Commandment #7: Sanctity of Sex
Exodus 20:14
I. Introduction
-Our world seeks to influence us... and it does at times.
1. It desires to push its ethic on us.
2. To shape our way of thinking.
-So when we come to the ten commandments they seem odd.
1. Many ppl never move beyond the idea they are only ‘rules.'
2. In reality they are a holiness code.
-They have to do with how to live a holy life.
1. The first two have to do with the holiness of God.
2. The 3rd one has to do with the sanctity/ holiness of His name.
3. The 4th has to do with the sanctity of the Sabbath.
4. The 5th has to do w/ the sanctity of the family.
5. The sixth: the sanctity of life.
6. And now we come to the seventh.
-Let's see what is says...
II. Scripture
III. Sanctity of Marriage/ Sex
-This commandment has to do w/ the sanctity of marriage/ sex.
-"Sanctity of Marriage"
1. Marriage amendment.
2. The enemy of marriage has never been homosexuality.
3. They can't marry.
4. It's been heterosexuals in the context of marriage.
-We need to re-evaluate what marriage is!
1. How easy it is to get married!
2. Ill. Nashville call on Wed. to wed on Sat.
3. I will not marry a Christian and sinner.
4. Marriage is not legalization of sex/ validating lifestyle.
5. God has been taken out of marriage and replaced with some cheap notion of romanticism.
-But God, who created marriage, says it is sacred and not to be desecrated by adultery.
IV. Adultery's Damage
-Adultery is destructive thing.
1. Just as much as murder destroys physically...
2. ...so adultery can destroy w/ in marriage.
-Someone who has an adulterous spouse is hurt deeply!
1. It destroys trust.
2. It destroys intimacy.
3. It destroys identity.
-It hurts the whole family.
1. The children are always innocent victims of adultery.
2. They carry the scars of their parent's sins.
-But even the one who commits adultery ultimately suffers.
1. In doing research, the lie from Satan, is that you will be more happy in your affair.
2. That is a lie!
3. Proverbs 6:32-33 "He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. [33] Wounds and dishonor will he get, and his disgrace will not be wiped away."
-The lie of our society is that you should be happy at all costs.
1. But the true cost of happiness is obedience to God's Word!
2. Disobedience brings heart ache, guilt, and death!
-Ill. Fox News.com
1. Article titled: "Art of Teaching"
2. Description: "Author shares tips and tricks to avoid getting tangled in a web of lies in adultery."
-Ill. "Radio expert" said:
1. "Just do it [adultery]."
2. "What about guilt?"
3. "Guilt is a product of society pressuring you!"
4. No, it's the Holy Spirit convicting you!!
-Our society may accept it, but God never will!
1. We use the word affair instead of adultery, b/c it sounds nicer.
2. You can call it whatever you want it is still sin!
V. Unhappy Marriage?
-Nothing ever gives you a right to commit adultery!
-Even if they don't make you ‘happy.'
1. Your spouse is not responsible for your happiness!
2. If you are not happy before you're married you won't be happy after you're married!
-"I'm just not happy."
1. That's no reason to cause so much hurt in ppl's lives!
2. Adultery is self-centered!
-Robert C. Shannon: "Adam and Eve had the world's only perfect marriage. She couldn't talk about the man she might have married and he couldn't complain that his mother was a better cook."
1. You're gonna have problems.
2. And you're gonna have to work them out!
3. You've made a covenant w/ God, and He is part of keeping the marriage together!
-"We don't have sex enough!"
1. That's no reason either!
2. Marriage is about giving more than it is receiving.
3. Adultery is self-centered!
-1 Corinthians 7:2-6 "Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. [3] The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights [KJV- due benevolence; NIV- marital duty; literally- marriage debt], and likewise the wife to her husband. [4] For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. [5] Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. [6] Now as a concession, not a command, I say this."
1. Do I need to be more clear than that?
2. Ask your parents if you don't know what conjugal rights are.
VI. Leading to Marriage
-As parents we need to do more about equipping our children for a faithful marriage.
-Talk about sex & marriage.
1. We have allowed the government to dictate to our children.
2. Do we not remember that the world has a different philosophy?
3. The church needs to address these issues.
4. Ill. A father asked his 8-yr-old son at dinner, ‘‘What did you learn at school today?"
5. His son said: "We learned how to make babies."
6. Mom & Dad looked at each other and Dad asked: "And how do you make babies?"
7. The boy said, ‘‘Oh, it's easy, you just drop the Y and add I-E-S."
8. Why are we so awkward when it comes to talking about the truths of God.
-If you don't tell your children about it, the Devil will.
-Today it's prevalent to "try out" your future mate before marriage.
1. It is sin.
2. It is destructive to any possible future marriage.
3. Psychologists & studies agree living together before marriage is always detrimental to future marriage.
4. Don't fall to the lie that this will help prevent a mistake.
5. It is the mistake!
-C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity writes: "The monstrosity of sexual intercourse outside marriage is that those who indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union (the sexual) from all the other kinds of union which were intended to go along with it and make up the total union. The Christian attitude does not mean there is anything wrong about sexual pleasure, any more than about the pleasure of eating. It means that you must not isolate that pleasure and try to get it by itself, any more than you ought to get the pleasures of taste w/out swallowing and digesting, by chewing things and spitting them out again."
1. Sex outside of Biblical marriage is sinful.
2. Can I be any more clear?
-Unmarried folk: don't just accept the first guy that shows any interest.
1. If he wants to paw all over you in the back seat in a dark alley, get rid of him.
2. If you are patient God will bring you a Christian man who will truly love you!
-The most valuable thing you have to give to marriage is your virginity.
1. Do not take that lightly.
2. B/c the Christian potential spouses are going to want someone like that to marry.
3. Ill. Sarah & I were virgins.
4. We wanted to get that in the clear before we started dating.
VII. Where Does Adultery Begin?
-Some define it only at the sexual act.
-Jesus defines it Matthew 5:27-30 "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.' [28]But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. [29]If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. [30]And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell." 1. Lust is adultery.
2. Oldies song: "Standin' on the corner watchin' the girls go by... You can't go to jail for what you're thinkin'."
3. Maybe not, but you can go to hell for it.
4. Pornography
-Jesus is not trying to define a point on a relational line though.
1. He's making this an issue of the heart.
2. I wonder how many wives are unfaithful to the husband b/c they live in a fantasy land of their romance novel or movies.
3. What about spending late hours in the office away from your spouse.
-Martin Luther: "Let the wife make her husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave."
-There are a few issues that we must be a 'feminist' on:
1. Pornography: makes women objects.
2. Immodest apparel: make women objects.
3. Ladies: our society wants to make you into objects rather than ppl.
4. To combat that: take a little extra time to use discretion when you are shopping.
5. Rule of Thumb: "If you've gotta keep pulling your shirt up and pulling your skirt down, get something w/ more material!"
-Hollywood drives our fashion
1. But look at the sorrow & despair in their lives!
2. Do you really want to live that kind of a life?
3. Article I read: "It is no wonder that our society is inundated with messages about sex that is contrary to God's 7th commandment ‘You shall not commit adultery.' Our divorce rate b/c of adultery and the number of married couples in counseling over extra marital affairs has never been higher. It is time we stop listening to Hollywood and listen to God's Holy Will!"
VIII. There is Hope
-There is hope, even if you have committed adultery.
-In John 8 we have the story of the woman caught in adultery.
1. The scribes & Pharisees are trying to test Jesus.
2. But what I want to point out is Jesus' interaction with the woman.
3. He forgives her and says: "Go & sin no more."
4. There is forgiveness in Christ (male or female)!
-That doesn't mean everyone will trust you right away.
1. But it does mean you have established a good place to begin rebuilding w/ the Lord.
2. Wholeness in Christ!
IX. Conclusion
-Adultery is a devastating thing.
-Life is too short & eternity is too long to take part in such a thing.
-Marriage & sex in the right context is a holy thing.
-I'll leave you with God's Word.
-Hebrews 13:4 "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous."
Response
