← Back to sermon library

I think it was in January when 
Bill C-4 came into practice or came into play. So much of this 
will be reviewed, but we'll go a bit slower so we can get the 
texts in us. So beginning in chapter 20 at 
verse 1, I'll read the section. And God spoke all these words 
saying, 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. Remember 
the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 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 cattle, nor your stranger who is within 
your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the 
earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh 
day. Therefore the Lord blessed the 
Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, 
that your days may be long upon 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 house. You shall not covet your neighbor's 
wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, 
nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Now 
all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, 
the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when 
the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they 
said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear. But let 
not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people, 
do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that his fear 
may be before you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood 
afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God 
was. Amen. Well, as I said, we're 
looking at the Seventh Commandment, a commandment that is obviously 
held in disdain among the world today, and unfortunately at times, 
those who profess faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We'll look 
first at the basis of the commandment, and then secondly, the prohibition 
of the commandment. It's a pretty straightforward 
statement. You shall not commit adultery. But as we have seen 
in the history of interpretation, and as we look at scripture, 
we see that not only is the negative or the prohibition commanded, 
but also the implication is positively. We should promote chastity. We 
should promote righteousness when it comes to sexual ethics 
and marriage and those sorts of things. So it's a very full-orb 
command, and as we've seen elsewhere, that under one sin or duty, all 
of the same kind are forbidden or commanded. So this not only 
entails the specific breach in terms of the marriage covenant, 
but all sexual sins are subsumed under the seventh commandment. 
We see that, for instance, in chapter 21 of the book of Exodus. You have laws concerning bodily 
injury and homicide in chapter 21, verses 12 to 32. Those are 
obviously outflows of the sixth commandment. So you've got the 
principle, the general statement in the Decalogue, and then you 
have the fleshing out or the application of those statements 
in the case laws that follow. So adultery is like that. There's 
a lot of sexual sin condemned in the Bible, there's a lot of 
specific details given, and we ought to trace them back to this 
particular commandment. Well, the purpose or basis of 
the commandment, first of all, is found in Genesis chapter 2. 
You can turn there. The purpose of God in marriage. 
Marriage is the foundational building block of society. God made man, and then he made 
woman, and then he brought them together in marriage. He made 
them one flesh. If we jeopardize that basic, 
fundamental building block of society, we're going to jeopardize 
all of society. If we can't trust one another 
in our own marriage situations, then we certainly can't trust 
people outside of that particular context. So marriage is most 
important. And when we look at Genesis chapter 
2 at verse 18, we notice the Lord God said, it is not good 
that man should be alone. Remember the creation week each 
and every day God says all that he had made was good. This is 
the first time in the creation week where God says something 
is not good. So God said it is not good that 
man should be alone. I will make him a helper comparable 
to him. Out of the ground the Lord God 
formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and 
brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever 
Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave 
names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast 
of the field. But for Adam, there was not one, not found a helper 
comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep 
sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his 
ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which 
the Lord God had taken from man he made into a woman, and he 
brought her to the man. And Adam said, this is now bone 
of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because 
she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his 
father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become 
one flesh. And they were both naked, the 
man and his wife, and were not ashamed." So the purpose of God 
in marriage is foundational to this particular commandment. 
If we reject this commandment, we are doing disservice to this 
original purpose of God Most High. Well, when we look at Genesis 
chapter 2, we see specifically the problem was that Adam was 
alone. There was not one comparable 
to him. There was not one answering to him. There was not one similar 
to him. So God made him a helper. He 
made him a companion. So with reference to marriage, 
one of the aspects is companionship. We see that here, we see that 
as well in Ephesians chapter 5. A second purpose for marriage 
is the prevention of uncleanness. That's what our confession refers 
to it as. It means sexual intimacy within 
the confines of marriage. So when Adam comes to Eve, or 
Eve is brought to Adam, they have relations. God blesses that. It is of God. It is a good thing. And it is sanctioned, obviously, 
in the covenant of companionship. And then the third is the obligation 
of procreation. You see that in Genesis chapter 
1, at verses 26 and 27. Let us make man in our image, 
according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the 
fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle. 
over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on 
the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image 
of God he created him, male and female he created them. Then 
God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, 
fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of 
the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing 
that moves on the earth. So man's purpose in marriage 
is companionship, intimacy in the marriage bed, and then procreation. Now obviously, if one or both 
parties are hindered and they cannot procreate, that does not 
mean the marriage is null and void. If somebody was paralyzed, 
or both parties in a marriage were paralyzed and they were 
unable to engage in that particular activity, nevertheless, that 
companionship is there. Nevertheless, those blessings 
remain. But in terms of the normal general 
situation, It is for companionship, it is for intimacy, and it is 
for procreation. So we have the purpose of God 
in marriage as one of the reasons for this particular commandment. As well, we have the function 
of God's law for mankind. When we get to Exodus chapter 
20, when we look at the Ten Commandments, we know that this is in fact 
a revelation of the perfections of God. If we ask the question, 
what does God approve and what does God disapprove, we can look 
at the commandments and it reveals to us something about his nature, 
about his being, about those things that are pleasing in his 
sight. As well, when we look at the 
position of the commandments with reference to the giving 
of the law at Sinai, preparing the people to enter into the 
land of Canaan, preparing to live as a body politic in a general 
society sort of a situation. These commandments are absolutely 
crucial for the doing of society. If we have no respect for one 
another's spouses, we have no respect for one another's property, 
we have no respect for one another's lives, then we're certainly not 
going to function well in civil society. These are foundational. Once we reject these, once we 
dissolve these, once we get rid of these, then society collapses, 
and we're witnessing that very thing as society grows in its 
increasing sort of dismissal of the law of the living God. 
But then as well, we see the sanction involved in transgressing 
God's law. When we look at the commandments 
and we ask the question, how serious is this? Well, when we 
look at the 7th commandment, there were capital punishment 
attached to the violation of the 7th commandment. We look 
at that now and we think, horror of horrors, how in the world 
could God command the execution of an adulteress? Well, God commanded 
the execution of an adulteress. Perhaps we are far too lenient 
on these particular sins and crimes in our own generation. So the death penalty is certainly 
attached to certain crimes relative to the violation of the seventh 
commandment. But it's not only the wrath of 
God that man jeopardizes himself with, it's the wrath of his fellow 
man. In Proverbs chapter 6, a passage 
that I hope is familiar to all of us, Solomon cautions his sons 
against engaging in adultery. Solomon wants his sons to maintain 
fidelity. Solomon wants his sons to maintain 
righteousness when it comes to sexual ethics. And he makes this 
statement. Notice in chapter 6 at verse 
25. He says, Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, nor 
let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot a man 
is reduced to a crust of bread, and an adulteress will prey upon 
his precious life. Can a man take fire to his bosom 
and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and 
his feet not be seared? So is he who goes into his neighbor's 
wife. Whoever touches her shall not 
be innocent." So he's not dealing with Solomon's sons going into 
a prostitute. Not that he's advocating that, 
not that he's endorsing that, not that he's suggesting that 
that's somehow okay, but the actual sin or crime here is the 
sin or crime of adultery. Notice in verse 26, And an adulteress 
will prey upon his precious life. And then again in verse 29, so 
is he who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall 
not be innocent. 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. Whoever commits 
adultery with a woman lacks understanding. He who does so destroys his own 
soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will 
not be wiped away. 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." What does Solomon assume? Solomon assumes 
that if one of his sons is injudicious enough to go out and commit adultery, 
the man who has the wife with whom he committed adultery is 
going to punch him in the nose. He is going to break his nose. 
He is going to punch him in the eye. This is an obvious thing. 
Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be 
wiped away. For jealousy is a husband's fury, therefore he will not spare 
in the day of vengeance. So there is that death penalty 
involved, there is the wrath of man, and then ultimately the 
wrath of God. God most high punishes sexual 
sin. We see it celebrated, we see 
it glorified, we see it exalted in, we see it paraded in the 
gay pride parades, but God ultimately will bring judgment to bear upon 
those who engage in lawlessness with reference to sexual ethics. 
Turn to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 13. Very clear 
sort of confirmation on the place of the marriage bed for those 
involved in a covenant marriage, but a condemnation of those who 
violate that sacred bond. Notice in Hebrews 13 at verse 
4, Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled, but 
fornicators and adulterers God will judge. So again, while it's 
being presently celebrated and paraded and, you know, persons 
are engaged in all manner of lawlessness, God takes note of 
this and God will bring to bear his judgment upon them. Watson 
makes the observation 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?" Again, just 
underscoring the severity of this particular activity, the 
severity of this particular sin, this particular crime. It's not 
just the Old Testament that branded it as a crime. I'm sure it's 
still a crime in many places in the world today to engage 
in the sin of adultery. Now, in terms of the prohibition 
of the commandment, we have acts, and then we have the manner by 
which we can violate the command. In terms of the acts, the most 
obvious is adultery. That's what the prohibition speaks 
to. You can turn to Leviticus chapter 18, just to see the several 
texts. that regulate this particular 
commandment, or rather communicate this particular commandment for 
God's people. So the act of adultery, the sexual 
intercourse of a husband with the wife of another, or of a 
wife with the husband of another. So it is being unfaithful relative 
to the bond of marriage. It is to break the covenant. 
It is to violate a covenant. Notice in Leviticus chapter 18 
at verse 20, moreover, you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor's 
wife to defile yourself with her. And then over in chapter 
20 at verse 10, the man who commits adultery with another man's wife, 
he who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, The adulterer 
and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. And then in 
Deuteronomy chapter 22, a passage we'll look at in more detail 
in a moment, but notice in Deuteronomy chapter 22, specifically at verse 
22. If a man is found lying with 
a woman to be 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." So the sin of adultery was ultimately 
an attack on the family. When you look at the second table 
of the law, if we are not honoring lawful authority over us, that 
is an attack upon God's order. If we are killing other human 
beings, it is a violation of the sanctity of life. Well, the 
seventh commandment protects the sanctity of marriage. It 
protects that covenant bond. It is in place so that persons 
will be restrained and not engage in violation. So the sin of adultery 
is an attack ultimately on the family. Craigie, a commentator 
on Deuteronomy, said adultery of one partner in a marriage 
involved not only unfaithfulness to the other partner, but also 
unfaithfulness to God. It's a violation of the covenant 
horizontally. There's a violation of the covenant 
vertically. You've made this promise before 
God for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness 
and in health. You will stick firm to that particular 
plan and you will honor this particular person and be with 
her or him only. To violate that is to violate 
God, to be unfaithful not only to that person, but to be unfaithful 
to God Most High. The prophets throughout their 
literature, throughout their ministry, attack the violation 
of the Seventh Commandment. oftentimes the prophetic sort 
of indictment for the children of Israel was a forgetting of 
God, or a rejection of the first table of the law, which inevitably 
led to a rejection of the second table of the law. If we are not 
faithful to our true and living God, then we're not going to 
be faithful to our fellows. So one of the best helps for 
us to have good solid marriages where we're not going outside 
the boundary is to maintain fidelity to our God. walk carefully with 
our God, and that will hopefully keep us careful when it comes 
to sexual ethics in our marriages. The second act that is prohibited 
by the commandment is the act of fornication. That is sexual 
relation outside of marriage. Hebrews 13, again, a very clear 
condemnation of that particular practice. Marriage is undefiled, 
it's good for all, and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and 
adulterers God will judge. So not just adulterers, but God 
will judge fornicators. And again, fornication is relations 
outside of marriage, and that, again, is something God condemns 
vis-a-vis the seventh commandment. The third is the act of incest. 
Now, incest, obviously, is when we have relationships with persons 
who are too close to us, whether by blood or by relationship. Our confession speaks of it this 
way. It says, marriage ought not to be within the degrees 
of consanguinity, that means by a relationship by blood, or 
affinity, that means relationship by, or closeness by relationship. 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." Now obviously the Bible condemns this, incest, 
again, among those that are too close in terms of blood or too 
close in terms of family relation. Obviously, parents and children 
and those sorts of things are condemned. If you've been watching 
the proceedings in America with reference to the Supreme Court 
nominee, the Republicans are checking her record in terms 
of the way that she has ruled very generously to those who 
engage in wickedness, pedophilia, those sorts of things. She typically 
gives out or has given out very lenient sentences when it comes 
to very vile persons who have violated these laws concerning 
incest or child pornography or those sorts of things. So it's 
something that society is, in some sense, normalizing when 
it comes to pedophilia. It's becoming not as grave an 
issue. It's not as horrific as it once 
was. And that should cause us a great 
deal of concern to see the erosion of all of the commandments of 
God in very rapid succession. I mean, they're not sort of playing 
tiptoe anymore. They're full on, full bore, pedal 
to the metal. Let's just obliterate every vestige 
of God's law. The people of God should really 
be concerned about these sorts of things in terms of the application 
of that law in society as a whole. So of course Leviticus 18 specifies 
those degrees, Leviticus chapter 20, Deuteronomy 22-30 prohibits 
affinity or relationship by affinity, and then of course 1st Corinthians 
chapter 5. The Apostle Paul is dealing with that particular 
situation where a man has his father's wife. Now again, Paul 
is dealing with a Leviticus, Deuteronomy background in his 
head as he's writing to the Corinthian church. It is wrong for you to 
engage in this sort of practice. Why? Because God says it's wrong 
in Deuteronomy and in Leviticus. There are persons today that 
tell us we can't even go to the Old Testament for any sort of 
ethical norms. Well, the Apostle Paul does. 
The Apostle Paul has no problem whatsoever reaching back in redemptive 
history, seeing the general equity of Old Covenant case law, and 
applying it in the context of the Church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So adultery, fornication, incest, 
the fourth is rape. Now, I realize these are not 
happy subjects, I realize these are not pleasant subjects, but 
I realize as well these are subjects that Christians need to get their 
heads wrapped around. Turn to Deuteronomy 22. There's a lot 
of problems with Deuteronomy 22 in the world. Therefore, there's 
a lot of problems with Deuteronomy 22 in the church. Deuteronomy 
22 is made to say things that it doesn't say in order to try 
to lambast biblical law. So we're going to walk our way 
through this particular section. The act of rape in Deuteronomy 
22, we'll look at verses 22 to 29. First, the sin of adultery 
is condemned in verse 22. We already read that. Secondly, 
you have the seduction of a betrothed woman, verses 23 and 24. So essentially what happens is 
that you have persons say, well, the betrothed woman is treated 
differently than the single woman, therefore the Bible can't be 
taken seriously. Well, let's again look through 
this. Notice the seduction of a betrothed woman in verses 23 
to 24. 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." Now in 
verses 23 and 24, the woman is complicit. The woman is seduced 
and the woman gives into that. We know that because she did 
not cry out in the city. If she was an unwilling participant, 
she's in a city, persons can hear her, she should have cried 
out. And then notice, she did not cry out in the city, and 
the man, because he humbled his neighbor's wife. A betrothed 
woman had status as wife, so this was technically adultery 
on the part of the man. It was adultery on the part of 
the woman, And so it is commanded that they be stoned to death 
with stones. Now notice, secondly, the rape 
of a betrothed woman in the countryside, verses 25 to 27. So you've got 
a betrothed woman in 23 and 24 who's complicit, who goes along 
with the seducer. 25 to 27, she's not complicit. She does not go along with the 
seducer. Notice in verse 25. 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. Key word there is forces. She was not seduced and complicit. She was forced. She was made 
to engage in this activity. 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. For he found her in the countryside 
and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one 
to save her. So you see the difference in 
verses 23 and 24, betrothed woman who complies with the seducer 
and engages willingly in this particular act. Verses 25 to 
27 is rape. Foundational to a rape charge 
is the idea of force, and that is conspicuous in verse 25. Notice as well the heinousness 
of this particular sin. Verse 26, 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. So rape is just as the crime 
of murder. Rape is just as serious as the 
sin of murder. Now notice in verses 28 and 29, 
If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin who is not betrothed 
and he seizes her and lies with her. Now the word seizes there 
is not altogether helpful because it implies force and that's not 
what the Hebrew text implies. If a man finds a young woman 
who is a virgin who is not betrothed then he seizes her and lies with 
her, notice, and they are found out. They are found out tips 
the scales in the way of she's complicit as well. She went willingly 
with this particular seducer. 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 the story goes that if she's not betrothed, she doesn't have 
the same protection as one that is betrothed. That's not the 
issue. The betrothed that is raped is in a different category. 
The betrothed that willingly submits to the seducer is in 
a different category. This is an altogether different 
category. This is an unbetrothed woman. 
She's a virgin, she is plied by this particular fellow, she 
is seduced by him, and she willingly concedes, she willingly complies, 
she goes along with this particular act. So what's the remedy? He 
has to pay, and he has to marry her, and he cannot divorce her. 
It is synonymous with what you find in the book of Exodus, in 
Exodus chapter 22 at verses 16 and 17. So this idea of seize in verse 
28, if it indicates to us that he forcibly seized her, then 
we're reading it wrong. Because in verse 28, the idea 
of force is not there. Violence is explicit in the verb 
used in verse 25. It is not here. The NIV, I think, 
translates this as rape in verse 28, I think so. And that is incorrect, 
because it's not rape that's going on in verse 28. Again, 
it brings it into parallel to Exodus chapter 22, verses 16 
and 17. And then the sin of affinity 
is addressed specifically in verse 30. A man shall not take 
his father's wife, nor uncover his father's bed. So when it 
comes to this particular passage, again you'll hear people turn 
this or use this and say, well this is what the Bible says and 
how contradictory is that. Not when you walk right through 
the text. The text is very clear. You're dealing with a betrothed 
woman who willingly complies with a seducer. You're dealing 
with a betrothed woman who does not willingly comply and is raped. And then you're dealing with 
a non-betrothed woman, a virgin, that willingly complies with 
a seducer. Well, there was a vehicle in 
place in Old Covenant Israel for that. It was called marriage, 
and that's what the man would have to do, and the man was not 
able to divorce her all of his days. Again, there's sanction 
involved. If you are indiscriminate in 
terms of your sexuality, if you're not governed by your mind and 
heart and self-control, there will be repercussions and you're 
going to be taking that woman on as a wife and you're going 
to deal with her forever and ever. Now, fifthly, the act of 
homosexuality. Now again, this is something 
that is celebrated in our own generation, it is something that 
if you even question, you're a homophobe, or you've got big 
problems, or, you know, I've never understood how it is to 
be afraid of gay people if you condemn it as a sin. It doesn't follow to me. I prefer 
to think of myself as a theophobe, a God-fearer, and God says that 
man shall not lie with man as he does with a woman. So obviously, 
Genesis 18 and 19 show us, foundationally, a problem in Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah, it wasn't 
their lack of hospitality that was the issue. There is a statement 
in the prophet Ezekiel that says that, and of course everybody 
says, well the problem in Sodom and Gomorrah wasn't sodomy, it 
was their lack of hospitality. Well yeah, their lack of hospitality 
was seen in their desire to sodomize male visitors in their city. So that is obviously condemned. But then notice back in Leviticus 
chapter 18. Again, going through these texts so that we don't 
come to that place where, well, I think the Bible says something 
about this. We should know where the Bible 
speaks concerning these hot topic items that are sort of prevalent, 
excuse me, in our society. 1822, you shall not lie with 
a male. As with a woman, it is an abomination. Notice in 2013. 2013, if a man lies with a male as 
he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death, 
their blood shall be upon them. And then turn to the New Testament. 
This is not something confined to the Old Testament. Very often 
in discussions concerning biblical ethics, you'll hear people say, 
but that was the Old Testament. as if somehow God's holiness 
wore off when we get to the New Testament, and he no longer is 
concerned about the sanctity of marriage, he's no longer concerned 
about the sanctity of life, and the various things that he was 
in the Old Testament. Remember, God in the prophet 
Malachi says, I, the Lord, do not change. The doctrine of immutability 
and impassibility tell us the same thing. But notice in Romans 
chapter 1 at verses 26 and 7, for this reason God gave them 
up to vile passions, for even their women exchanged the natural 
use for what is against nature. 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 due. Notice 
that language at the end of verse 27, at the end of verse 26, it's 
against nature. Now, I don't want to be crass, 
brethren, but normal adultery or normal fornication is sin, 
it's criminal, it's godless, and it is condemned by the Lord. 
But it's not against nature. It's not unnatural that men and 
women copulate. God made us biologically to do 
that. Now, he has set the strictures 
and the laws and the rules and the parameters and the covenant 
context in which we are supposed to copulate, but it's not against 
nature. Homosexuality is. It is against 
nature. It is a challenge to the created 
order. It is an inversion of the created 
order. It is something that God did 
not design. It is something aberrant. It 
is something that departs from the normal use. In fact, look 
at that that language in verse 27, likewise also the men, leaving 
the natural use of the woman. Again, it's a natural function 
biologically, the way that God made us. He made us male and 
female to copulate in order to procreate, in order to, you know, 
sustain society and populate the earth and do what he calls 
us to do. So homosexuality is an against nature sin. It's against 
God's law, obviously, but there's something unnatural about it. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, same 
sort of an emphasis in terms of a condemnation of homosexuality. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 at verse 
9. Do you not know that the unrighteous 
will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither 
fornicators." Now, we shouldn't forget this. It's not just homosexuals 
that he's pointing out here in verses 9 and following. Christians 
shouldn't just be about one sin. Christians should hopefully condemn 
all sin. When it comes to sexual ethics, 
fornication in a heterosexual sphere is wrong too. We need 
to point that out. So notice in verse 9, Do not 
be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 
nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor 
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the 
kingdom of God. Now Paul uses two terms there, 
and he's using two terms with a very keen mindset because they're 
both technical terms that were employed by the language at that 
time to speak to the passive and to the active partner in 
a sodomite relationship. So Paul is using technical terminology 
to cover all the bases with reference to this particular sin of sodomy. But don't forget verse 11, and 
such were some of you. In our condemnation of sexual 
sin, in our condemnation of homosexuality, let us never forget the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ and the blood of our blessed Savior. Such were some of you. That means 
that in Corinth, The people of God, to whom the apostle is writing, 
some of them had been fornicators, some of them had been idolaters, 
some of them had been adulterers, some homosexuals, some sodomites, 
some thieves, some covetous, some drunkards, some revilers, 
some extortioners. He says, 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. Brethren, when we preach the 
law of God, we should always be there with the Gospel of God. 
When we preach, say, for instance, the Sixth Commandment and the 
condemnation against Aborshed, We ought to make sure that we're 
telling persons that perhaps who have committed that sin that 
there is forgiveness to be had with our blessed God. There is 
the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, which cleanses us from all 
sin. We need to make sure we not only 
preach the thundering of the law from Sinai, but we proclaim 
the excellence of Jesus Christ in His salvation for sinners 
that are mentioned right here. Real Savior for real sinners. 
And Paul says, 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. And then over 
in 1 Timothy 1, again, another condemnation of homosexuality. And notice that none of these 
contexts is the Apostle saying, well, I'm only dealing with one 
type of homosexuality. I'm only dealing with that really 
promiscuous sort. I'm kind of just dealing with 
the bathhouse sort. I'm not dealing with, you know, 
two men in a loving monogamous relationship. That's absolutely 
contrary to any of these contexts, and for persons to introduce 
that, to try to weasel out of what the Bible clearly says, 
is just that. It's an attempt to weasel out 
of what the Bible is clearly professing and proclaiming. Again, 
notice there's no sort of statement about, well, you know, as long 
as the homosexuality is confined to one man and another man, or 
one woman and another woman. No, it doesn't say that. The 
very act itself is sin. The very act itself is wrong. 
Notice in 1 Timothy 1.8, but we know that the law is good 
if one uses it lawfully, knowing this, that the law is not made 
for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, 
for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for 
murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for 
fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, 
And if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, 
according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was 
committed to my trust." In the book of Revelation, you find 
those statements in the latter chapters in terms of the gates 
that keep out the unsavory characters. And mentioned there are dogs. 
Now, we're not to think canines. God has somehow got an axe to 
grind against four-legged creatures that are man's best friend. It 
probably means sexually perverted persons. That's what it means 
at times as used in the Old Testament in terms of sexually perverted 
persons in the context of Israel. So you've got adultery, you've 
got fornication, incest, rape, homosexuality, again unsavory 
topic, but bestiality. The Bible prohibits that. Turn 
to Exodus chapter 22. Exodus chapter 22. And I know the temptation is, 
Butler, this is just not something we need to think about. You better 
believe it's something we need to think about. When persons 
start marrying dogs and horses and they get tax benefits as 
a result of that, then probably you'll say, Butler wasn't too 
far off the beaten path here. Exodus 22, 19, whoever lies with 
an animal shall surely be put to death. Leviticus 18, 23, same 
emphasis. Leviticus 18, verse 23. Nor shall you mate with any animal 
to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before 
an animal to mate with it. It is perversion." Now, before 
you, you know, think, well, you know, who does this? Look at 
verse 24. Do not defile yourselves with any of these things. Now, 
there's a whole plethora of sexual sins condemned previously. It's 
not just bestiality. It's also homosexuality. It's 
also adultery. So there's a lot of things going 
on in this first half of Leviticus 18. But notice, verses 24 and 
following, it's the reason for the expulsion of the Canaanites 
from the land. So do not defile yourselves with 
any of these things, for by all these the nations are defiled, 
which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled, 
therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and 
the land vomits out its inhabitants." Don't forget that language. In 
the New Covenant, Revelation chapter 3, the church at Laodicea, 
they're neither hot nor cold." So what does Jesus threaten them 
with? He threatens to vomit them out of his mouth. So what the 
land functioned as in Old Covenant Israel, Jesus says in New Covenant 
Israel he himself will vomit them out of his mouth. But then 
notice, verse 26, you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, 
shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your 
own nation or any stranger who dwells among you. For all these 
abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, 
and thus the land is defiled. Lest the land vomit you out also 
when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before 
you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons 
who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 
Davis says the conquest is not a bunch of land-hungry marauders 
wiping out at the behest of their vicious God hundreds of innocent, 
God-fearing folks. In the biblical view, the God 
of the Bible uses none too righteous Israel as the instrument of his 
just judgment on a people who had persistently rebelled in 
their iniquity. So God uses Israel to judge the 
Canaanites, and then when Israel acts like the Canaanites, God 
uses Assyria and then Babylon to dispossess them from the land. 
So there's no capriciousness or arbitrariness on the part 
of God. Whoever's in the land and engages in these violations 
and transgressions, they will be vomited out by the land. First 
it was the Canaanites through the instrumentality of Israel, 
and then it's Israel when they ate the Canaanites and act like 
them and do exactly what they did in the land. God then sends 
the Assyrians and God then sends the Babylonians. Again, not righteous 
nations, but nations that would use or be used by God for his 
punitive purposes on the nation of Israel. One man, one commentator 
says, 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. They had actually enshrouded 
in their law code this protection with reference to cohabitation 
with animals. The laws repeated in Leviticus 
chapter 20, verses 15 and 16. If a man mates with an animal, 
he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 
If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall 
kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. 
Their blood is upon them. And then again in Deuteronomy 
chapter 27. So, adultery, fornication, incest, rape, homosexuality, 
bestiality. The seventh is unlawful divorce. Unlawful divorce. There was an 
interesting reading the other night, right there, should be 
in Leviticus chapter 21. Steve read that at the outset 
of worship. If you remember, it was regulations 
for the conduct of priests. And in Leviticus 21 verse 7 it 
says, They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled 
woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband, for 
the priest is holy to his God. What's the implication? A non-priest 
can marry a divorced woman. It was lawful to get divorced 
in Old Covenant Israel. Turn to Deuteronomy 24. Deuteronomy 
24. Remember, the original intention 
by God was one man and one woman forever. But when sin enters 
into the world, God, because of the hardness of the hearts 
of the people of Israel, permits divorce. Now, it's very strictly 
applied. There are closed parameters in 
terms of what constitutes a lawful divorce and what does not. But 
the fact of divorce is taught. So notice Deuteronomy 24 verse 
1, when a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that 
she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness 
in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand 
and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his 
house and goes and becomes another man's wife, If the latter husband 
detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, 
and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies 
who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced 
her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been 
defiled. For that is an abomination before 
the Lord. and you shall not bring sin on 
the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance." 
Now obviously this authorizes divorce, but there's a couple 
of other nuances here that if you miss, you're going to mess 
up when you get to the New Testament. And it's my argument that those 
who miss chapter 24, verses 1 to 4 in Deuteronomy, they typically 
mess up Matthew 5, Matthew 19, and 1 Corinthians 7. The only 
thing that is prohibited here is the remarriage of the wife 
to her first husband. Notice what is assumed. After 
the first husband writes this certificate of divorce, she goes, 
according to verse 2, departs from his house and goes and becomes 
another man's wife. You'll hear people condemn that, 
okay, you know, in the grossest sorts of ways, in the most epic 
sorts of ways, only then can there be divorce, but there can 
never be remarriage. You have different can'ts. You 
have what's called the permanence view, no divorce ever. Then you 
have the divorce view, but no remarriage. And then you have 
the biblical view, which if it's a lawful divorce, then there 
can be remarriage. In this assumes remarriage. She 
has departed from his house. She goes and becomes another 
man's wife. If the latter husband, husband 
number two, detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, 
puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the 
latter husband, husband number two, dies, who took her as his 
wife, then her former husband, who divorced her, must not take 
her back to be his wife after she has been defiled. That's 
the prohibition in Deuteronomy chapter 24. But the lawfulness 
of divorce is taught and remarriage. Turn over to Matthew 19. Matthew 
chapter 19, Jesus teaches the same thing. Matthew chapter 19 
at verse 3, the Pharisees also came to him, testing him, and 
saying to him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for 
just any reason? And he answered and said to them, 
Have you not read that he who made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man 
shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and 
the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, 
but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined 
together, let not man separate. That's the intention of God. 
That's the way it's supposed to be. But again, we have this 
situation where sin came into the world. It's kind of like 
slavery. If there would have been no sin, 
there would have been no slavery. That's how we understand laws 
regulating slavery in a post-fall world. Just like other laws, 
the law concerning warfare. There'd have been no war had 
there been no fall. But since there is a fall, and 
now we live in a sin-cursed world, there are laws provided to help 
us to navigate in this sin-cursed world. The divorce law is like 
that. It would have never been the 
case in an unfallen situation where a man would have ever left 
his wife, or a wife would have ever been unfaithful to her man. 
They would have loved each other, they would have been permanently 
engaged to one another, they would have just enjoyed their 
conjugal bliss. But because of sin, There is 
that hardness of heart and so God Most High makes concession 
in order to protect innocent parties. Notice in verse 7, they 
said to him, why then did Moses command to give a certificate 
of divorce and to put her away? He said to them, Moses, because 
of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your 
wives. But from the beginning it was not so." Again, this law 
is not unique. Slavery laws, laws concerning 
warfare, various laws that come as a result. There are laws regulating 
polygamy. Well, again, in the original 
intention of God, one man, one woman, there'd have never been 
polygamy. But when sin comes and men start multiplying wives, 
God multiplies laws so that he can protect those innocent wives. It's a very good thing. He uses 
the law to redress various situations that arise. So notice in verse 
9, and I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for 
sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery. And 
whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery. So if somebody 
does divorce biblically, lawfully, then it is permissible for them 
to remarry. Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 
chapter 7. So the two specific reasons for 
lawful divorce are porneia, which Jesus uses there. Now, porneia 
is broader than moikeia. Moikeia is the Greek word for 
adultery. Jesus doesn't use that. Jesus 
uses the broader word that encompasses a whole host of sexual sins, 
which is porneia. So it's not just the sin of adultery 
that gives the reason or rationale for the innocent party to sue 
out for divorce. It is porneia. It is a general 
and broader category of sexual violation. Deuteronomy 24 supports 
that as well. But Paul deals with desertion 
or abandonment in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Notice in verse 10. I'm sorry, yeah, verse 10. Now 
to the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord. A wife is 
not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, 
let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And 
a husband is not to divorce his wife. But to the rest, I, not 
the Lord, say, if any brother has a wife who does not believe 
and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. 
Let me just explain. When Paul says, but to the rest, 
I, not the Lord, He's not saying that he doesn't have the authority. 
He's not saying that this isn't the Word of God. He's not saying 
that the entirety from Genesis to Revelation is God's Word, 
except for 1 Corinthians 7 verse 12, because this is where Paul's 
just kind of spitballing. No, he says, I, to the rest, 
I, not the Lord say. He speaks to the situation of 
mixed marriages. And by mixed marriages, I don't 
mean blacks and whites, I don't mean, you know, ethnicity, I 
mean believer and unbeliever. Jesus didn't deal with that particular 
convention in his earthly ministry. When he's asked by the Pharisees 
concerning the lawfulness of divorce, we see what he says 
there in Matthew chapter 19. They don't probe him, well what 
about an unbeliever and a believer? Paul's dealing with the situation 
of a believer and an unbeliever. So verse 12, but to the rest 
I, not the Lord, say, if any brother has a wife who does not 
believe and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce 
her. You can't just say, well, my wife's not converted, so I'm 
going to divorce her. No, no, no, no, no, no. You don't 
do that. You see the convention here. 
God, in his mercy, saves one in the marriage relationship. 
That happens sometimes. It's an unfortunate reality, 
but it happens. But Paul says, if the unconverted 
is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And 
a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing 
to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving 
husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife 
is sanctified by the husband. Otherwise, your children would 
be unclean, but now they are holy. Brethren, think in terms 
of legitimacy. The idea of holiness here and 
sanctification is more of a legal sort of a realm of understanding. It is legitimate. The unbelieving 
husband is legitimated by the wife. In other words, it doesn't 
mean it's an invalid marriage because there's a converted and 
an unconverted. It doesn't mean that the marriage 
is null and void because somebody gets converted. No, it's still 
legit. It is still sanctified. It is 
still bound together. The unbelieving wife is sanctified 
by the husband. Otherwise, your children would 
be unclean, but now they are holy. Again, the idea isn't therefore 
baptize them. That's not the point. The point 
is that in this family unit, it's not as if the child is a 
bastard or illegitimate because of this mixed marriage. It's 
not as if the children are somehow second class citizens or something 
like that. Because one is saved and the 
other is not doesn't invalidate or delegitimize that family structure. You can't make your husband or 
wife believe the gospel. You can't make them be born again. 
And God's not going to make you divorce them because they're 
not saved. No, the marriage is legit, the 
family structure is intact, and therefore you can proceed. But 
notice in verse 15, if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. A brother 
or sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called 
us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, 
whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, 
whether you will save your wife? Now I would add to this, or subset 
with reference to desertion, abuse. So you've got pornea and 
you've got desertion. Part of desertion would be abuse. A man that is abusing his spouse, 
or if it was the case that a woman was abusing her husband, No one 
needs to stay in that particular situation. No one should stay. There are other concerns. The 
Sixth Commandment. The Sixth Commandment enjoins 
upon us to preserve our lives and the lives of others. Well, 
I'm not preserving my life if my wife is beating me into submission 
every night, or my husband is beating me into submission every 
night. That is not lawful behavior. That is not Christ-like behavior. 
That is desertion. Now, the next one is immodesty. Now, modesty is an interesting 
one because modesty often is in the eye of the beholder. But 
I think there are some general guidelines that we should understand 
in terms of scripture. Turn to Proverbs chapter 7. Proverbs 
chapter 7. We're going to end on this one 
and pick up the last few next time. Notice in Proverbs 7 again it's 
Solomon exhorting his sons to carefulness when it comes to 
sexuality and he gives this Rehearsal, a bit of a story, a bit of an 
encounter that he witnessed. Notice in verse six of Proverbs 
7. At the window of my house, I 
looked through my lattice and saw among the simple I perceived 
among the youths a young man devoid of understanding, passing 
along the street near her corner. And he took the path to her house 
in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. 
Couldn't be more conspicuous, could it be? I mean, if his conscience 
wasn't bothering him, he should go in broad daylight. But the 
conscience is bothering him, so he goes in the twilight, in 
the evening, in the black, and in the dark night. And there 
a woman met him. Now, she's a married woman. She's 
a married woman that is enticing this young man. But notice, with 
the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart. the attire of a harlot. So whatever the culture, whatever 
the society, whatever the situation, you can see that there is a class 
of women that dress with the attire of a harlot. Now probably 
the attire of a harlot in Proverbs 7 would be the attire of you 
know, a Mennonite or an Amish in our own generation. So again, 
it's, you know, something that's hard to nail down with pinpoint 
accuracy in terms of hem lengths and all of those sorts of things, 
but there is this identifiable attire of a harlot that can be 
seen in civil society. And then turn over to 1 Timothy 
chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2, again, The 
Apostle enjoins upon the Christian Church specific duties in corporate 
worship. In chapter 2, at verse 8, he 
wants the men to pray. In terms of public prayer, I 
desire therefore that the men pray everywhere. lifting up holy 
hands without wrath and doubting, in like manner also that the 
women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, 
not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, 
but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good 
works." And then over in 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, 
same sort of a thing with reference to modesty. And this isn't just 
a woman sin. Men can sin this way as well. Intriguingly, these passages 
address women, but we can flip them over and say that men should 
be modest also in terms of what they wear. But notice in 1 Peter 
3 at verse 1, Do not let your adornment be 
merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting 
on fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden 
person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle 
and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 
For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted 
in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own 
husbands. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters 
you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror." 
Matthew Henry said, men sin but devils tempt to sin. So this is a good thing to remember 
in terms of our own personal ethics relative to the seventh 
commandment in terms of modesty. So there's a few others God willing, 
we'll pick up next week, but for now, adultery, fornication, 
incest, rape, homosexuality, bestiality, unlawful divorce, 
and immodesty. Again, a happy subject. We could have just sat home and 
watched CNN tonight and seen all of these things in one form 
or another, because as I mentioned earlier, the Seventh Commandment 
has certainly fallen on hard times in our own generation. Let us pray. Our God and our 
Father, we thank You for Your Word, we thank You for its clarity 
and its precision when it comes to these things, identifying 
the particular sins and abuses that men and women are guilty 
of. We ask God that You would help us to meditate upon these 
things, help us to thank You and to praise You and to enjoy 
the marriages that You have granted to us. For single, help us to 
be faithful in that condition and in that state, and grant 
us all grace, Father in Heaven, to receive with thankful hearts 
this particular word, and may we let it affect the way that 
we conduct ourselves in this lower world, and may we bring 
honor and glory unto you. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.