Thank you for reading that Leviticus chapter 20. It's a heavy chapter, isn't it? Quite a heavy
chapter. I've been talking about the death penalty. I mean you've seen some crimes that I mentioned
there some sins and you know I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this chapter but obviously
the reason I wanted that read is because you can see that within this chapter you see things like
incest, things like bestiality, things that are just so so vile and so disgusting that you know
the common man would know look that's just I mean just just a regular you know regular Joe
unbeliever knows those things are wrong and you know you've got to be pretty filthy to get
invested in those kinds of things but the reason I wanted to read that is because in verse number
10 amongst all of these different crimes all these filthy sins it says in verse number 10
and the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife even he that committeth adultery with
his neighbor's wife the adulterer and the adulterers shall surely be put to death
now the reason again one of that read is because adultery happens every day in our nation all the
time this is going on all the time okay and and amongst this list of horrendous horrible sins
is the sin of adultery and so we want to make sure that we have the right perspective on this sin
that it's not just a regular sin you know it's a sin that is worthy of death
and it's a sin that's labeled in this list of such horrific horrible things
that you think how far gone how bad does your mind have to be to get involved in certain acts
and you know I know this is going on all the time I remember just being at work just being in the
workplace business you know you got men and women working there married men married ladies and
you've got adultery taking place and like the office knows the office knows things are going on
or you hear rumors and and then the wives find out and you know I remember one time when a wife
found out that her husband who was a manager in workplace that I was at found out how he had
committed adultery she sent like this mass email to everybody in the company talking about how
wicked and how filthy he was and like I agreed with email I was like yeah absolutely that guy's
a pig you know that he's cheated on you but you know these things happen you know you go on some
business trip and you know there you are with colleagues and you know again men that are
supposed to be married women supposed to be married women men that have made vows to death
do us part and they're out there on on the work you know conference or whatever it is you know
committing adultery committing all kinds of nonsense and so there's almost in Australia
at least by my observation when someone is committed adultery it's almost like a sign of victory
like look what I've been able to achieve you know even though I'm a married man I'm tied down
you know I can still go and and you know sell my wild oats and be just a you know a filthy
wicked man and they just they come with almost delight in it it's almost like seeing as this
prize as achievement and the reason I wanted that read in this chapter is just to bring it back to
reality it is filthy is it is wicked it is wicked adultery is one of the worst things you can
possibly do okay and again it is worthy of of death now when you think about adultery like so
basically I'm up to the seventh commandment we're doing our 10 commandment series the seventh
commandment is thou shalt not commit adultery okay thou shalt not commit adultery now obviously
there's also fornication where people are not being remaining virgins they're not remaining
faithful to their future spouse and fornication is wrong fornication is sinful but fornication
does not carry the death sentence along with it okay the reason adultery is so horrible is because
you've committed yourself to one person for the rest of your life you've exchanged vows you've
been wedded you've made those vows of promise that you're going to keep yourself to that one person
for the rest of your life and so adultery carries this further punishments of the death sentence and
what I want to first speak about is just for you to understand that adultery is not fornication
these are two separate things fornication is before you're married you know with another
unmarried person and adultery is when one of those participants is married okay now I want
to show you a few passages here because even I came from a church that mixed this up and if you
mix these things up if you think well adultery just falls under the umbrella of fornication
you can get into some really strange doctrines you can even start to preach that divorce and
remarriage and all this kind of stuff is just fine god's happy with it etc etc and
so I want to show you a few passages please turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 please go
to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 as you're turning to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 I'll read to you
from Galatians 5 19 you go to 1st Corinthians chapter 7 I'll read to you from Galatians 5 19
just to show you that adultery and fornication are different things it says in Galatians 5 19
now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness
lasciviousness anyway the list goes on but I wanted to show you that side by side adultery
then fornication then uncleanness you can see that these are two different aspects okay
adultery just does not fall under the umbrella of fornication it is two different things
1st Corinthians chapter 7 verse 2 it says nevertheless to avoid fornication
so what are we to do to never fornicate to avoid this to avoid fornication that's before
you're married by the way it says let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own
husband so what do we learn there that if you're married you cannot commit fornication
if you want to avoid fornication then a man should have his wife and a wife should have her
husband meaning that if they are unfaithful in that marriage it is not fornication obviously
carries that other term adultery okay so adultery is against someone who is married all right and
I'll just quickly read to you from Ezekiel 16 32 Ezekiel 16 32 says but as a wife that committeth
adultery which taketh strangers instead of her husband all right so again adultery takes place
within marriage okay instead of her husband this woman takes in strangers all right so just a few
passages we can turn to many many passages but I just want to affirm to you not just my my opinion
here but according to God's word it's very clear fornication is one thing that's non-married
partners and adultery is talking about at least having one married partner in that equation all
right now marriage is beautiful you know marriage is meant to be such a special thing where you give
yourself to one other person you're going to share your life together till one passes away it is
beautiful it is a beautiful thing and you can share that intimate relationship you can start a
family and have children these are all good things these are all things that God puts in
the hearts of individuals a desire to be with the opposite sex a desire to be intimate a desire to
have children this is good and proper in its own place it's kind of like ecclesiastes where you
know there's a time for everything you know there's a season for everything there's a purpose
under the heaven for everything and that intimate relationship there is a time and a purpose
and it's only marriage okay marriage is the right place to have that intimate relationship
can you please turn to proverbs chapter 6 turn to proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 32
proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 32 and so obviously this commandment is something
that can be broken if you're married all right and if you're not married you're a single person
absorb this anyway learn this anyway because you do not want to get into a position where you
end up cheating on your spouse okay it is damaging it is hurtful okay look if if you've committed
adultery look God's forgiven us of all sins don't don't get me wrong okay and of course the law of
our land is not the death penalty for adultery but if it was there'd be a lot less adulterers
i'll tell you that if it was you just have to take one adulterer put him to death
and the whole nation will fear no the whole nation will say i don't want to die
and they'll be remain faithful to their spouses all right but it is such a hurtful thing to think
that the person that promised themselves to me that i've promised themselves to have given
themselves over to a stranger has given themselves over to another person it's it's it's to me i
don't know you know i don't like to think about these things but i've said it before i'd rather
my wife kill me and that's horrible but i'd rather my wife kill me than commit adultery
okay because at least i'm dead i'm in heaven you know adultery is a hurt it's a pain that's going
to be there for the rest of your life the rest of your life it's going to be there you know you go
out and you cheat on your spouse look they might forgive you they might say well let's put that
behind us and let's try to move forward but there's going to be a pain in them that will last
the rest of their life they'll forgive you but they may they'll never trust you again
you know in their mind when you're alone when you're out and about in their mind somewhere
you know it's going to be like i hope my spouse is not cheating on me i hope they're not going
back to that bad that old sin you know they may never trust you again and that's part of the
consequences of committing such a significant sin i mean it's worthy of death there's a reason
why it's not just death for the sake of death it's not just about preaching just to be
controversial and just to stand out differently it's right and proper that someone that has
committed adultery should die the death penalty so the other person can get on with their life
okay can go and find a new spouse and not have that burden of that relationship that's causing
so much hurt and so much pain and again we don't have that law in australia okay so if you've
committed adultery i'm not saying go and commit suicide because that's sinful two wrongs don't
make a right okay obviously in australia you're going to have to make the best of a bad situation
you know try to find forgiveness try not to open up that temptation to come again in your life
and try to make it work with the help of god that's the option we have in australia
because we haven't got that you know law of moses that god has given the nation of israel
okay but it's such a serious thing to break your vows to to hurt someone so seriously so deeply
you know i mean your life will never be the same it carries so much hurt this is why it needs to
be preached the reality of it has to be known and you say well i've committed adultery this
makes me feel really horrible look your sins are in the past okay god's forgiven you i'm speaking
to our children i'm speaking to those that have not committed such a great grave sin so they don't
make the same mistake they understand just how vile and so horrible it is you know how god sees
this so they don't you know go and destroy their lives they don't go and destroy their lives look
at proverbs chapter six and verse number 32 now the book of proverbs is the book of wisdom okay
we want to gain some wisdom you know if you're being tempted to commit adultery
there's a situation that opens up the bible says in verse number 32 but who so committed adultery
with a woman lack of understanding he goes you're stupid you committed adultery you don't have
understanding you're dumb you're an idiot you haven't understood the consequences of your actions
it says uh he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul that's it it destroys your soul it's gonna
hurt you it's gonna have consequences lasting consequences okay while you live i mean look all
sin have consequences but some sins the consequences are short this is a lifelong thing
it's a lifelong pain lifelong destruction okay and again i'm not saying if you've done this
give up on life just you got to do the best you can to push forward but you understand it's going
to be something that's going to be in your heart something in the heart of your spouse it may even
lead to divorce many times that's what divorce leads like you know i'm not saying it's okay
okay adultery is not grounds for divorce but adultery is grounds for remarriage because if
we had the laws of moses the adulterer would be put to death and the other person would be allowed
to get remarried okay so i understand when someone has committed if someone has uh their spouse has
committed adultery i understand if that person wants to get divorced it's not right but i
understand where they're coming from because if you had the laws of moses they would be able to
get remarried eventually once the spouse has been put to death okay what else it says here that he
that do it destroy his own soul verse number 33 look at this a wound and a and dishonor shall he
get and his reproach shall not be wiped away again the consequences linger they're there forever it's
a wound that you never get over you'll be dishonored everybody will know you're the one
that committed adultery you're the one that broke your vows you're the one that mistreated your
spouse okay it's your it's on your reputation forever you can't get rid of it all right
and uh you know as we keep going think about think of you know if i would commit adultery
with another man's wife and that other man finds out what do you think is going to do to me
i mean i look i mean i again i don't even put my mind there but
you know i can see my my anger getting the better of me i can see myself losing control potentially
and causing a lot of damage you know when you lose control and and you know you know the blood
rushes to your brain you can do things that you just never thought you'd do okay and you know
there is something in the in the law in court systems known as a crime of justice a crime of
passion i don't know if you've ever heard of that before a crime of passion this is where someone
becomes so jealous because they've been cheated on and they go out and they kill somebody they
either go and kill their their spouse or their partner or they end up killing the person they
cheated with this is real this happens like someone that is not naturally a murderer someone
that may not naturally be violent but to be cheated in such a way defiled in such a way
hurt in such a way can cause them to step out and do just something horrific even as far as murder
you know as i pre i taught last time about the death penalty had different degrees of murder
you know this is part of this is known as the crime of passion so it's considered less than
just cold-blooded murder you know it's just considered like this person has the right to
have lost control to some extent now what he did was wrong of course going and killing something's
wrong but it there's some justification as to why this individual could have lost control
okay about this situation because it says there in verse number 34 look at this verse number 34
proverbs chapter 6 verse number 34 the jealousy sorry for jealousy is the rage
of a man jealousy hey being jealous for your spouse is right and proper i don't want my wife
hanging out with a whole bunch of guys my wife doesn't want me going out and hanging out with
a whole bunch of girls the right and proper thing is i belong to you and you belong to me
okay when you go and commit adultery yeah there ought to be jealousy there and that jealousy will
cause some a man to be driven to rage it says that therefore he will not spare in the day of
vengeance he will not spare okay he will not like once once the right once that jealousy turns to
rage if he's able to get a hold of the people that cheated on him you don't know what's going to
know what's going to happen again he could end up in murder homicide okay violence to that level of
extent that's what it is you know the bible telling us verse number 35 he will not regard
any ransom neither will he rest content though they'll give us many gifts if you've if you're
the one that committed adultery with another man's wife you cannot fix that doesn't matter how much
how many gifts you offer him no matter how much you say sorry it's not going to be enough
you've taken something that is most precious to him and you've defiled it okay and so
there's nothing you can do to fix it okay and if you can't do anything to fix it
then what do you do you avoid it at all costs you know you you say in your heart i will never
commit adultery i will never look at another if you're a woman another man or a man to another
woman in this way and seek after them never and like again you know the desire
as i said before is not wrong in of itself but in the right place it's marriage
okay this is why it's so sometimes challenging for people because they desire that intimacy
all right and sometimes you go to work and you spend more time with some of that work
than you do with your spouse you may develop emotional attachments
you know there's so many reasons why i never wanted to go on some work trip for very long
people are like oh we need you over here for a month i'm like no way
are you kidding me a month away from my wife i mean i don't think i'd ever cheat but i don't
even want the temptation to be there because i'm just a man you know
there are desires that there are things within man we've got the flesh it's a it's a sin nature
i'm not an idiot you know i know what man can do you know i know what situations can develop
i think i've shared this i'm sure i've shared this before but one of my one of the things i
really learned from my hr manager i took on a position of management i was given a nice little
cushy office you know how it is and the previous manager you know she had blinds on the window so
you couldn't see through it's completely you know you couldn't see through at all the hr manager
comes up to me and goes kevin you got a lot of girls not working under you he goes i know what
i know who you are i know what kind of man you are you're not going to do anything stupid but
i recommend get rid of these blinds get rid of it all so everybody can look into your office
completely open and even if you do need to bring someone in to have a private conversation
you close the door but everyone can still see into the office they can't hear what's going on
but they can see in the office he goes that'll protect you you know if someone makes an accusation
that you've tried to do x y and z look i mean everything was all open people are walking past
everyone can see and you keep yourself safe i was like absolutely that's like one of the best
advice that i've ever had from someone that is a non-believer you know in in the office world
because he as a hr manager he's seen how bad things can get in in business all right i guess
he was looking out for me he was looking out to protect me i'm thankful for that you know it's
good advice but adultery is is it's so easy to fall into okay so we have to protect ourselves
we have to watch ourselves you know i try to be friendly on the job i try to get along with
people as best as i can you know and work together and be in harmony but then it's like
let's hang out after work no i have a wife and kids i've got responsibilities i've got other
places it was great that we spent seven seven hours eight hours together working on the job
but i i got i got a family i've got to go home i'm not going to open myself up to things that
i don't know where they may lead okay so if you commit adultery there's nothing you can do to fix
it so you want to avoid it at all costs make sure you protect yourself you don't know what
you're capable of when you're put into a very challenging situation can you please turn to
genesis 39 turn to genesis 39 now if you seek to protect yourself at all costs sometimes
situations still come up all right the temptations still pop up
and uh and by the way you know as a pastor i do not want to be alone with any women okay
uh you know pass i need to talk to you about something let's talk somewhere where everyone
can see all right or make your husband should be there or your father should be there you know if
that's if it's that important or you know that person that needs to be discussed okay i i do not
want to open up any doors not that i think i'm like this amazing guy or anything but you know
things happen things happen in churches all the time you know all the time things happen
look at genesis 39 verse number seven and it came to pass after these things that his master's wife
cast her eyes upon joseph and she said lie with me so this is of course joseph being brought into
potiphar's house and potiphar's wife wants to sleep with joseph commit adultery now joseph is
commit adultery now joseph is right he's he's a righteous he's a good man he's a righteous man
he's got a fear of god verse number eight but he refused and said unto his master's wife behold my
master what if not what is with me in the house and he have committed all that he have to my hand
there is none greater in this house than i neither have he kept back anything from me but thee
because thou art his wife how then can i do this great wickedness and sin against
god that's the right view joseph has a fear of god he goes look your husband's been so good to me
how can i commit such a great horrible sin and even sin against god and by the way all
sin is against god all sin is against god you know even if you sin against someone else
you offended god hey yeah go make peace with that person go apologize but then you need to
go before god and confess those things all sin is against god you see joseph had a fear of god
and this brought him to say no we can't do this all right verse number 10 and it came to pass
as she spake to joseph day by day that he hearken not unto her to lie by her or to be with her
now this is a tough situation joseph has already said no he's got a fear of god
okay but every day every day at the workplace every day the same woman comes up to him over
and over and over and over and over again all right verse number 11 and it came to pass about
this time that joseph went into the house to do his business and there was none of the men of the
house there within now as good as joseph is as as you know he does so many good and righteous things
this is one of his biggest mistakes i mean this is just a clear mistake
and let this be a lesson again to you especially men okay if there's other men not there and you
know potiphar's wife is there don't go don't go okay like i said to you earlier if if a lady needs
to talk to me there better be other people around there and i know like you don't mean bad i know
but i don't even want the accusation i don't even want the false accusation coming out you know i
don't even want rumors i want nothing like that okay because even rumors can be hurtful and
damaging okay damage and hurt marriages now look he should have said look there's no one else here
i'm gonna go do something else oh i got in these employees and go like come on guys we've got to
go back to work obviously she's prepared the situation that nobody would be there except
for her and joseph and look what happens verse number 12 and she caught him by his garment saying
lie with me and he left his garment in her hand and fled and got him out look you can protect
yourself from adultery you can you know put lots of boundaries around yourself and try to protect
yourself as much as you can but sometimes you're just going to walk into a situation
and there it is presented in front of you what do you do look don't talk your way out of it
don't even spend time and pray about it run flee get out of there okay don't allow yourself to even
for one moment consider that situation as a real possibility joseph did the right thing he went
out there as fast as he could even his coat was left behind okay the bible says also when it comes
to fornication flee fornication it's the same approach okay the same steps you know you might
think you can overcome it you might think you're strong enough to overcome the temptation you can't
you get out of there again why why can't you because it's natural it's normal you want to do
that you want to be with someone or you want to be with someone get married that's the right place
all right find a wife find a husband start searching
you know but if it's not your spouse you run you run hard don't even just don't even look back
you get it yourself out of that situation as fast as you can otherwise you'll find yourself
committing something horrible okay damaging your reputation please turn to john chapter eight
john chapter eight
now we started the sermon saying that of course adultery deserves the death penalty
and um man if only that was a law of the land honestly how many people would not have hurt
their marriages if that was the law of the land honestly but uh you know the question you know
again when it comes to death penalty all these things people are always like oh but you know
what about the story of the woman caught in adultery with jesus christ jesus did not put
her to death all right so maybe god's done away with it maybe he's not as serious about this sin
as he was in the past you know you're preaching old testament except they fail to realize when
jesus walked the earth it was still old testament times it was still old testament till he died and
he brought in the new testament with his blood this is still old testament times okay john
chapter eight verse number one john chapter eight verse number one jesus went unto the mount of
olives and early in the morning he came again into the temple and all the people came unto him and
he sat down and taught them and the scribes and pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery
and when they had set her in the midst they said unto him master this woman was taken in adultery
in the very act now i know scribes and pharisees when they speak we can't always trust what they're
saying okay they make many false accusations but this woman is definitely an adulterous
because look at verse number three again and verse number three is the narrator it's the
holy spirit telling us the story verse number three says and the scribes and pharisees brought
unto him a woman taken in adultery so the holy spirit is just confirming yes this is a woman
that definitely has committed adultery okay so i don't want you to because i've also heard that
view well it's just the scribes and pharisees said she was but she really wasn't okay anyway
you definitely holy spirit says she was adulterous verse number five now moses in the law commanded us
that such should be stoned but what says thou why don't you jesus are you on the same page as moses
you know they don't realize that of course it's jesus christ that gave moses these words
okay are you on the same page as moses what do you say jesus
you know should this woman be put to death now before i keep reading
you know i love i love the gospels i love the story of jesus christ you know because it's so
smart like like the wisdom he shows is just amazing and i wish i could just have a little
bit of that intelligence in my life sometimes that wisdom that i see in christ because don't
forget when christ was walking this earth israel had limited power they did have their own
government you know they had king herod when jesus christ was born but above that power was
the roman empire okay and i haven't got time to show you this now but once israel was or judah
should say judea you know was under the power of the roman empire they were not allowed to put
people to death they were not allowed to we can read i can put this later on in the bible if you
want this is the whole reason why when the jews arrested jesus they had to bring him before pilot
they had to bring him before a roman governor and and and ask him can you kill jesus can you
crucify him because they could not do it themselves so they're presenting this to jesus and you know
the scribes and pharisees in your bible they're constantly trying to make jesus trip up they want
to see him dead okay now they've thrown a challenge to him all right most says she deserves
to be put to death what do you say jesus so if jesus says yeah moses right let's put it to death
they can turn around to the roman government say empire and say look
jesus christ is rebellious against your laws you know he's putting people to death without bringing
it to you now jesus christ recognizes the roman power and he goes we can't put it to death because
we're under a different system here they'll say well see you're not honoring the words of moses
you're not true prophet are you jesus so they're throwing jesus christ in this this tough place
you know and uh look at verse number six it says here this they said tempting him see it wasn't
like oh we just want to know what jesus said they're trying to make him trip they're trying
to make him make make mistakes here okay that they might have to accuse him but jesus stooped
down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he had heard them not now many people
wonder why he did this i don't know maybe he's thinking how do i respond to this maybe because
don't forget he's 100 god but he's still 100 man maybe he needs just a little time to process the
current situation is in and what the best foot forward is in this scenario okay verse number
seven so what does he say his response is just amazing so when they continued asking him they
would not leave him alone right he lifted up himself and said unto them he that is without
sin among you let him first cast a stone at her so what is christ saying she does deserve to die
all right just whoever is without sin you can be the first to cast a stone at her so is he upholding
the lord of moses absolutely he is okay but then he's brought that challenge to the pharisees and
scribes he that is without sin and they all know they're sinners they all know they've done wrong
okay probably a whole bunch of them have committed adultery themselves who knows
all right the only person standing there without sin is jesus christ and so he upholds it but then
he challenges them i mean could you imagine you take up the first oh that's me jesus you pick up
the first stone you're saying i'm without sin no one's going to believe you everyone knows you know
you're that person you know you're a hypocrite everyone knows this and so they can't bring
themselves to pick up that stone it says there in verse number eight and again he stooped down
and wrote on the ground and they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience went out
one by one so they all started to leave because they know they've done wrong they know they're
sinners they've probably committed adultery in their midst beginning at the eldest even unto the
last and jesus was left alone and the woman standing in in the midst when jesus had lifted
up himself and saw none but the woman he said unto her woman where are those thine accusers
hath no man condemned thee she said no man lord and jesus said unto her neither do i condemn thee
go and sin no more so had she sinned in the eyes of jesus yeah he goes look go and sin no more
don't commit adultery anymore you know what if you've committed adultery all right and you've
not been put to death go and sin no more that's instruction don't do it again all right and if
you haven't done it never do it go and sin no more but here's what's amazing why could jesus
why did he release her why could he not condemn her to death because if you know in the bibles
in order to put someone to death you must have at least two or three witnesses
there were no witnesses left they all left okay jesus is upholding the lord of moses
he says yes she deserves to die let him that is without sin cast the first stone
there's no one left all right where are your accusers we need at least two or three
there's none well i can't condemn you i don't condemn you either go and sin no more
he upholds the laws of moses at the same time his submissive his subject under roman law
he knows that he's under foreign powers he knows that it's at conflict with the laws of moses but
somehow this is what i'm talking about the wisdom of christ i don't know how he does it and i want
a little bit of it i hope i have more of it somehow he's able to balance the laws of god
and the laws of the land even when they're contradictive okay but christ says go and sin
no more and thank god for a forgiving lord okay if you've committed adultery i'm not trying to
make you feel horrible i mean it's a horrible sin and you probably felt horrible anyway about it but
you know i don't know if anyone has you but i'm just saying like you know christ has forgiven you
okay christ does not condemn you just go and sin no more okay don't do it again don't do it again
now please turn to matthew chapter five turn to matthew chapter five and verse number 27
because as i've been doing in this series even though we may not have committed some of these
sins and go we're fine we're fine you know let's condemn the adulterer well don't forget that jesus
christ comes on the scene and he lifts the standard okay what you thought was enough to get
you to heaven christ is always lifting that bar higher okay and christ says these words in matthew
5 27 matthew 5 27 he says you have heard that he was said by them of all time thou shalt not
commit adultery but i say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her have committed
adultery with her already in his heart oh man that's amazing right so i've not committed adultery
or great but you've ever looked upon a woman with lust it doesn't say this is just married men
it's just general okay and obviously this is not the same as physical adultery but again christ
is not just speaking about our outward body what we see in the body
we sit in our mind we sit in our hearts
i don't care how righteous you think a man is and i don't know i don't know as a pastor i don't know
if you think i'm more righteous than you or something i don't know okay but doesn't matter
what kind of christian you see on the outward they look great praise the lord you know they're
out there doing the works they're still battling their hearts and their minds
there is still foolishness and sin in their heart and in their mind we've got to guard our hearts as
well we've got to guard our eyes as well okay we've got to clean the inside as well not just
the outward the adultery of the hearts and i think every man's done this you know every man has
committed adultery in his heart you know again i just want to put the right perspective on this
you know a man desires a woman a woman desires a man so the answer is marriage yeah that's where
you can fulfill all those good things it's good in marriage okay it's good in marriage
and as i said to you you might think oh this is a righteous man righteous person you know or you
know if you've made mistakes in your past and you beat yourself up you may not like this servant
too much i don't know so i wish i was you know i kept myself pure and this and that well you know
at the time of job job was the most righteous man on the earth at his time faithful okay
a principled man all right and even he says job says in job 31 verse 1 he says i made a
covenant with mine eyes why then should i think upon a maid even the most righteous man on the
earth at this time realizes my eyes can wander away my eyes can start to look upon another
woman who is not my wife and he goes i'm going to make a covenant with my eyes a covenant like
a promise we can we eyes you listen to me all right if you're walking down the street and
there's a lady right i mean you can't the first glance you can't help it because you got it your
eyes are open you got you know but the moment you realize this is you know i should not be
looking in that direction he goes look you just look down you look the other way okay you don't
take the second glance because eyes you listen to me and the eyes are part of the sinful flesh by
the way even job even job struggled with this brethren okay even job was realized man why my
i can sin you know i've got joe was married he had a whole bunch of kids and he even realized
i have to control this part of my life and so i'm saying that because i don't want you guys
just beating yourself up i mean i want to preach the seriousness of this thing i don't want to i
don't want to lower it to some you know i want to make sure you understand how dangerous it is
you know how damaging it is at the same time i don't want you to just beat yourself up and
just go i'm just hopeless then i'm with joe look at joe just do what joe did promise your eyes i'm
not going to look in that direction be like joseph if i am in a situation like that i'm getting out
of there i don't care if i leave my coat behind all right i don't care if i have unfinished
business i'm physically getting out of that situation this is what these good men had to do
okay so if these good men struggled then you're going to struggle okay and again i want the
seriousness to sink deep in because if you don't think of this as a serious sin that anybody can do
then you're going to find yourself falling into this kind of issue
you're going to find yourself hurting your spouse cheating and damaging your marriage
you're in matthew five i believe can you please turn to matthew 532 matthew 532
now is adultery grounds for divorce no
okay it's not and again this is where if you mix fornication with adultery and you don't separate
it like the lord does you're going to get all mixed up okay matthew 532 it says but i say
to you that whosoever shall put away his wife that's divorce saving or except for the cause of
fornication cause of her to commit adultery and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced
commit adultery all right is there grounds for divorce in the bible yes there is okay what was
that granted divorce fornication again people struggle with this they don't understand it
and i i get i get i guess why you know because our our society is different and sometimes we think of
our society we put that into the bible we need to just remember that there are different cultures
sometimes they do things in a different way okay fornication again is uh before before you've you
know let's put it this way it's before you've consummated that marriage before you've had that
intimate relationship with your spouse okay because normally in australia you get married
and then you're on your honeymoon you know that night you're pretty much on your honeymoon or
whatever right and you consummate the marriage straight away okay there is no period of time
generally speaking where where there's where there's a period where something can be fornication
to adultery whereas in the time of the bible and we see this the best example of this is joseph and
mary where they are legally married the bible calls um joseph her husband and to joseph he
calls god calls her his wife even before they consummated their marriage remember she was a
virgin at this point in time but they're married but she's a virgin and she falls pregnant with
jesus christ okay and then the bible says that joseph was a just man because he wanted to put
her away privately okay he was a just man for wanting to divorce her because from his perspective
she had just cheated on him but because they had not consummated the marriage
this was fornication and that's the ground for divorce that's just okay but once you've
consummated that marriage you know once you've been intimate together that part is over okay
and anything outside of that is now adultery
and so what i'm saying is fornication is grounds for divorce if that's within your culture and
i've shared this before this happens in chile especially with christian couples
pastors in chile do not have the authority to be wedding celebrants celebrants so couples have to
go and get legally married legally recognized they're documented they've got the documentation
then they go to their church their pastor and this can be several months because you know
costs money to you know document documentation chile takes forever so you do that first
try and get that all organized okay it's a different kind of system over there
anyway and then and then once you gather it all then you know hopefully you've saved up
you've got all your you know your wedding ready and happening can be several months later then
you you know stand behind the altar with your partner you exchange vows in a church or something
like that then they go off and live together okay this happens a lot in places like south america
i know it's very common in europe as well we just don't have that in australia so we don't
understand how that can take place so let's say you are living in chile and you go get legally
married okay you're waiting for that documentation to come through so you can get married because you
want to do it in the church or something like that well in that period of time before you
consummate your marriage if your spouse goes off and cheats on you then you can justly divorce them
according to the bible okay you've not committed sin they've committed fornication you've not
consummated the marriage and that is the right biblical teaching on divorce when it's permitted
all right now i'm going to read a few other you're there again matthew 520
matthew 532 it says that whosoever shall put away his wife same for the cause of fornication so if
it's for adultery cause of her to commit adultery because you're making her go she has the desire
to be under a man she has a desire to have a husband you divorce her and she goes find
someone else she's gone off to commit adultery okay and look i know this is hard to accept
you know i've got people in this church people down at blessed alphabets church that have been
divorced and remarried again i'm not trying to make you feel horrible okay you're remarried
you've got your second spouse or your third spouse or your tenth spouse okay well keep it that's the
one all right till death do us part from this day forward go and sin no more okay you make this
work praise god for that okay you make this work but you know if you go off and do this you you
know if you go get remarried on the basis of adultery you're committing adultery yourself
okay i mean the bible is so clear about this mark chapter 10 verse 11 and he's safe unto them
whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another committed adultery against her
that's what the bible says verse number 12 and if a woman shall put away her husband
and be married to another she committed adultery doesn't matter who it is if you get divorced
because for any other reason except fornication and you go marry another you've committed adultery
again okay in the eyes this according to the eyes of the lord this doctrine is very straightforward
people love to complicate it because they know they've got complicated lives they've made
mistakes but you know what if you make mistakes just put your hand up i've made a mistake lord
help me go and sin no more let me make things right from this day forward that's it you push
on forward you don't have to justify your mistakes justify your sins maybe god means this or maybe
god means like this you start messing things up and then you make your sin and your situation
a light situation instead of people understanding the seriousness those that have not made this
mistake so then they can learn and you know live a life that is right in the eyes of the lord
the bible says in luke 16 18 whosoever put away his wife and marry for another committed adultery
and whosoever married her that is put away from her husband committed adultery
okay i mean every gospel all four books contain this teaching you know not all four books always
contain the same doctrines this one is consistent okay so if you've got a favorite gospel of jesus
christ you're going to have this teaching all right adultery is not grounds for divorce
but if we had a righteous government that put the adulterous to death then it is grounds for
remarriage okay but because we live in the system that we do this is just a burden that we carry
okay because jesus christ lived in a system where they needed permission from the roman
empire to put people to death he worked under that system he found a way to operate as best
as he could okay under that system that's just how it is with a world that we live in where they
do not honor the laws of god now you're there in matthew aren't you so please go to matthew 19
matthew 19 and verse number three matthew 19 and verse number three
so
and by the way let me just make it clear because i had the question asked of me
if you've been divorced and you got remarried yes you've committed adultery
but you're not a perpetual adulterer okay i want you to make that clear some people believe
that every day that you live in that new marriage you're just an adulterer for the rest of your life
that's not the teaching okay that's not because what is adultery adultery is
cheating on your spouse okay but that second marriage or that third marriage
i mean think of the woman the samaritan woman at the well okay how many husbands did she have
five five husbands and then she was living with another man okay jesus christ says those are your
husbands you've got five husbands and the one you're with is not your husband
i mean jesus christ recognizes their husband i mean think of solomon the bible says she had
the bible says she had 700 wives it's not like he had one wife and 699 adulterous relationships
like ongoing okay now every time he got married every time he consummated marriage he had
committed adultery okay but listen once those vows are made just go and confess to the lord
lord help me make this work now okay help me not to make the same mistakes again okay and and god
will help you in that marriage it is a marriage you know i'm not saying that your second marriage
is somehow less of a marriage no your second marriage or your third marriage or your fifth
marriage hopefully not okay is legitimate okay you've made vows you've committed yourselves
now keep that vow keep that vow and sin no more matthew 19 and verse number three matthew 19 verse
number three the pharisees also came unto him tempting him they're at it again all right and
saying unto him is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause come on jesus
every reason can we just put our wires away for whatever reason we want
and say that's stupid but that's the law of australia no-fault divorce in the past
you had to justify your reason to want to get divorced the courts had to grant you permission
where they thought yes this is serious enough for you to get divorced they're looking for
no-fault divorce that's what we have now you don't have to give a reason just get divorced
if you want to get divorced get divorced i mean it's such a stupid question but we live in this
world i mean the pharisees would have loved to live in australia in 2020 2022 verse number four
and he answered and said unto them have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning
made them male and female and said for this cause shall a man leave father and mother
and shall cleave to his wife and they twain that's two twain shall be one flesh you know what's going
to keep you together it's going to keep you from committing adultery you know or getting divorced
is just reminding yourself when you look at your spouse we are one flesh
forget this australian system where i'm the wife i'm the husband we're just two individual people
living under the same roof but i do my things and she does her things and i've got my bank
account and she's got her bank account and basically we just got our own lives but we
just live under the same roof wrong we look at our spouse and we say we are one flesh
we are one and the same your wife takes your name you're the same you know when i look at a wife in
this church i think of her with her husband when i look at a man who's married i think of him with
his wife they are one flesh they are one team they're combined they're together that's how you
ought to look at your spouse we are one and the same don't complain about your spouse because
you're just complaining about yourself you need god's help with your spouse take it to jesus
all right take it to the lord god you are one you're one team god's put you together what does
jesus christ say here this is in verse number six wherefore they are no more twain listen you're not
two people living under one roof no more twain but one flesh what therefore god have joined together
let not man put asunder if you're married right now god has put you together you're one flesh
you're one flesh don't let man tear you apart including yourselves okay god has put you
together there's purpose there's meaning there's joy okay in a married relationship even if it's
just second or fifth or tenth okay verse number seven they said to him why did moses then command
to give a right of divorcement to put her away and to put away again that was for fornication
and he saved unto them moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put
away your wives but from the beginning it was not so and i say unto you whoso shall put away his wife
except before fornication and shall marry another committed for adultery and who shall marry her
which is put away doth commit adultery all right so make it work i know no marriage is perfect
my marriage is not perfect okay but it's my marriage okay my wife is not perfect i'm not
perfect but we're one flesh and god has put us together and divorce must never come out of our
mouths i don't care how angry we get at each other okay how annoyed we get at each other
maybe stop getting annoyed maybe start accepting that your spouse is a sinner his spouse makes
mistakes and we should try to fix our ourselves and you know be compatible and you know there's
something you do that your spouse gets annoyed at we should try our best to fix those things
but it doesn't matter how much you fix there's always going to be something your spouse can be
frustrated with you about so let's just learn to put that aside you know time you know as you
mature you grow together you grow in love you know as you grow in love you're going to be able
to overlook more the little issues that bothered you at the start like the things that may have
bothered you early in your marriage probably don't bother you as much as they do now say why is that
because you love them more because you realize love is greater than just those little nitpicky
things that frosted you at the start okay but yeah i just wanted to confer like just again just
reinforce the seriousness of adultery the seriousness of of divorce if it's divorce for
any other reason except for an occasion and you end up getting remarried you've committed adultery
in that initial union that you've had together okay now let's talk about something else please
go to James chapter four go to James chapter four because again we want to take something
i've never committed adultery i've never been divorced i hope it never happens i'm going to
make sure that i never make this happen okay but again we want to bring things to us and the bible
speaks of a different type of adultery in the bible which is spiritual adultery spiritual
adultery okay the bible says in Ezekiel you go to James 4 Ezekiel 23 37 the lord says about his
nation they have committed adultery and blood is in their hands look at this and with their idols
have they committed adultery what with their idols
god says when the nation of Israel turned to false gods
it's idolatry yes it is but from god's perspective they've committed spiritual adultery
because they belong to god you know the the lord god is their god and they're meant to be his people
and they've turned their hearts and worship to what false god god says they've committed adultery
adultery spiritual adultery look we may never go and worship an idol but even us in the new
testaments even us as christians can commit spiritual adultery okay against the lord god
we know adultery is horrible against the spouse what about adultery against the lord
well the bible says in James 4 4 James 4 4 ye adulterers and adulteresses adulteresses
know you not that the French look at this that the friendship of the world is enmity with god
who so therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of god
if you just make friendship oh this world is for me i'm going to live for this world
you give yourself to this life the temptations the carnal pleasures
you make it all about this temporary life rather than the spiritual life the lord says you're
an enemy of god in that in your actions but that you're an adulterer you're a spiritual adulterer
if your heart is to this earth and to this world rather than your heart being toward your lord god
verse number five do you think that the scripture safe in vain the spirit that dwelleth in us lust
of to envy but he giveth more grace wherefore he saith god resisteth the proud but giveth grace
unto the humble yeah i don't know do you love this world i love lost souls i love this church
i love my brethren i love what god has given me but truly brethren i this world i feel so
detached from this world and the more i go in life and the more wickedness i see and even the
things i once enjoyed you know just stupid tv shows or stupid movies that i once enjoyed as a
child and you look at what they're doing with this and they're bringing in the lgbt agenda
you know i mean it's just i just i realize man this world is not for me maybe being a pastor
makes a big difference i don't know but we have to really detach ourselves from this world love
in this world okay and look if if you have been loving this world if you have been loving the
pleasures that this world gives you that you know are contrary to god you know that if you
follow these things you're not showing god's love this is not god's love this is just a carnal
fleshly sinful love to all the things of this world then you need to do what we just read
in verse number six but he gives more grace we need we need god's grace we need his forgiveness
wherefore he says god resists the proud but give grace to the humble you humble yourself say god
i've been loving this world way too much please help my heart be drawn back to you all right verse
number seven submit yourselves and therefore to god resist the devil and he will flee from you
you know why you love the world because the devil came along and tempted you with the world
he offered you things that you thought you could you know he he knows what we struggle with
he knows what draws our heart away from the lord so the devil's going to throw that to your face
he's going to throw everything he hopes something sticks or your heart will be drawn away and then
you become that spiritual doltron your affection is in the wrong place verse number eight draw
night to god and he will draw night to you cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your
hearts you double-minded you see we ought to be clean on the outward but clean on the inward as
well cleanse your hands purify your hearts you double-minded who do you love double-minded people
double-minded pastor what do we love do we love the lord do we love this world
don't be double-minded make your choice make your choice don't commit spiritual adultery
make sure your heart and affection is toward the lord god now in conclusion verse number
eight again james four eight this is the solution for every adultery physical adultery
adultery of the heart spiritual adultery this is the same solution draw night to god
and he will draw an eye to you okay keep the lord close by keep walking with the lord
all right i mean that that's the the lord's prayer has it go again and lead us not into temptation
all right lead us not into temptation when we're walking with the lord
the lord's going to help us not be led into that temptation
like being tempted is not the sin given into the temptations of sin
but to protect ourselves we don't even want to be tempted so you need to be close to the lord
where he can be guiding you there's so many temptations in this world and the lord can be
leading you whoops take you this way take you that way take you that way you don't even notice
some of the temptations that you've been able to get it past because the lord's been at your side
but then that prayer continues lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil
so if you do find yourself in temptation deliver me from evil lord give me a way of escape
what is it again what did pastor kevin say i'm gonna get out of here run you run who cares what
they think of you keep yourself pure keep your hands clean keep your heart clean keep your eyes
clean make a covenant with your eyes like job did okay adultery is wicked it's sinful it's hurtful
it will damage your soul it will damage your marriage it will hurt so many people
and it's going to be a stain on your reputation for the rest of your life okay let's pray