Diane, thank you for making this slide. It has lots of colors on it. I could read the numbers. Green, you see the green at the top of the thermometer? That has to do with a grant that we've applied for. And then the space from the bulb to the bottom of that green line is what we'd like to generate to help complete the phases which basically represent the front of the building. And if the Lord moves you and you'd like to make an investment in this really neat project of preserving the building, you can do that by going online or you can talk to any of the elders or deacons or anybody else in this family because we are really concentrating on making this happen. I'd like you to turn to Exodus 24 verses 14 and 15. Last week I asked you to stand up and I asked you to sit down while I read this. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. Word of the Lord. When I was a kid, two blocks away from us lived my cousin Nadine. At the time, she was an only child. I was an only child. She was as close as anything I've had back then to a sister. But she was two years younger than me, and I kind of took advantage of her from time to time, taking her candy and sometimes her toys. And I would just kind of walk in and go, what's that, Nadine? She'd go, oh, look what I got. And I'd tell her, it's mine. And she would go, no, no, it's mine. And she'd start crying and everything. And I've had to repent on that several times, because I got a particular joy out of that. Yeah. Oh, look, I made her cry. But that concept of it's mine. and everything that those emotions generate. I want to talk to you about that today. Now, we've been looking at the Ten Commandments to see what they can tell us about God. By now, we know they're much more than just a list of moral guidelines, rules and regulations. They're more than a list of things that tell us what to do and what not to do. But like all other scripture, they're part of God's self-revelation, part of God showing us who he is and what his plan of redemption is for his children. So these passages, along with the entire body of the law, I think tell us more about God's character and nature than they do anything else. They go deep into showing us who he is. how he relates to his creation, and how he functions in our individual lives. This is why we call this series The Heart of God. This is part four. Let me string some of this together for you so far so that you can see what's going on here. The first commandment, he's the one true God. That's at the very core of who God is. Because there is only one God, we go to commandment two, he is worthy alone of our worship. As we worship Him, as we come to see who He is, we see that commandment number three, He is holy. In His holiness and perfection, commandment number four, He created everything. I mean, the Creator of all things. That includes you and me, and everybody around us. We don't have a franchise on that. He created everybody, even the people that we don't agree with. So for that reason, he is worthy of honor, and we show his worthiness in how we honor the people around us, in particular, our mother and our father. And one of the reasons we do that is because commandment number six, God is the giver of life. He gave our parents life, and through them, he gave us life, and he does that by sharing himself with us because God is life itself. Now, all that came from the first three parts of this series, and if you're following this, you're beginning to see that each of these commandments, each of these statements as the Jews would have read it, build on the one before and develops a deeper understanding of who our Father in heaven is. So they're not a scattered list of rules. They're not just a random list of do's and don'ts. They give us a portrayal of the one true God, and they help us understand the fullness of who he is. We just get a peek into the heavenly realm and see who God is. So today, we're going to take a look at the seventh commandment and the eighth commandment. So I'm going to ask you to be patient with me on the seventh commandment because I'm going to say some things that sound a little bit startling, but hopefully they'll make some sense by the time we're done with the seventh commandment. Okay? Everybody agreed to do that? I don't know if I heard yes from everybody. You shall not commit adultery. Now the word for adultery here has two connotations, which would have been true back then. I think they both apply. One of them is the physical act of adultery, and the other, when this was written, you know, the other one is spiritual, but there's some nuance here that we just need to grasp, because there's a greater lesson to hear if we understand what's going on. When this was written, it applied, hold your horses, to married women. It applied to married women who had relations with anyone other than her husband. It didn't apply as much to married men. Well, that just sounds terrible, doesn't it? Oh, that offends me. How could that be in the Bible? Well, there's actually an explanation to all this. And if there wasn't, some of Israel's most legendary leaders would be in some deep trouble living in sin. Men like Jacob, who eventually took on the name of Israel, God gave it to him. Moses, David, Solomon, and a few more. Now we know those men weren't perfect, but they all had children with concubines, as well as their wives. That doesn't sit well with us, does it? So here's the problem. Without trying to understand the times and the cultures that these verses were written in, we can easily misinterpret what's being said. And that happens most often when we begin to define ancient terms by contemporary standards. Things were certainly different back then. Not necessarily bad or evil, they were just different. While a woman could be stoned, and here's what I'm talking about. A woman could be and most likely would be stoned if caught in an adulterous situation. Penalties for men were a lot less severe. You take a look in Deuteronomy 28, 22. Verse 28, it says, if a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed and seizes her and lies with her and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman 50 shekels of silver and she shall be his wife because he's violated. He may not divorce her all his days. What do we do with that? You know, tragically, some people will look at this. this sort of thing in Scripture and begin judging God. They start accusing Scripture of being authored by men and having a man's perspective. So is God misogynistic? Is God a chauvinist? By the way, misogynistic means hater of women. Chauvinist means that God thinks men are superior to women. Is that what God thinks? Is that what's here in the Scripture? You know, if your thoughts go in that area, my recommendation to you is be very, very careful of what we accuse God of being. We really don't want to find ourselves in a position where we assume that the superiority over God. I mean, we know from the Scriptures that never ends well. So are the Scriptures contaminated by the opinions of men? We hear this. Are they unreliable just because some verses offend our 21st century sensibilities? If so, we're all in a lot of trouble. I mean, we see this happening all around us. Once we open that door to that idea that this verse or that passage was their opinion, it doesn't really apply today. It doesn't apply to me. It has no meaning to us today. That was then. This is now. How do we close that door? Where does it stop? Do we take every piece that we don't agree with or that seems to be objectionable or seems to be contrary to what we believe and just throw it away? here at WBF, and all those other churches that recognize and hold to the doctrine of inspiration. Let me explain that. It's just a little sidebar. This is the idea that God used human vessels. He didn't dominate them. He didn't dictate to them word for word, but he allowed their conscious participation and breathed into them, inspired the Scriptures. A little bit of a mystery, but if we understand that, then we can agree with Paul when he says in 2 Timothy 3.16, a familiar verse, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Now when they mention man here, they mean mankind. men and women. So there are no human opinions, there are no errors, there are no contradictions, yet there are misunderstandings of what the scriptures say. And many of those misunderstandings are very similar to what we're reading here in Exodus. One of the primary misunderstandings of this word adultery is somebody applying a black and white interpretation of what it means, and that's led to a lot of pain and a lot of heartbreak. We're going to define what adultery is, and we've kind of got an idea that's kind of informed by scripture, but not necessarily informed by all of scripture. So we can start clearing some of this up if we admit that the original readers understood something a little bit different than we do. Why is that? I know a lot of you are thinking, why are we going down this path? This doesn't sound real good, John. Stick with me, okay? Society functioned differently back then. God made it clear, we saw in the other commandments, that the family unit is ordained. Family needed to be large to handle crops and livestock. The wife was unable to have children. Then the family had an obligation to sustain not just the land they were on, but the bloodline of the father. The male, that made surrogates and concubines acceptable. I'm not saying blessed. I'm just saying acceptable. Because of all that, they understood adultery to be an offense against the husband of the woman involved. Yes, it was a patriarchal society. It's become a bad word these days. But rather than condemn it because it was different, it's something that we have to accept that God did. They were patriarchal, they did these things, and they were His chosen people. We need to process this. And I know that's a challenge, but only if we see this as a do or don't. Now, let me stop right here, just so there's no misunderstanding what I'm saying. Being unfaithful to either spouse is clearly a sin. We know that. We can see it in the rest of Scripture, particularly in today's culture, which operates on a completely different cultural imperative. Furthermore, and here's the kicker on this, if you read the entire Bible, You see that the use of concubines or the use of surrogates, or whenever we see one man having multiple wives, whenever we see that, it never turns out well. It never goes well. There's a larger lesson to be learned there. It's not God's ideal. It was something that was allowed, but not necessarily blessed. If you want something contemporary, it's just like God allows us to sin daily and doesn't bless our sin. Now that we have an understanding of how the original readers read this commandment, let's toss all that into the bowl here and see what it tells us about God. First, let me mention this. None of us, none of this gives any permission to be unfaithful or to have multiple affairs or wives. Again, God in His grace allowed those things to happen back then just as He does today, and back then they did not have the clarity of the marriage relationship that we get through Paul in Ephesians chapter 5. Take a look at it this afternoon. So if we examine the whole Bible, we see that marriage has always been designed to be between one man and one woman. And if you take a close look at those families where the husband had the surrogate or the concubine, it's always really, really messy. Let me give you a couple examples. Abraham had Ishmael. Remember that? Isaac had Esau. Remember that? Jacob has 10 sons that want to get rid of the 11th, and the list goes on and on. So God doesn't bless those practices, but he does use them to build his kingdom. So the one clear message we get from this commandment is that given the cultural environment, listen carefully, God expects the bride to be faithful. Did you hear me? God expects the bride to be faithful. Now, some of you know where I'm going with this, but hold on. Don't tune me out. Clearly, from what we've learned about God creating families, there's a sacred institution involved in this. Furthermore, what we know about marriage from as early as Genesis 3 is that God forms one flesh between a man and a woman at the point of marriage. Something miraculous there. It's both physical and spiritual. One flesh describes the physical union of two people, but it's also the spiritual union of two people and two families. There's something amazing going on there. God forms them and blesses them. They're blessed by God who created both parties, and so we see that, but it's also prophetic. If we understand, it demonstrates that two people can become one. while remaining distinctly different from each other. It's a foretaste of our union with Christ, Ephesians 5 says so. A little snapshot of what happens when he's our Lord. God has given us the institution of marriage to be a snapshot of Christ and the church. So to share that level of intimacy with someone outside the marriage relationship is a betrayal and a denial of what God has done and what he's doing. So we have that aspect of things. If that's not enough, let's go a little deeper. Over 200 times, the Bible specifically mentions that God is faithful. And if we look at all the references to God's faithfulness, we'll see that it's well over 1,000 times. God trying to tell us something there? 1,000 times in 66 books? So one of his primary attributes, if you could call it primary, is that God is faithful. He is steadfast. Now, that means more than we think it means, because it also indicates that he is unchanging. Follow me on this. Psalm 102 verse 25 says, of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain. They will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same. and your years have no end." Malachi 3.6, for I the Lord do not change. Hebrews 13.8, Jesus Christ, you know this one, is the same yesterday and today and how long? Forever. Now, we know this, but consider what it means. He is unchanging. God is not capricious. God does not fall in and out of love with us. The things that we do are never a threat to our relationship with him. He will never betray us. He will never find someone more desirable than us. He will never abandon us. He will never leave us alone. He made a vow to us. But He would never leave us nor forsake us, and He would one day take us to be home with Him forever. And that vow never, never, ever changes. Think about that. So because of that, it is upon us to demonstrate the type of godly faithfulness to the world that He demonstrates to us. The marriage bed is to remain sacred. Intimacy is reserved for marriage. For those who are single, they share a very special intimacy with Christ. Paul's a beautiful example of that. Look at it sometime. In all this, God calls for the bride of his son to be faithful. See how that threads together? calls for the bride of his son to be faithful. Why? Because he's faithful. Unlike those fathers in the Old Testament, God is faithful in all things, and our faithfulness to each other and to Christ, our Lord and Savior, is a testimony to his faithfulness to us. The seventh commandment is God is faithful. The Eighth Commandment, you shall not steal. Oh, this is an easy one. Just don't take stuff. It's easy to understand, and certainly there. But like all the others, it goes a little bit deeper than it might look on the surface. The general idea of these chapters is pretty much the same thing we would think. The Jews thought anyone caught stealing, restitution had to be made, but stealing was taking from an individual, from the sanctuary, from a business, something that didn't belong to you. Of course, it also extended to kidnapping and livestock and that sort of thing. Chapter 21 and 22 of Exodus goes pretty deep into all this, so you can take a look at that later on. But the general idea of those two chapters is that when someone is caught stealing, restitution has to be made. The great catch about that is usually the restitution is a far greater amount than what was taken, so you've got to pay back more than what you took. So how did you know when something was stolen? I mean, you know, something disappears out of our yard. We have no idea where it went. Well, back then, small, closely knit villages and the tribes of that time, it was pretty hard to hide a theft. You couldn't just steal something. I mean, you had to do kind of what Achan did and bury it in your tent and never see it again. So the Jews under God's law were gentle. compared to other Eastern cultures. Most of them required some kind of physical punishment or actual disfigurement and even death. So you might wonder, why were the penalties so severe for somebody who took something? Well, stealing upsets the community, doesn't it? I mean, think about if you've ever had anything taken from you. It creates suspicion. Who did it? Distrust. I'm not going to leave my stuff out anymore. Anybody could take them. Also causes folks to become indignant. And you start hearing, that was mine. That was mine. And that's when the trouble starts. See, that's where we all have a problem, thinking something is ours. Believing that we are the sole possessors of anything. So we get offended, angry, when someone takes something from us. The thief has indeed committed a sin, but the original owner begins to take on offense. And maybe not just angry, but perhaps gets violent. Perhaps demands vengeance. I mean, we know where that's going, right? Who has vengeance? God has vengeance, not us. For the owner, there's something to consider here. Let me challenge you. Is that thing that was taken from you worthy of getting angry over? I mean, does it have eternal value? Let me lay this on you. Was God sovereign over that theft? Ooh. Ooh. I gotta admit, that's a hard one for me. But we know God's sovereign, right? I mean, was God saying to him, go, I didn't see that coming. Oh, I'm sorry, I was looking the other way. I'll take care of this. Don't worry, I'll smite him. You know, I love that word. Is God sovereign over this? Is there a reason that he allowed that to be taken from you? Oh, we've turned this thing upside down, haven't we? It's an issue worth some consideration. I'm not saying there's something wrong with you if you think that, but it's worth considering, isn't it? We should remember that God created everything. Isn't that what Scripture tells us? It does. Paul, speaking of Christ in Colossians 1, says this in verse 16, for by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him. We can see his presence even in the creativity that men have, men and women have. Romans 1 20, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. He creates everything. So he owns everything. And everything we have, he has given to us. First Chronicles 29, 11, yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and earth is yours. Yours is all the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you. First Chronicles 29, a couple of verses later, but who am I? And what is my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly for all things come from you? So when someone steals something, he's removing it from the person that God gave it to. But back to the thief again. He claims it for himself. Do you see the problem? This is more than just theft. It's a denial of God's sovereignty. That's what the thief is doing. He's accusing God that God gave it to the wrong person. He says to God, well, maybe you created that, but I'm going to take over from here because it's not where it belongs. It belongs with me. He's saying, I don't recognize it. Only the creator has the right and the authority to give it to whom he places. I now claim that authority that God has as mine. Whoa. This is clearly a problem, but it's really nothing more than another example of a human being trying to sit on the throne of God and take his place. The Eighth Commandment shows us that God is the giver of all things. He's the owner of all things, and He gets to decide where they belong, not us. Now, there's our two commandments. We have the Seventh Commandment. God is faithful. Once we see this, it should bring comfort, not just because He says He'll never leave us. but because it means he'll be true to his vows, fulfill his promises. Watch this. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you know what? Maybe you've been unfaithful. Maybe you've done something that doesn't comport with Scripture. Maybe you haven't lived the life that you think a godly person lives, but God's given us a tool to handle that, hasn't he? It's called repentance. You know, as Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit quickens these things to us, we repent, our relationship restored. And so, if the Lord is your Savior, listen to this, He is in heaven right now preparing a place for you. That's what He's doing. It's not a promise, it's a statement of truth. Why you send it to the father? Sent the helper down here to help us with all that messy stuff that we deal with. He's up there advocating for us and preparing a place for us. God is faithful to that promise. And because God is faithful, he calls us to be faithful as well. Then the eighth commandment. God is the owner of everything. And when we steal, we challenge that notion. When we take it in our own power to move things around the way we want them, we accuse God of getting everything wrong. But look at this as well. We also say to God, your grace is not sufficient for me. Yeah, I got your grace, but I need this too. I'm willing to rebel against you in order to try and make myself happy. I'm not satisfied in you. I'm not satisfied in what you've given me. I am wiser than you, and I will have things my way." Meanwhile, as the owner of something stolen, we have to be careful not to accuse God of making a mistake by allowing it to be taken. Might just be God asking us how important that thing was. And you know what? When we do some serious self-examination, it might be more important than we thought. And the important thing in that is that that thing is not more important in our lives than God. I mean, if somebody steals your car and it's the only way you get to work, that's important, right? Is the car more important than God? Do you need the car to sustain you, or do you need God to sustain you? It's a little more complex than we thought, but we need to keep in mind that God owns everything. So is anything ours? You know, my cousin asked me that one time. She got a little bit older and kind of got onto what I was doing, and she would get frustrated and go, does anything belong to me? And I would go, no, I didn't know how close to the truth I was. because not really. It all belongs to God. This applies to everything we have, all of our material possessions, all our money, all our family, even us. We belong to God. We're all stewards of the things that God has given us, so we should treat them responsibly. And all of it serves as a reminder that God has given us the most precious thing he could possibly give us. And it stays with us because he's given it to us. That's the sacrifice of his only son, Jesus Christ, who went to the cross so that we could draw closer to him. Let's pray. Father, we give you thanks. Lord, we're getting a picture of your sovereignty here. We pray, Father, that we might walk in that, we might find peace in it, we might find our rest in it, Father, that our understanding of how completely sovereign you are would give us a way to walk in this desperately lost and filthy world. until you bring us home. We thank you for your son, which guarantees us a place there. We thank you that you grant us repentance, which each time we do that, renews our relationship with you. We thank you, Father, that you are faithful. And we pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Hi, Pastor John here. Thanks for joining us. If you were blessed by the service, let me ask you to do us a favor. Would you click on the like button below, the little thumbs up? If you're listening on Sermon Audio, perhaps you can comment or even share the sermon with someone else. We'd love to hear from you. We're on Facebook and YouTube at WBFVA and on the World Wide Web at WBFVA.org. Let us know if you'd like us to pray for you. We'd love the opportunity. If you'd like to support us financially or to make a donation to our building preservation fund, You can do that through our website at wbfva.org by clicking on Given. Of course, you can send a check to Warrington Bible Fellowship, 46 Winchester Street, Warrington, VA, 20186. You'll receive a tax-deductible receipt either way at the end of the year. If you'd like to contact me personally, you can email me at kuvakas, that's k-u-v-a-k-a-s, at gmail.com. I'm also on Facebook and Instagram under John Kuvakas. Either way, we'd love to hear from you, or even if we have the opportunity to visit us in person one Sunday, we'd love to see you. We meet at 46 Winchester Street in downtown Warrington at 11 a.m. every Sunday morning. And now may God bless you richly until we gather again.