wife with the husband of another. Now, the sin of adultery most likely is pointed out in the Seventh Commandment. Again, it covers all sexual sin, but it is the most vile attack upon the basic unit of society, namely the family. When persons commit adultery, they are attacking that fundamental, blessed institution that God has given for His people. Dabney likens adultery to murder, and he says in some sense that with reference to adultery, it eradicates the blessedness of life itself. Now, if you're married, you can resonate with that. It's not the only thing. but it's certainly a good thing and a blessed thing to be sure. But adultery of one partner in marriage involved not only unfaithfulness to the other partner, but also unfaithfulness to God. So it was a direct revolt against the theocracy. It was a direct revolt against God's rule in Old Covenant Israel. Now, the texts that teach this are Leviticus chapter 18 and verse 20, Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 10, and Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse 22. As well, when you get to the New Testament vice lists, Those are lists filled with vices upon which God has targeted, with reference to destruction of those who commit such things, we see adultery mentioned time and time again. It is a great offense against the living God to go outside of your marriage to intrude upon another marriage. And doing so, you will indeed provoke the very wrath of God upon your head. A second sin prohibited by this commandment is fornication. That means when persons have relations outside of marriage. Settle it in your mind. The only lawful expression of sexuality ordained and sanctioned by God is within the confines of marriage. Anything outside of marriage is aberrant. It is vile. It is offensive. It is a transgression. God, brethren, is not anti-sex. God is anti-lawless sex. God is anti-no-responsibility sex. God is pro-it with reference to a marriage covenant. Fornication is despised by God. Again, Hebrews 13, 4, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. A third thing prohibited by this commandment is the act of incest. Now, there's two ways that persons can engage in incest. One is by consanguinity. That's when we have a blood relationship to somebody and we engage in relations with that. The Bible forbids that. But then there is affinity. That means a relationship that obtains by marriage. Remember in 1 Corinthians 5, the apostle Paul condemns the church at Corinth because there was a man who had relations with his father's wife. Most likely, that was a relationship by affinity. You're not supposed to do that. The Scriptures condemn that, and it is vile and reprehensible to go against God's law in this way. Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20 deal with this at length. Deuteronomy 22, 30, and as I mentioned, 1 Corinthians 5. Our confession says, marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity or affinity, forbidden in the word, nor can such incestuous marriage ever be made lawful by any law of man or consent of parties, so as those persons may live together as man and wife. You see, the confession says, man does not have the prerogative and the lawful authority to overrule what God has said. If a society says, well, it's okay that men marry their sisters or that women marry their brothers, that does not supersede the law of God. God forbids that affinity or consanguinity. It is condemned by the Lord. Now, a fourth sin condemned here is one that I want to explain in a bit more detail. You can turn to Deuteronomy 22. Deuteronomy 22, the act of rape. Brethren, this is one of those sermons that, you know, it's not fun to preach, you're not happy to preach it. Who wants to talk about rape? It's a terrible thing. But you must know that outside of the church, persons use Deuteronomy 22 to try to make us inside the church look like we're big fat hypocrites. Because as the text is commonly understood, if you rape a betrothed woman, you can be executed. If you rape a non-betrothed woman, that's okay. You just have to pay her father. So it's important that we understand what Moses is saying, nay, what God is saying in Deuteronomy 22, so that we are not prey to that sort of a mindset. I don't know if you've ever heard that, but some people do think that. They think that as long As the woman is single, it's okay that you rape her. Well, that's a faulty understanding and bad exegesis of the several instances here covered in Deuteronomy 22. Note in the first place, adultery is condemned. This is a section dealing with laws of sexual morality. Notice in Deuteronomy 22.22, if a man is found lying with a woman, married to a husband, then both of them shall die. The man that lay with the woman and the woman. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. That's pretty clear, pretty obvious. Now notice, we have then the seduction of a betrothed woman. Verses 23 and 24. If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, You have to understand, betrothal in this context was a legal arrangement. In fact, in verse 24, the betrothed woman is referred to as a wife. It was as good as done, basically. So if a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, Then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife, so you shall put away the evil from among you." See, it hinges on that reality. She did not cry out in the city. If she cried out in the city, that gives evidence to the fact that this man forcibly tried to rape her. The fact that she does not cry out indicates that she's a willing participant. And so that's why it's better to refer to this as the seduction of a betrothed woman. She agrees to this seduction, and as a result, they are both punished. Now, the next section, verses 25 to 27, deals with the rape of a betrothed woman in the countryside. But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. It's a condemnation of rape. The word forces indicates that. God says this is wicked. This is abominable. But notice what else it says, verse 26, but you shall do nothing to the young woman. There is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. Is God saying that rape has the same effect upon a person as does the crime of murder? Yes, he says it's just as that. You may not murder her physically, but you do great damage to her for the rest of her life. And I would extrapolate from this the wickedness, the vileness of pedophilia, the vileness of engaging in that sort of a tactic with a child. Anybody who does that is opening themselves up to the wrath and fury and judgment of God. That our civil government doesn't punish such beasts is another indication that we ought to cry out to God to arouse himself and to move the hearts of people. How in the world could it ever be the case that somebody could engage in that kind of a crime and not be punished? And if the LGBTQ continues to go its way, there's another group that wants to put their initial on there as well, and they are persons that look favorably upon pedophilia. We won't act upon it, but it's something that we desire. We won't do it, but it's something that we desire. That sort of madness is going on in the context of the church as well, not with pedophilia, but with homosexuality. As long as persons don't act upon it, the thought of having it, that's okay. No, it isn't. The thought of killing yourself is wrong, whether you ever act upon it or not. Suicide is murder and it is prohibited by God. To entertain the thought is in and of itself wrong. To entertain the thought of engaging in an illicit sexual relationship is wrong. We don't say, well, you know, he's this or that. No, it's a condemnation that needs to be preached, not because we hate people, but because we fear God and we want people to go to heaven. If we never tell them the truth and we legitimize their deviance, they'll never look out for Christ. And then in verse 27 we see another important key. For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her. See, in this instance, countryside, not city, she cried out, but there was nobody there to save her. This is not an act of complicitness on her part. She doesn't agree to this. This wasn't a willing seduction, and then she complies. No, rather, this is rape. This is why Potiphar's wife insists on two occasions that she cried out when that Hebrew slave was there. because she knew that if she hadn't cried out, no jury in Egypt would have ever convicted with reference to the crime of rape. A woman crying out indicates that she's a non-willing participant in the gross wickedness that is being inflicted upon her. Now, it's the next section that is often misunderstood. Verse 28 is the seduction of a single woman. If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman's father 50 shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her. He shall not be permitted to divorce her all his days. So you see the pagan and unfortunately inconsistent Christians say, well, if you rape a betrothed woman, you get the death penalty. If you rape a non-betrothed woman, you just pay her father, and then you take her as your wife, and then you live happily ever after. That's not how this should be understood. Notice in the first place, verse 28, if a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her. It's a different verb than that used in verse 25. In verse 25, forces is the appropriate translation. Here in verse 28, the seizing does not demand force. Notice as well, they are found out. She is willing, she submits, or rather she agrees to this seduction. You're not dealing with rape in this particular instance. It's fornication to be sure, it's definitely sinful to be sure, but it is not an act of forcible rape. That's what distinguishes the two situations. It's not that the betrothed woman in Old Covenant Israel had rights and protections that single women didn't. Single women had the same rights and protections also. But in this instance, it is not the case that he is forcing her. She is a willing participant in this, and therefore, the man now pays the price to the father. He takes her as his bride, and they live, hopefully, happily ever after. There's a parallel to this in Exodus chapter 22, verses 16 and 17. So there is no inconsistency. There is no difference in terms of whether or not a woman is married. God's law is consistent. And the last statement in verse 30 deals with affinity. A man shall not take his father's wife nor uncover his father's bed. Now, I think as well, by way of a sideline observation, the law of God is relevant to the apostle Paul. See, some people say, well, the old covenant law, it's not really binding on us today. Paul demanded the excommunication of a sinner in the church at Corinth based on the law of God as revealed in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. So as far as Paul is concerned, the law given in Leviticus and Deuteronomy is still for us today. Now, obviously, we need to make sure we understand the threefold division of law. Ceremonial law, fulfilled by Christ, abrogated for the new covenant. Judicial law, general equity to be sure. It's moral law binding. A man goes in to his father's wife, he is excommunicated by the church. Notice Paul does not tell the church to execute the man. The church has never been given the sword to engage or inflict, rather, capital punishment. The state has the monopoly on God's vengeance with reference to judicial violations. The church excommunicates. The church distances herself from such violators in their presence. Now, the fifth thing is the act of sodomy. Now, again, this is not happy stuff to talk about, but it's stuff that we need to understand. The Bible prohibits homosexuality. You see it in Genesis 18 and 19. When God says that the sin of Sodom is exceedingly vile and their wickedness has risen up to high heaven, The sin is homosexuality. You see specific prohibitions against homosexuality in Leviticus 18.22 and in Leviticus 20.13. But turn to the New Testament, because oftentimes we hear, well, that was the Old Testament. It was wrong to be a sodomite in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament it's somehow okay. Well, that's just not the case. The New Testament condemns it as well. Of course, I should say there are persons who acknowledge that the New Testament condemn it, but condemn a certain type of it. The New Testament doesn't condemn a loving, monogamous, homosexual relationship. I'm not kidding, brethren. This is where exegesis is going. If we follow this, the Bible means nothing. It's a wax nose. We can move it and shape it however it is that we want. It's not that Paul's condemning a loving monogamous homosexual relationship. He is condemning a profligate, you know, multi-partner, that sort of thing. That's what comes under fire in the Apostle Paul. That's not the case at all. It's homosexuality. Notice in Romans chapter one, verses 26 and seven. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use. For what is against nature? This is against nature. All sin is bad, certainly. All transgression of God's law is bad. But homosexuality has the dual sort of problem of not only being a sin, but it's actually against nature. This is opposite of God's created order. This is not what His design is in terms of relationships that obtain between persons in His world. And then in verse 27, likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men, committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error, which was doom. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Again, I'm not singling this one out as the only one condemned by God, but it's certainly a hot topic in our generation. Not only outside the church, but unfortunately within the church. And so the people of God need to know what Scripture says concerning this aberrant behavior, and to recognize that it is a sin. and that God does say no to this, and that we as the church, as well, must imitate God. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites. Now, some have said, why does he say the same thing twice? I thought homosexuals were sodomites. There is actually a technical distinction that Paul is using in two Greek words to highlight the active partner in this relationship and the passive partner in this relationship. Paul knows Greek, and Paul is using the language of his day to indicate that. Whether you're the active partner or the passive partner, Whatever your particular situation is, it is condemned by God. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. Now, brethren, that's one sin among many. And as Christians, we aren't one-note johnnies. We don't go out and say, well, homosexuality is the only bad thing out there. No, it's one bad thing among many bad things. This is a vice list. several vices condemned by God. The beautiful thing is what Paul goes on to say. He says in verse 11, And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. You know, at times you hear, well, they're born this way. Well, if they were born that way, they couldn't stop. If you're born with blue eyes, you don't grow brown eyes if you want to change it. If something is hardwired into your DNA, then you cannot change it. And see, when we preach it that way, or when we tell persons that way, we keep them in bondage. There is freedom and liberty to be had in our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many, many reports of persons that engage in a homosexual lifestyle, homosexual relations. They get converted, they marry persons of the opposite sex, and then they have children together. If it was the case that they were born that way or it was part of their DNA, they wouldn't be able to change. But there had been those in the church in Corinth, such were some of you, Paul says, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. And then again, in 1 Timothy chapter 1, 1 Timothy chapter 1, again, I'm not picking this sin out as the only bad sin, but in the context in which we live, we need to understand Scripture does condemn this. First Timothy chapter 1 at verse 8. To just say, well, Paul's obviously condemning, you know, a non-monogamous, loving homosexuality. Where in the world does such an idea obtain but in the mind of the interpreter? To try and rationalize and justify a practice that is obviously condemned by our God. Another sin is the act of bestiality. And again, this is horrible to even discuss or to talk about, but God prohibited Israel from engaging in the sorts of practices that the Canaanites engaged in. And to be quite candid, As the world proceeds on its present trajectory, it wouldn't surprise me if lawmakers start to deal with this, not in a way of prohibition, but in a way of sanction. One commentator says concerning the Canaanites, the degree of sexual perversion in Canaanite culture was such that bestiality was fairly commonplace. Hittite laws, for example, even permitted cohabitation with certain animals. And we've seen that in the news and not long ago. If society continues down the particular track they are going, who knows where we're going to be in 20 years. I guarantee you 20 years ago, you probably wouldn't have predicted where we are at today with Soji and all of the sort of pushing this on us. Another thing is unlawful divorce. The Bible permits divorce. I realize that some disagree. I have made the case preaching in Matthew 5, Matthew 19, and I've also looked at 1 Corinthians 7 in this pulpit. As far as I'm concerned, scripture permits divorce in the case of sexual immorality and in the case of abandonment or desertion, which I would include spousal abuse as being abandonment or desertion. A man that beats his wife, we do not tell her, go back in there and take another for the team. That is absolutely ludicrous and that some pastors Counsel women who are being pummeled by their husbands to continue in this is shameful and horrific. And they're not weird, odd, Pelagian Armenians way off the reservation. These are Calvinistic men. These are celebrity men. And they nevertheless will counsel a woman. Well, this is your lot in life. You got to deal with it. I'm sorry, brethren, God says no. Abandonment. If a man is abusing his wife, he has abandoned her. That's all there is to it. And in 1 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul deals with that. So with reference to divorce, it's lawful in those instances, but may I say, those alone. And that when persons engage in divorce and then they go on to another, it is then lawless and unlawful. As well, the act of polygamy. If you watch the news, this is going to happen in Utah most likely. At least they're pushing it to make polygamy legal in Utah. Obviously, the theological connection, the Mormons believe that the more wives they have. I don't think people understand Mormon theology. They don't understand that what a good Mormon ultimately attains is godhood. and a planet. And with his multiplicity of wives, he fills that planet with his children, his seed, his offspring. And so there is a great emphasis on a multitude of wives so that you can have a multitude of children, because if you're going to actually be a god over a planet, you've got to have some women there to help you populate this planet. So polygamy. I know that the Bible has instances where men, godly men, good men, righteous men, David, king of Israel, had a multitude of wives. But the Bible reports stuff without necessarily endorsing stuff. The Bible telling us this doesn't mean, therefore, go and do thou likewise. The intent of God at creation. was one man and one woman. You see that upheld in the prophets, you see that upheld by our Lord Jesus, you see that upheld by His apostles. The practice was tolerated in the Old Testament, but as Stuart says, monogamy is everywhere in Scripture, assumed as the ideal, as a creation ordinance, firmly reinforced by Jesus and Paul. Another one is the act of prostitution. Intriguingly, not a crime in Old Covenant Israel, but a sin. Not a crime, but a sin. You understand the distinction? There can be crimes that aren't necessarily sins. Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in Saudi Arabia is a crime, but it's not a sin. There can be sins that are not necessarily crimes. When you covet your neighbor's wife, or you covet your neighbor's car, or you covet your neighbor's oxen, you are sinning against God. But the civil state shouldn't throw you into prison for that. They shouldn't punish thought crime. But with reference to this act of prostitution, it is wrong because it is sexual congress outside the boundaries of marriage. And then a final one is the use of pornography. You can turn to Matthew 5 to see this. Matthew chapter 5. Now, I realize Jesus doesn't say don't click on whatever the porn site is.com. but he deals with heart lust. Verse 27 in Matthew 5, you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Now remember, the antithesis is not, you have heard that it was said by Moses, but I say to you, that's not Jesus' point. You've heard that it was said to you by the scribal interpreters and the Pharisees who misinterpret it. The Old Testament forbade heart lust as well. The Old Testament prohibited engaging in that thought process against somebody else. So Jesus' antithesis is not him and Moses, but rather Moses' bad interpreters. 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. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off 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. The use of pornography. People, men, not just men, women, don't look at pornography to not lust. There's an intimate connection between the use of that medium and lust. And dear parents, all of us need to be very vigilant. You've probably seen the studies and the reports that the typical age of an American or a Canadian little boy between 8 and 12 is his first exposure to internet pornography. Between 8 and 12, I mean, we're playing hide-and-seek. Not that we were golden and wonderful holy people back in those days, but the availability of it, the phones, the computers, the various ways and shapes that persons can access this rot is horrible. It affects them early on for their future life. The Scriptures are adamant, the Scriptures are clear. There is to be none of that outside the context of a covenant marriage. You can rejoice in the wife of your youth, you're supposed to according to Solomon in Proverbs 5. God's not anti-sexual Congress in relation, a marriage relationship, but it's outside of that. The use of pornography is a violation of God's holy law. And the immediate action for those guilty is repentance. Confess your sin, forsake your sin, and trust in the mercy of God Almighty. The Lord is good. The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, does cleanse from all unrighteousness. and we can rejoice in that reality. Now, I am sure there are others that we could add to that particular list, but that list in and of itself is pretty nauseating, so we'll move on. In terms of the manner of violating the commandment, certainly by externals. The actual act of adultery, fornication, incest, rape, sodomy, bestiality, unlawful divorce, immodesty. That's another one. Matthew Henry says, with reference to immodesty, men sin, but devils tend to sin. Men sin, but devils tempt to sin. I skipped that. And modesty is another one. 1 Timothy chapter 2. In the context of public worship, to be sure, but extrapolate from that the reality that all of life is supposed to be lived unto God in a way that isn't a demonstration of our flesh. Brethren, there is far more to life than sexual glands. There is far more to life than genitalia. And yet in this culture, that's what's celebrated. Immodesty is a way of bringing dishonor to God. It is a way of transgressing the law. Proverbs 7 describes that woman, that crafty woman. She's wearing the attire of a harlot. Now that probably looked, compared to our situation, like a smock. Probably looked like a gunny sack. Probably showed very little skin at all. But in that context, you had women that were identifiable as wearing the attire of a harlot. probably far more modest than what we are wearing today. But in our context, there is an obvious immodesty and we need to see that and we need to guard our hearts against it. And fathers of children or daughters, we need to be smart relative to this particular issue. And if you're afraid to tell your little daughter that she needs to put something else on, then you have just sacrificed your man card. They are your children. They represent your family. They go out into this world, and if they are immodest, and they take the eye and desire of men, that's on you at least partially. So you tell your little girls how they ought to dress. And if they say, well, that's just oppressive, tell them, this ain't the Democrat Party, child. We will oppress in this household. And if you don't like it, tough. What happened to that kind of fatherhood? What happened to that kind of leadership? What happened to that kind of putting the foot down and saying no? Now, I realize, brethren, there are very attractive people in this world, and they can literally wear gunny sacks and, you know, those big furry hats and everything, and people will still gawk at them and still gaze at them and still have lustful thoughts for them. I get that. But we ought not to make it easy to facilitate that. Again, there's an attire of a harlot that certainly doesn't belong upon the children of Christians. Now, in terms of violating the commandment, Westminster Larger Catechism, what are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment? The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of duties there required, are adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts. But as well, there is this internal disposition. Good that we're in Matthew 5, because that's where it's addressed. You can be guilty of sinning this sin even without ever having gone to another woman or gone to another man. That's Jesus' point. Remember Job. He said, I made a covenant with my eyes. Why should I look upon a young woman? The Old Testament discourages, the Old Testament prohibits this heart lust as well. But specifically, Jesus says, I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Listen to Spurgeon. If sin were not allowed in the mind, it would never be made manifest in the body. This therefore is a very effectual way of dealing with the evil. It's easier to crush the egg than the actual snake, right? When the snake is just a baby and it's in the egg and you crush it, not that we should just willy-nilly crush snake eggs, but it's a lot easier dealing with a 19-foot python. Isn't it? Deal with it in the mind as one of the means by which you don't engage in the external action. Watson says, as a man may die of an inward bleeding, so he may be damned for the inward boilings of lust if it be not mortified. The Westminster Larger Catechism also considers all corrupt or filthy communications or listening thereunto. Ephesians chapter 5, 3-7 indicates this very thing. And then the Catechism as well speaks about the association of sexual sin with idleness, gluttony, and drunkenness. And I think there's a principle here. The failure to deal with every passion in a man or a woman is opening oneself to engage in any one of those passions. In other words, we have to regulate. We have to practice self-control. Have you ever pondered Galatians 5 and the fruits of the Spirit? Do you know that one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control? Think about that for a moment. Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Well, that being said, shouldn't we be about self-control? We say, oh, we want the fruit of the Spirit, love. We want the fruit of the Spirit, joy. We want the fruit of the Spirit, peace. Why don't we want the fruit of the Spirit, self-control, self-discipline, self-government? If there was more of that going on, and again, I think parents, we ought to teach our kids self-government, Control. Watch over your own heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. This is a necessary emphasis that scripture enjoins upon us. So a failure to govern every passion oftentimes produces a climate conducive to indulge in any passion. And so drunkenness, idleness, gluttony, those sorts of things oftentimes go hand in hand with sexual lust. Now, remember, just by way of an observation, what was David doing when he was spying Bathsheba, or when he was seeing? I don't think he was up there doing that. He was watching Bathsheba. Where should David have been? It was the time when kings go out to battle. I don't want to moralize the text. I've heard that text moralized before. Listen to what David should have been doing. If he was out killing Philistines, he wouldn't have been going in to Bathsheba and then murdering Uriah. If you're not doing what you're supposed to do, do what you're supposed to do. Don't open yourselves up to the temptation. That is inevitable. Living in a world like this, that traffics in sexual deviation and rebellion against God Almighty. Now, in terms of the positive aspect, as I said, I'll read the Catechism. What are the duties required in the Seventh Commandment? The duties required in the Seventh Commandment are chastity in body, mind, affections, words, and behavior, and the preservation of it in ourselves and others, watchfulness over the eyes and all the senses, temperance, keeping of chaste company, modesty and apparel, marriage by those that have not the gift of continency. If you can't be single, get married. There's no crime there. There's no sin there. There are some factions within Christendom, vis-a-vis Protestantism, that teaches that singleness is somehow a higher state. Perhaps you've heard the Basic Life Principle Institute by Bill Gaither. Bill Gaither's a nut. He is a nut. There is nothing more excellent about being single than married. If God has called you to be single and given you the gift to be single, then be single. But that's not a higher station than the rest of us slobs who are pining after our wives or husbands. That's legit. God made us that way. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 says, it would be good if all men were like I am, but not all men have been given the gift. Paul had the gift of continency. Paul had the gift of celibacy. Paul could do that. The gross, rife, sexual abuse of children in Rome could have been precluded if those fools would have allowed their priests to get married. get married, and that's the prevention of uncleanness, not abusing boys and girls. These things are not the way it's oftentimes depicted. There's a Protestantism that has been negatively affected by Roman Catholicism, and it's just messed up when it comes to matters of sex. If you're called to be single, praise God, serve God, glorify God in your singlehood. If you're married, that's not a lesser place. You're not as holy. You're not as godly. Now, there's certainly things that Paul says you've got her to worry about or you've got him to think about, certainly, but you can do that and still be holy. So this idea of continency or celibacy is somehow a better position? Yeah, if you're a papist, not if you're a Protestant. Protestants rightly understand in 1 Timothy chapter 4, it's a doctrine of demons to forbid marriage. That's just horrible. Back to this. So marriage, now listen to this, because if you think about it, adultery, the commandment as given, Deuteronomy 5.18, specifically speaks to married persons. Right? Not talking about single, all you single people, I want you to know that someday you may get married and when you get married, don't commit adultery. God through Moses at Sinai in Exodus 20, God through Moses in Deuteronomy 5 in the plains of Moab is addressing married people. So the propensity or the temptation or perhaps the tendency may be there in one or both parties to go outside of that marriage covenant and to engage in this wickedness. So listen what the Catechism says, again, rightly summarizing Scripture with reference to this. Marriage by those that have not the gift of continency, conjugal love, and cohabitation. conjugal love and cohabitation. Brethren, dare I say it, there ought to be joyful, frequent, often engaged in relationships among married people as a prevention for uncleanness and the temptation to go outside of the marriage. If you as a husband or you as a wife is holding out on your spouse, you are in sin against God. Let me just make that as clear as I can possibly make it. You are in sin. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, it is robbery, it is deprivation, it is detrimental to your spouse when you engage in that sort of a thing. So if that's your practice or your pattern, I want to encourage you with every fiber of my being To repent, confess your sins, forsake your sins, you will certainly find mercy from God, and I guarantee you'll find mercy from your spouse. This is a wretched practice, and persons shouldn't fall prey to it. And then the catechism goes on to say, diligent labor in our callings, shunning all occasions of uncleanness, and resisting temptations thereunto. Well, in conclusion, first, the means for protection. Turn to Proverbs chapter five. Proverbs chapter 5. While you're turning, I'll remind you of our confession. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and the preventing of uncleanness. Again, you couldn't say it any less romantic than that. Did anybody celebrate Valentine's Day that way? I'm so thankful for you, you prevent uncleanness in my life. That doesn't typically woo your spouse, but that is a lawful and legitimate application. That is what scripture teaches. But the means for protection specifically relative to adultery is found in Proverbs 5. It's found elsewhere, but notice, There are three R's. I call this the three R's of sexual purity. Verse 8, remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house. You get near it, you will probably fail. Solomon says, don't go near the door of her house. He doesn't say, don't go near her bed. He says, don't go near her door. You're not that holy. You go near her door, the next step may eventually be her bed. So you need to remove your way far from anyone that would tempt you or solicit you to evil in this regard. The second R is found in verse 18. Let your fountain be blessed, and notice, 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 with her love. You see, God is not anti-relations in marriage. God is pro-relations in marriage. God made it for the good of his creatures. Companionship, children, prevention of uncleanness, all purposes ordained by God, given by God to Adam, to Eve, and by extension to every creature that comes subsequent to them. It is a blessed gift given by God to his people. The second R is rejoice. And then the third R is verse 21. The word isn't there, but the concept is, remember. Remember, for the eyes of man, the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders all his paths. Remove your way far from her, rejoice with the wife of your youth, And remember that God watches those who go into another person that is not their wives, or go with another person that is not their husbands. So the means for protection, specifically relative to adultery, is marriage. Secondly, I mentioned there's instruction, notice in Proverbs 6. We dealt with this when we went through Proverbs. Proverbs 6, 20 to 35. I just want to give you some thoughts here. as parents instructing our children. In the first place, Solomon highlights the importance of God's law. If we're not teaching our children God's law, we are gypping them of a means that God uses to restrain their passions. If we are not engaged in discipleship with reference to our little ones, and we're not teaching them, now again, it's tough, and you've got to walk the tightrope, and you don't want to say too much, and create an interest that you don't want to do, but it is what it is, and we are where we're at, and this culture is riddled with this, and we need to counteract that with solid teaching from the law of God. Secondly, Solomon gives illustration to show the inevitability of punishment for adultery. Notice, I mentioned earlier that a man will take another man to task for having violated his wife. Notice in verse 30, people do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house. You see, God's not saying it's okay to steal. He's not saying that. In fact, the penalty is that he has to pay it back. But he says persons understand, right? If somebody's starving to death and they go into Walmart and they put a steak under their arm and they run out or they get out, again, we don't condone it. They have to give it back. They have to pay the piper. But we understand it, don't we? Yeah, yes, Solomon assumes that we do. And you're all looking at me like I'm nuts. If somebody steals a steak because they're starving, at least according to Solomon and God, we get it, we understand. But notice in verse 32, whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does so destroys his own soul. There's the judgment of God in hell. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. This is the problem he gets, or this is the punishment he gets from the husband. Verse 34, for jealousy is a husband's fury, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased, though you give many gifts. See what Solomon says? If you do this, you're going to get a good punch right in the eye. You're going to get a good punch right in the mouth. You're going to get a good punch right in the nose. If you violate that man's marriage bed, it's wicked. It's horrible. It's disgusting. Get it out of your head. Don't even think about it. Solomon as well gives, indicates the consequences involved in order to warn his sons. That's good teaching on the part of parents. Now, thirdly and finally, the use of the commandment, the use of the commandment, the civil use. How do the old authors treat sexual sin with reference to the civil government? Well, Ursinus says the magistrate should punish these heinous sins and abominable transgressions with extraordinary punishments. So again, it's gotten so commonplace that that kind of a statement horrifies us. Well, then the gutters would flow with blood. Yeah, maybe initially, but people would learn, right? It's the reality. When you start punishing crime, you start punishing as you ought. you'll see a great reduction in those sorts of things. If, for instance, you visit Singapore and you know if you graffiti on the wall, you will be caned, that's a great deterrent so that you don't take your paint can and spray it on a wall. You don't want to be caned. Well, the same thing obtains in this area as well. In a book written by Greg Bonson in the 1970s, it's on homosexuality, it's a biblical view, is the subtitle. He makes this observation concerning society. He says homosexuality that is publicly accepted is symptomatic of a society under judgment. You have to agree in terms of Romans 1, 26 and 27. He gave them up. This so-called sexual freedom is bondage. It's Orwellian. They're calling it liberty. They're calling it freedom. We know better. This is bondage. This is slavery. This is an indicator that the judgment of God is rife. Bonson goes on. He says, homosexuality that is publicly accepted is symptomatic of a society under judgment, inwardly corrupted to the point of impending collapse. Paul the Apostle regarded it as the most overt evidence of that degeneracy to which God in His wrath gave over the nations. Really incredible. Again, we have drifted far from this thought process even since the 1970s. It's become so rampant. It's become so prevalent that at times we don't really give it a lot of concern. So the civil use is that we ought to pray that God's law would restrain the lusts and the passions of vile men and women. Second use of the law of God is the pedagogical. The pedagogical, right? The law of God shows us our sin so that we see our need for Jesus. Now, I don't want a show of hands. In fact, I'm going to tell you, please don't raise your hands. But who here has been found out with reference to the seventh commandment? Again, don't raise your hand. Please don't raise your hand. This is one of those commandments that regulates something that in another context is lawful. Take the sixth commandment. Most of us don't want to kill people. Most of us don't want to murder people. Most of us don't want to stop the heart of another human being. But most of us, relative to the seventh commandment, want to engage in relations with our spouse. So it's the regulation of something that in one sense is legit, but in another sense is not. And there are times when Christians, godly people, can stray from the reservation and engage in conduct that is untoward. And I would suggest that the Seventh Commandment is one of those particulars, one of those things. Again, in my experience, I haven't met a lot of Christians who said, you know, I just wandered off the reservation. I went down to the mall and I slit someone's throat. I haven't heard that. And I'm thankful I haven't heard that. But relative to the Seventh Commandment, yeah, that's a sin that still plagues the people of God. So in terms of the pedagogical function of this particular law, Go to Jesus. Go to Christ. It is in Him alone that there is forgiveness. It is in Him alone that there is cleansing in His precious blood. And then in terms of the normative use, how do we use this law day in and day out? Well, in the first place, there ought to be abstention from all sexual sin. Don't engage in it, don't get near it, don't get close to it. 1 Thessalonians 4.3 Paul says, for this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality. That's just a given. We are to abstain from sexual immorality. Secondly, the practice of biblical marriage. The scriptures are clear. This is a prevention for uncleanness. If you are married, make sure you are married in the way that God says to be. Not only formally and technically, but in the day-to-day operations. Perhaps you and your spouse ought to re-read 1 Corinthians 7. Perhaps you and your spouse ought to re-read Proverbs 5. Perhaps you and your spouse ought to re-read some of these passages of Scripture that speak favorably concerning the marriage bed. Some bad teaching in the Christian church over in history has produced almost this dirtiness that obtains with reference to the marriage bed. No, it's undefiled according to the apostle in Hebrews chapter 13. It is a good and lawful thing and good marriages are going to use that blessing frequently. The mortification of sin. Again, Matthew 5, 29 to 30. When Jesus says, pluck out your right eye and cut off your right hand, please know that he's speaking metaphorically. He doesn't actually mean he wants you to gouge your eye out and he wants you to cut your hand off. Spurgeon says, yet let no man plead this literally and therefore mutilate his body as some foolish fanatics have done. Now, it is the case, with reference to sexual sin, that with no arms, with no eyes, there'll still be the presence of it. There'll still be that heart yearning if you're not dealing with it at that level. Christ speaks metaphorically. The Lord highlights the need to deal radically with sin. Again, Spurgeon says, better a blind saint than a quick-sighted sinner. Better a blind saint than a quick-sighted sinner. Well, brethren, again, by way of encouragement, with reference to the seventh commandment, I speak to you as a brother, as a friend, this is a sin condemned by God, and it's horrific with reference to society as a whole. With reference to a church, if persons that are members within the same church engage in adultery, what do you think happens to the church What do you think happens to that community of persons that are involved therein? We need to guard our hearts. We need to guard our minds. We need, as men, to say with Job, I've made a covenant with my eyes. I will not look upon a young woman. and you women need to do the same thing. This isn't a sin that is only for men, it's a sin that women engage in as well. Women are just as inclined to engage in rebellion against God with reference to the seventh commandment as are men. All of us need to take heed, all of us need to watch, and all of us need to pray. Well, let's close in a word of prayer. Our Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for its clarity concerning these issues that affect us in this world. And God, as we consider our own hearts, we ask that you would cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus. As we consider our church, I pray that you would protect us from such things. As we consider our society, again, we pray to you to have mercy. Our society is given over in many respects to just pursue unlawful lust and passion and wickedness and rebellion. And we pray that in your mercy you would send forth your gospel and save sinners. As Paul said concerning the Corinthians, such were some of you. We know the gospel is good news and we know that it is the answer for those who are in sin. And God, I pray that as gospel preaching goes forth, more and more people would hear and more and more people would believe. And we pray this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.