Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome back to our series in the 10 commandments, also known as the Decalogue.

We have been journeying through these well known commands from God to discover their purpose and see how they apply to us today.

Illustration: Hobbies, Astrophotography, Hubble Telescope

This brings us to our 7th commandment in our 10 commandments series.

While my hope is that this is a series that we enjoy and explore God’s purpose and plan deeper

What I also realize is how painful and difficult this journey can be as well.

Each week as we look at these commandments we discover the beauties and wonders of God.

But, we also recognize how we have failed at these commandments

With failure comes shame, guilt, and sorrow.

On one side we are seeing the glories and holiness of God,

On the other side we are fallen and brokenness caused by our disobedience.

The Christian life consists of this dance between sorrow and celebration.

Pain and Praise

Failure and Faith.

Heartache and Hallelujah

What makes these feelings of emotion and sadness worse is that breaking these commandments not only effect our relationship with God, but effect our relationship with each other.

That is exactly what these last 6 commandments are about.

Our relationship not only with God but our relationship with each other.

Not only is great emotional distress and shame caused “To” the one who breaks these commandments.

It isn’t just yourself that you are hurting.

But, those whom are the closest can take the full force of your failures.

But, let me share with you the hope that we will also discover within the destruction.

When we are surrounded in the darkness of sin and death, the penetrating light of Christ illuminates and brings life.

What we will see today must not be missed.

The harder the fall, the deeper the depths / the more miraculous the rescue and more wonderful the Salvation.

If you find yourself this morning at the bottom of the deepest pit of despair and are looking for any possible hope,

Today, you will see that hope is not in a program, hope is not in a set of rules, hope is not in a society or a culture.

Hope will be found in a man.....not just any man, but the God-man, the Christ, The Son of God: Hope will be found in Jesus.

And I can’t wait to share that with you this morning.

So, here we are, in the 7th commandment.

The failure of this commandment has plagued our society, our families, and even our own heart and mind in such a drastic way.

But, before we explore this commandment in detail, I want to share how we will be framing our exploration.

1.) How does this commandment Report the Character and Nature of God?

This commandment gives us a report on the nature and character of God.

Like a journalist who reports the news, God reports his Character and Nature through this commandment.

How does this commandment show us God more clearly?

2.) What does this commandment Require of us?

This commandment tells us what God Requires of Us to live in obedience to His command.

Remember that a commandment is a divine authoritative order.

3.) How does this commandment Reveal our depravity, our sin.

Do you follow this commandment?

Have you ever failed at this commandment?

Has there been a time, an event, a moment, a second, in which you did not follow this commandment.

Then this commandment will reveal our disobedience to God.

4.) How does this commandment call us to Respond to Jesus.

This commandment will drive each of us to find a solution to our inability.

Does this commandment make you look to “be” a better person?

Or does this commandment make you look “to” a better person?

Ultimately this command shows us our need of Jesus.

Thus we must respond with faith in our Savior.

We are also going to look at a common misunderstanding and a common misconception about each commandment each week.

This week is a bit different as what is commonly debated isn’t a denial of the commandment but a dismal of the severity of it.

When speaking of this commandment it is often said that it isn’t a big deal because breaks it.

If it is hard wired into our human nature then it can’t be wrong.

Which commandment am I speaking of?

Today we are going to explore sexual immorality through the 7th commandment.

Let’s go ahead and begin our investigation into this commandment by opening our Bibles or turning them on if that is your preference.

We are in the book of Exodus, Chapter 20, verse 14.

The 5 words of this commandment are as follows.

Last week we spent the majority of our time together making sure that we had a robust biblical understanding of the word Kill.

We had to do this because the english language of “murder” was not clear when it came to the 6th commandment as it is in the Hebrew.

Today’s commandment does not suffer from the same language limitations.

What is meant in biblically in the Hebrew is conveyed biblically in the English word Adultery.

Definitionally speaking: Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse.

The first important distinction is the word voluntary.

This does not apply to someone who is raped.

Secondly, we see that it can be with two married people who are not married to each other or one married person and the other person unmarried, and not the lawful spouse.

While the definition is accurate and correct and we do not need to try to figure out a better word.

We do find that the biblical definition is much more vast than the english definition.

Jesus, when he gave His sermon on the mount shocked everyone when he gave the robust biblical definition.

Jesus is not going to change anything that has not already been revealed throughout the Old Testament.

So do not look at what Jesus is about to say as changing the commandment, he’s not changing anything or adding anything to the commandment.

This isn't a new definition that only came about with Jesus, but it is the first time it has been condensed and connected the way Jesus is about to do.

Let’s jump to the Gospel of Matthew to see what is about to happen.

First and foremost this transforms the common understanding from a physical issue to ultimately a heart issue.

This does not negate the physical issue or lessen the physical issue but expands the physical nature of adultery.

Thus this not only includes the physical action between a married person and someone who is not their spouse,

But now includes voluntary sexual intercourse between two non-married people due to lustful actions outside of the marriage unity.

Sexual intercourse between two non-married people is now adultery because they looked upon each other and carried out the lust of their hearts physically outside of what God has prescribed for Marriage, in marriage.

So, we see that whatever is done physically with lust towards someone who is not your spouse is biblically defined as adultery.

Not only does this include physical intercourse but now includes all lustful physical acts to anyone who is not your spouse.

Even if you have every intention to one day make them your spouse, you are still breaking this law.

The Biblical term is still adultery but the definition for what all this includes is vastly expanded.

When I say expanded, I do not intend to mean that this wasn't always what was meant by adultery.

That somehow this only went into affect at this moment with Jesus on the mount.

It was always meant this way, as sexuality was always meant exclusively between a married man and a woman.

We see this reality at the very onset of Creation in the second chapter of Genesis.

Jesus continues to pinpoint the matter of the heart by using wording that not only included all physical forms of intimate lust and touch, Jesus also included, get this, mental forms of lust.

To correctly define biblical adultery is to include physical AND mental lusts outside of the marriage unity.

This now includes looking upon someone with lust.

Using your imagination in lust.

Watching something that engages your lust.

Listening to something that brings forth lust.

If you look at someone walking by, someone at work, someone at school, someone at the theme parks, and they are not your spouse, and begin having sexual thoughts about this person, no matter how brief, you are now committing adultery.

If you begin having sexual fantasies about someone or even dare I say, some thing, you are actively committing adultery.

This includes non-fictional and fictional lustful intents.

There is a large movement in this age of cartoon or animated content designed to arouse sexual lusts.

Which targets our teenagers and younger kids.

The mindset could be that as long as it isn’t a real person then this is ok as it isn’t hurting anyone.

But, the reality is that it is biblical adultery because you are using the gift that is given for you and your spouse and placing it upon someone or something that is not your spouse.