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THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT
"Thou shalt not commit
adultery."
(Exodus 20:14)
Today, divorce outpaces marriage in many large cities!
When I first began preaching on this subject over 27 years ago, I was
saying, "Divorce threatens to break up every third American
home!"
In spite of constant preaching
on the part of many church organizations, the tidal wave of desertions,
abandonments, broken homes and divorce has surged ever upward until there
are more divorce decrees issued in some big cities than marriage licenses!
Is there any subject more talked
of, written about, portrayed in television and the motion pictures than
sex?
One may browse through any
bookstore and see literally dozens of novels, documentaries, sensational
revelations and other "sex-ploitation"-type books.
Hollywood personalities are
unveiled as voyeurs and homosexuals, and the lurid details of their incredible
number of sexual escapades are eagerly gobbled up by the readers of prurient
filth by the millions!
Autobiographies sell like proverbial
"hotcakes" as millions read of the dozens of trysts between
this or that Hollywood actor or actress, who, it seemed, was in bed with
most of the population of the town, with the conceivable exception of
the mayor and chief of police!
And what of the movies? Is
there any motion picture produced today which does not portray
fornication, lesbianism, homosexuality, transvestitism, voyeurism, sadism
and every conceivable form of sex-related crime and violence?
As in the case of every other
one of the Ten Commandments, Jesus Christ of Nazareth showed the command
against adultery reaches out to embrace every aspect of human sexuality
- that it is a command which may be broken in the human heart, and
not, alone, by the deed.
"Ye have heard that it
was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery:
"But I say unto you, that
whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart" (Matthew 5:27, 28).
Even this command is
the subject of ribaldry, buffoonery and jesting. A recent country-and-western
song, for example, features the usual lonesome "cowboy" nasally
intoning that he and his would-be lover are not "really strangers"
for he has already "loved her in his mind"!
The Seventh Commandment is
a clear command against lust.
But lust - the blatant,
unbridled, hedonistic and insatiable desire for sensual gratification
which is a perverted, self-centered, incoming feeling - is one
of the most commonly expressed of all human appetites!
It is fair to say that practically
all advertising is skillfully designed to appeal to lust! Whether
it is the shiny new car, diet pills to give you a slimmer body, juicy,
mouth-watering views of attractive foods, beverages, holiday resorts or
sensuous nightwear, the emphasis is always on sexuality and lust!
It is proverbial that seminudity
is used to sell monkey wrenches!
Just what the sexy, sensuous
girl scantily clad in a filmy negligee, slithering over the windshield
and hood of the imported sports model has to do with the engineering,
comfort, safety, mileage or durability of the automobile is obscure.
However, advertisers are not
in the business of selling products; they are in the business of
selling lust FOR the product!
As was mentioned earlier, all
of the Ten Commandments "overlap."
Thus, the command against adultery
overlaps directly with the final commandment, which says, in part, "Thou
shalt not covet . . . thy neighbor's wife." Both of these overlap
with the command against idolatry (having another "god"
in front of the true God), for the apostle Paul said, "Covetousness,
which is idolatry"! (Colossians 3:5).
Human nature is a collection
of vanity, jealousy, lust and greed!
The baser human appetites are
common to human sensuality.
We are sensual, physical, carnal,
flesh-and-blood human creatures who, apart from the knowledge and truth
of God, would be restrained in our desire for self-gratification
only by the shifting and changing mores and "rules" of
a godless, lawless, nihilistic society.
Actually, the vast majority
in our nations today are living in precisely that fashion! Their sexual
codes are dictated only by "what is happening," by what
"everybody else is doing" and by the catch phrase "If it
feels good, do it!"
But the command against adultery
was God's law to preserve marriage!
Almighty God chose marriage
as a microcosm of the Kingdom of God!
When God says the partners
in marriage "shall become one flesh," He refers directly
to sexual intercourse in marriage.
Almighty God designed them
"male and female," and then established lows for the
sanctity and protection of that vital and foundational unit. To
commit acts which destroy this basic building block of any society
- which rend and tear at the very fabric of marriage - is to commit
acts and deeds which are tearing down society itself!
Since World War II, moral standards
have changed dramatically in the United States.
There are many causes for
the morals toboggan slide of our societies; socio-economic pressures,
the "future shock" syndrome, the subtle and insistent voice
of entertainment, the liberalizing of religion and social standards, drug
abuse - all these and many other causes could be listed for the
incredible effects with which we presently must live.
Look at our nations
from God's perspective.
Rampant homosexuality and "gay
rights" activists have burst upon the scene with torchlight marches,
demonstrations, rallies and proven political clout.
In many big cities the so-called
"closet queens" wield real political power.
How like ancient Sodom and
Gomorrah, which Almighty God destroyed by fire and brimstone from
heaven!
Make no mistake! The Seventh
Commandment is a very broad command applying to any form of sexual
sins, whether in or out of marriage. Of homosexuality, God says, "Wherefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts,
to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
"Who changed [exchanged]
the truth of God into [for] a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
"For this cause God gave
them up unto vile affections:
For even their women did change
the natural use into that which is against nature:
"And likewise also the
men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward
another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
"And even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
"Being filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
"Backbiters, haters of
God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient
to parents,
"Without understanding,
covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful,
"Who knowing the judgment
of God [ordinance, or laws of God], that they which commit such things
ARE WORTHY OF DEATH, not only do the same, but have
pleasure in them that do them."!
Notice! Here is a vast list
of human sins, including many direct and flagrant violations of
the Ten Commandments! However, notice such things as envy, deceit,
"whispering," and being implacable and unmerciful are
placed in the same categories!
The penalty for these things?
Death!
Perversion, homosexuality and
deviate sexual practices are soundly condemned of God in the Bible!
No amount of political activism, gay rights demonstrations, political
power, legislation, or a never-ending stream of thousands of books sanctioned
by the courts of our land is ever going to change the divine decree
of God!
Consider our society the way
it really is:
1. Every sixth American male
has homosexual tendencies.
2. Approximately 30 percent
of all men will experience sexual impotency at some time; the causes are
manifold, but only a tiny percent is truly physical.
3. Only a small percentage
of marriages are truly "happy," and yet even these will
experience some sexual dysfunction now and then.
4. Sexual experimentation reaches
into the early elementary grades, and at least 20 percent of those barely
reaching teenage have sexual experience.
5. About half of all those
in the upper years of high school are actively committing fornication
and other sex acts.
6. Ten percent of all teenage
girls between the ages of
15 and 19 become pregnant,
and over half of all teenage marriages are the result of premarital pregnancies.
7. About eight out of
10 of these hasty marriages break up within only a few years, and of all
teenage marriages about half are torn apart by divorce within
five years.
8. The unwanted children from
these illicit situations are likely to end up as antisocial, hostile,
suffering every conceivable physical, mental and social disorder. Often
they are physically abused by young, untrained and uncaring parents.
9. Tremendous numbers
of children are sexually abused, either by a relative, by parents themselves
or friends of the family.
10. Venereal disease is second
only behind communicable colds and flus among teenagers! New, virulent
strains of VD similar to "shingles," and called a form of "herpes,"
are now become epidemic among youths. And it is said to be completely
incurable!
Yet, only small percentages
of those with VD among teenagers have real comprehension of the
disease.
All of the foregoing
represents a monumental attack against the institution of marriage!
The Seventh Commandment is
the "marriage protecting" commandment.
If it were obeyed, in the
spiritual application as it applies to all sexual promiscuity,
our nations would be rid of an incalculable amount of suffering, disease
and death!
Again, what's "wrong"
with this commandment?
True, it flies in the face
of human sensual appetites. True, it is largely ignored and rejected by
society in general.
However, Jesus Christ magnified
the Seventh Commandment, making it far more binding by saying
that the thought of adultery is sin!
Ponder the question: "What
would our Western civilizations be like if everyone kept this Seventh
Commandment?"
First, no divorce! No desertions,
runaways or abandonments. No wife abuse. Families would be held together
as tight-knit social units, the very building blocks of civilization.
With such solid family units,
all of society would greatly benefit! Productivity, physical and
mental health, vibrant economies, an absence of sickness, disease and
death; the list would go on and on.
The great blessings which
would come upon any nation keeping even one of the Ten Commandments
of God are incalculable.
Almighty God intends that marriages
be lifted to a "God-plane" level! The apostle Paul had much
to say about the state of marriage, showing it was analogous to the relationship
between Christ and the church! (Ephesians 5:21-33).
Therefore, Almighty God called
unfaithfulness toward Him on the part of His nation Israel "adultery,"
or fornication!
Read Ezekiel 16! In this chapter
you see the picture of a beautiful young woman (Israel) who committed
"whoredoms," which God uses as an analogy to show how
His people had depended upon political and military alliances, instead
of depending upon God. Read Ezekiel 23! Here are two sisters, "Aholah
and Aholibah," portrayed as Samaria and Jerusalem, meaning the northern
l0-tribed house of Israel and the southern House of Judah.
God says, "And Aholah
played the harlot when she was Mine; and she doted on her lovers,
on the Assyrians her neighbours . . ." (Ezekiel 23:5).
The entire chapter is given
over to God's judgments on the sins of these two nations, which
are portrayed as young wives who left their legitimate husband and sold
themselves to their "lovers."
God said, "Then said I
unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms
with her, and she with them?
"Yet they went in unto
her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot; so they went
in unto Aholah and Aholibah, the lewd women.
"And the righteous men,
they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the
manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood
is in their hands . . ." (Ezekiel 23:43-45).
God had said, "I became
an husband unto them," showing that the covenant God made
with Israelis analogous to a marriage.
It is obvious the Seventh Commandment
is strongly supported throughout Scripture! Obviously, it is not
"done away." Again, "what is wrong" with the
Seventh Commandment? Absolutely nothing! It is given for the good
of all mankind - from a loving God!
It is for the preservation
of marriage; for the good of all mankind, and for the sanctity
and protection of the family unit.
It is actively binding upon
mankind today!
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