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It's a pretty full on chapter there, right? I mean, it's probably not the easiest thing to read through. There's a whole bunch of lists, a list of wicked sins and sins that will be put, that cause you to be put to death. You'll notice over and over again, it's talking about how, you know, his blood shall be upon him or he shall surely die, things along this nature. And so we've got a lot of sins, a lot of wicked behavior in Leviticus chapter 20 because I want you to understand the seriousness of this sin that we'll be talking about tonight, all right? Because the sin that we'll be covering tonight is found within that chapter. Now, we are continuing our Ten Commandments series. We're up to commandment number seven and the title for the sermon tonight is Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery. Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, all right? Now, Exodus chapter 20 verse 14, that's where it comes from, Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, one of the Ten Commandments, commandment number seven. But I want you to notice there, Leviticus chapter 20 and verse number 10. Leviticus chapter 20, look at verse number 10. Amongst all the lists of wicked things, amongst the list of people being put to death for, it says, and the man that committed for adultery with another man's wife, even he that committed for adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. Brethren, adultery, it's a crime. It's not just a sin. It's not just one of the sins. It's a crime worthy of death. And we need to hear this, brethren, because our nation, there's adultery happening right now in our nation. Within our city. People don't even think about it, okay? It's so easy for women to be unfaithful to their husbands and for husbands to be unfaithful to their wives and this has just happened rampant in Australia, okay? It's not even, you know, in the eyes of the world, it's even hardly a sin. And yet the Bible says it's a crime that is worthy of death, all right? Commandment number seven, Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery. What is adultery? Very simply, once you have made those vows, you've been wedded to your spouse, to your wife, to your husband, you've been married, brethren, if you are unfaithful to your spouse at that point in time, you're committing adultery, all right? Or if you're single right now, you're single, and you commit, you know, filthiness, you're unfaithful and you take another man's wife or you take another wife's husband, okay? Even though you're not married, that's adultery as well. Because it's breaking the sacred vows of marriage, all right? This is a serious business, all right? Now, of course, more than adultery, what's going on in this world is fornication. And I need you to understand that there are differences between what fornication is and what adultery is. I've heard the teaching that adultery falls under the umbrella of fornication. But if you do a deep study in God's Word, you'll notice that that is not the case, okay? Adultery and fornication are two different things. Hey, if you are found to have committed a fornication, you are not to be put to death, all right? Now, if fornication takes place within our church, those church members are to be kicked out of the church. You know, don't get me wrong. It's still a serious issue, fornication, okay? But fornication is before you're married or you have two unmarried partners, okay? That is fornication. But if one of the partners or both partners are married and are being unfaithful, that is adultery. Now, just to prove that to you, can you please go to Galatians chapter 5? Go to Galatians chapter 5. Actually, no. You go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. I'll just go to a clearer passage for you. You go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and I'll just read some other passages to you. You go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and, you know, there are many verses that we can use to prove that fornication and adultery are two separate things, all right? But I think 1 Corinthians 7, too, if you've got this one memorized or you want to highlight it in case someone comes to you with that stupid argument, this one's very clear. But before I read that, let me just quickly read to you from Galatians 5.19. Galatians 5.19 says this, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, and the list goes on. But I want you to notice the first two that come up on that, the works of the flesh, adultery, then fornication. The fact that these are listed separately proves that they're not one and the same thing, though they are similar, all right? You're not keeping yourself as a virgin for your marriage day, all right? You're being unfaithful. You know, you're committing fornication with this body. I mean, at the end of the day, I guess from our perspective, it's a similar sin, but the sin of adultery is far worse because you've made a vow, you've made a commitment to that one person till death do us part. You know, you are going to be my spouse for the rest of my life. And once you've made that vow, once you've made that commitment, brethren, now if you break that, God says you're worthy of death, all right? Now you're there in 1 Corinthians 7, verse number 2, look at this. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication. So if you want to be someone that never fornicates, all right, to avoid fornication, what do you have to do? To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband. So if you take this verse at face value, what is it saying here? If you never want to commit fornication in your life, what are you going to do? You get married. So can a married person commit fornication? No, because marriage is the answer to not commit fornication. Does that make sense? So, you know, that just proves to you that you cannot commit fornication once you're married. If you're unfaithful, it's not fornication, it's adultery, all right? Now, Ezekiel, I'll just quickly read to you from Ezekiel 16, verse 32. Now this is talking about the nation of Israel, okay, committing spiritual adultery against the Lord. Hey, we've gone through Jeremiah, we saw how in Jeremiah, the Lord will talk about Judah being like this spiritual whore, right? Spiritual adulterous, this spiritual harlot. But it says in Ezekiel 16, 32, But as a wife that commiteth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband. So it defines for us what adultery is. It's a woman that takes strangers, men that are not her husband, rather than her husband herself, okay? So adultery can only be committed within the bounds of marriage, okay? So I need you to understand this. Fornication and adultery, I guess they're similar sins, but they're different because one, adultery falls within the boundaries of marriage, okay? And I hope that's pretty straightforward. There are a lot of verses that we can go through and prove this, but I don't want you to get into that mindset and thinking that adultery just falls under the umbrella of fornication. Otherwise, you're going to end up with some messed up doctrine. You know, you're going to start teaching that divorce is just fine, like Jesus Christ has no problem with divorce, etc. All right, can you please now turn to Proverbs 6? Turn to Proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 32. Proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 32. Now, the problem with adultery today, and look, I used to work, you know, in a secular job just like many of you, all right? I worked in an office environment and, you know, there are men and women working there. You know, there are different business conventions and things that are going on and there are married men, there are married women and there are single men and single women in the workplace and unfortunately, you know, this is where I worked. I like the business as a whole, but unfortunately, several times, you know, married women would sleep around or married men would sleep around, okay? And they would take the opportunities where they would go on some type of business trip, you know? And for me, sometimes they wanted me to go on a business trip, all right? Sometimes I've had like, we need you at a certain place for a month. I say, I'm never going for a month. You want me there for a week? I can do a week, all right? Then I'm coming back to my wife, all right? I don't want to be around wicked people for a whole month away from my local church as well. And so this happens, I understand. You know, this is always happening now. Here's the thing about it though. You know, especially, maybe not so much the ladies, I don't know the ladies, you know, because I don't talk to the ladies about this stuff, right? But the men, the men in the workplace that would, you know, would have that romantic, you know, conquest, you know, that he would have cheated on his wife and it comes out and it gets known. You know what? There's no shame in these people's faces. They're full of pride. They're pumped up. And then they look at me, I can take, you know, more than one woman or something like this. It's the kind of attitude that people have. You know, how many women can you sleep around with even if you're a married man? And this stuff happens in Australia. Listen, these people should be put to death. You know, our government should be righteous enough to say, hey, you've broken your marriage vows. You committed yourself to this woman or, you know, this woman, you've committed yourself to this man and now you've done such a wicked thing, all right? I mean, you know, it'd be like the worst thing for my wife to cheat on me or something like that. I mean, I think for any married person, you would say that would be like the worst thing that could possibly happen, I think. I think that's like the worst thing that could possibly... I'd rather my wife kill me, all right, than to cheat on me or something like that, okay? So, and I'm saying that people are filled up with pride because when we go to the book of Proverbs, we know that the book of Proverbs is the book of wisdom. It's the book of understanding and knowledge. And how does God talk about someone that commits adultery here in Proverbs 6 and verse 32? It says, but whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding. You know what it's saying there? The adulterous person is an idiot. They're stupid. They don't have proper understanding. Yeah, they think they've got some conquest, but they lack understanding. Why? It says here, he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. Now, when the Bible uses the word soul, many times it's just referring to your life, okay? And so it says, look, if you just go and commit adultery, you're going to destroy your life. And look, let me just say to this church, for those that are married, okay, and for those that are listening afterwards online, if you're married, you know, if you're tempted and you go and do such a stupid thing, you will destroy your life. You will destroy your family. You will destroy your spouse. You will destroy your children. It's something that you cannot get over, okay? And you can't just think, well, okay, I committed adultery on my wife and, you know, now she's got, look, I've apologized. I know I'm wrong and she just has to forgive me. Listen, that's, she's never going to trust you ever again. That's what's going to happen. She'll forgive you, but she'll never trust you again. You know what? Anytime you're out about, she's going to be wondering, where is he? Anytime you come home late, she'll be wondering, what is he doing with his time? You know, it's just, this is going to be your life from now on. You're going to have this stain on your reputation, stain on your relationship for the rest of your life, okay? So again, you know, some of you might say, well, you know, Pastor Kevin, I've done this. You know, here's the thing. I'm preaching to those that haven't done this. I'm preaching to the children that they would honor, when they decide to get married, they understand that this is for life and I cannot do anything to break this marriage. And if you cannot save that person for life, don't marry that person then. You know, find the person that you can say, I'm happy to be with this one person for the rest of my life and don't let divorce ever enter your brain. Don't let adultery ever enter your mind. Don't let divorce ever come out of your mouth in a fight because then if you start going that direction, that's where it's going to lead, all right? So I preach to my children just as much as I preach to the adults here. But let's keep going there in problem 6, verse number 33. What else do we find out about this adulteress or adulterer? It says, a wound and a dishonor shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away. So if you commit adultery, you might very well get wounded. A wound and a dishonor shall he get. You know what? If you're a man, that woman's husband, you know, might get just so angry and out of jealousy, and it's his right to be jealous. Brethren, you might be so angered that he just tracks you down and destroys you. You don't know what kind of wounds adultery might lead to. You know, there are several cases where murder has taken place, homicide has happened because some jealous husband has gone out and either taken out his wife or taken out her lover, you know, taken out the man that she committed adultery with. This happens. You know, you may face a serious wound by the hand of that man or even your death. All right? I mean, this happens. You know, this is known as a crime of passion. Like, if you commit homicide because of adultery, again, we looked at this last week, there are different degrees of murder, and so you're not charged as someone that has just committed first-degree murder because it's basically if your spouse has committed adultery, the thought there is that you've been provoked into anger and out of passion and anger, you've gone and killed someone. And so you won't face the same level of punishment as someone that has committed first-degree murder. All right? You may face that. You say, well, you know, maybe I won't face a wound or I won't die potentially. Well, it says here a wound and a dishonor. Listen, you're going to be dishonored. You've destroyed your reputation. You know, when people go around thinking, oh, look, I've cheated, you know, I've been with this person, I've been with that person. Listen, it's just a stain on your reputation forever. You know, the pain you've caused your spouse will be there forever. Even if she forgives you, even if he forgives you, that pain will be in that person's heart forever. You'll be dishonored. Everyone will know you're an idiot. Like, everyone will know, why'd you do that? You know, one might stand or something. Why'd you go and just destroy your life? Now, nobody likes you. You know, they think of you as a loser. Let's keep going. What does it say here? In verse number... Oh, and his reproach shall not be wiped away. So you'll never take that stain away from your reputation. You'll always be known as the one that committed adultery. Verse number 34. For jealousy... So why would you receive a wound here again? This is the same idea, right? The crime of passion. For jealousy is the rage of a man. Therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. If that man's wife gets a hold of you, he's not going to spare. He's going to hit you as hard as he can get you. Okay, he's going to cause as much damage to you as much as he can get. And rightly so. Okay, jealousy is not a sin. You know, he ought to be jealous for his wife. His wife belongs to him. Verse number 35. He will not regard any ransom. Neither will he rest content. Though thou give us many gifts. There's nothing you can do to appease, you know, a man if you've gone and slept with his wife. Okay? And you try to be nice and kind and give him many gifts. He's still not going to forgive you. He's still going to be angry at you. You're still going to cause damage to that family and your own family. Let adultery never be something that takes place, brethren, in your life. Alright? And if it's happened in your life in the past, listen, just don't do it again. Okay? Listen to God's word. Don't give in to those wicked temptations. You know, keep in mind if that temptation ever enters your mind, why don't you start thinking, you know, if God had his way, if this was a righteous government, God will kill me himself if I did this thing. You know what? God kill me before I do such a wicked thing. Maybe take that view. You know? So, it's a horrible sin. It's a sin that you'll never, you'll be dealing with the consequences for the rest of your life. Okay? And don't get mad at others. Don't get mad at your spouse that you cheated on because she can't get over it. She won't get over it. Okay? Let's just say how it is. Okay? It's a stain forever. Once again, what did it say there in verse number 33? A wound in his sauna shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away. Now, this is not saying that God's not going to forgive you. God forgives all our sins. Jesus Christ has died for all of our sins. Thank God for that, brethren. Otherwise, none of us go to heaven. Okay? So, you know, don't beat yourself up too much if you've done this. Look, God's accepted you because your sins have been put on Christ. But I'm just saying, on this earth, the consequences of this sin, you know, the people you've hurt, it's going to, that hurt's going to be there forever. And it doesn't matter how many gifts you try to give, how much you try to make it right, it's never going to go away. Okay? So, you're better off just not doing it in the first place. Amen? Better off not doing it in the first place. Please turn to Genesis 39. Genesis chapter 39 and verse number 7. How do we overcome adultery? How do we overcome that temptation, right? Before you commit such a sin. And this same instruction is for fornication. You know, if you're tempted, if you're single, you're tempted to commit fornication. Listen, it's the same thing. Okay? It's the same way that we overcome it. And let me just say to you right now, you are not strong enough to overcome this temptation alone. Okay? You just can't, this temptations, you know, the thing about this temptation, that in of itself, it's not wicked. You know, in of itself, it's beautiful. As long as it's within the right boundaries, the boundaries of marriage. You know, God's created one man, one woman for life brethren. And through that process, God wants us to have children, to raise a godly seed, to have a family that serves God. And this is why it's such a difficult temptation to overcome. Because we naturally desire that. We naturally desire to have companionship, to be with someone else. But listen, if it's not in the boundaries of marriage, it's a sin. Alright? So let's look at Genesis 39 verse number 7. And we're looking at the story of Joseph. We know that Joseph was sold into slavery, into Egypt, and he was taken in by Potiphar. Hey, and he served Potiphar faithfully, and Potiphar basically gave his whole household to Joseph to look after. It says here in Genesis 39 verse 7, That's Potiphar's wife. How about his wife, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? He says, how can I do such a wicked thing? He says, look, Potiphar's given me everything I've got. You know, he's made it well for me. I'm serving him faithfully. But notice what he says, how can I sin against God? And brethren, you know what? That's the attitude we ought to have every time we're tempted to sin. Whatever sin it is. Even if it's a smaller sin. Even if it's just a white lie. We should say to ourselves, how can we sin against God? Sometimes we think we're just sinning against man. No, you're sinning against God. Every sin is an offense against God. Okay, so he takes us here. Joseph is a godly man, right? Then what happens? Verse number 10. Every day this woman is trying to commit adultery with Joseph. Every single day. Verse number 11. Now this is probably, obviously, his mistake. There are no witnesses. There's no one else in the house except for Potiphar's wife. Now the fact that she's been trying to get him to sleep with her every single day. You know what? If there's no one in the house, he should have been smarter to go, you know, I'm not going in there. You know, I'm going to avoid that place because there are no witnesses. There's no one here that can testify of what's taking place. And it says here in verse number 12. Brethren, that's the answer to the temptation. You flee. The Bible says flee for an occasion. Now we're talking about adultery here. But it's the same thing. You find yourself in a place of temptation, you physically get out of there. Don't care what, doesn't matter what anyone has to say. Alright? Don't worry what people have to say about you. You get out of there. First, number one, avoid that situation. Joseph should have been smarter and said, look, there's no one else here. I better not go into the house. Avoid the situation. Alright? You know, I thank God for, you know, the same company that I worked for. The HR manager said to me once, because I was given an office and there were blinds in the office there. And he said to me, I took in, I walked into the office. Day number one, he walks in and goes, Kevin, let me give you my word of advice. Get rid of the blinds. Because if you got rid of the blinds, it's just windows and you can look through. He goes, let everyone be able to see what's happening in your office. Because I had a lot of girls that worked under me. And he goes, the worst thing that could possibly happen is that you're having a private conversation, the blinds are closed, she comes out and makes some false accusation and how are you going to defend yourself? So yeah, that's the first thing I did. I ripped off those blinds. I kept the, you know, open. And yeah, if someone came in for a private conversation about whatever, we had the door closed, but anyone could see through the office that nothing's going on, okay? So yeah, you know what? Remove, don't allow yourself to get in any situation like that. And if you find yourself being tempted, there's only one solution, you flee. You can't think I'm strong enough. I'm going to just overcome this. No, you get out of there. You physically get out of there. No matter what area or what place you're in, you get out of there, you flee. And if you leave your jacket behind, you leave your jacket behind, get out of there, okay? Now Joseph did the right thing. Unfortunately for Joseph, he was falsely accused. You know, part of his wife basically said that he tried to get with her and then he was thrown into prison. Now, we're not going to talk about that right now, but I just want to show you that this godly man Joseph did the right thing. He fled, and that's the best example that we've got. We've got that commandment in the New Testament, flee fornication. That's the only answer. You've got to physically get out of there, all right? Now please go to John chapter 8. Go to John chapter 8, verse number 1. John chapter 8 and verse number 1. Now some Christians say, well, adultery was punishable by death in the Old Testament, but when Jesus came, even though Jesus operated on the Old Testament, they'll say when Jesus came, he did away with adultery as a sin, or he did away with adultery as punishable by death because of this story. Let's have a look at it together. In John chapter 8 and verse number 1, John chapter 8 and verse number 1. John chapter 8 and verse number 1 reads, 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 say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very acts. Now let me just stop there for a moment. I've heard some people say, well, maybe this woman wasn't in adultery, and the Pharisees here, the scribes and Pharisees are basically lying. No, because if you look at verse number 3 again, again, who's the narrator of the Bible? The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's not going to lie in his narration. In verse number 3, once again, it says, and the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. So this woman is definitely an adulteress, okay? She's definitely basically committed adultery, she's been found out, the scribes and Pharisees take her, bring her before Jesus. Verse number 5. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? Hmm, Jesus? So they're right. Moses said if you've committed adultery, you get stoned. Hey, but it wasn't just the adulteress, it was the adulteress as well. Where's the adulteress? Anyway, they take this woman, what sayest thou? Now let me just bring you up to speed what's happening here. Obviously these people want to catch Jesus in a fault, all right? And I haven't got time to prove this right now, but at this time the Jews were not allowed to put anyone to death, okay? Because they had the Roman Empire upon them, right? They were subject under the Roman Empire, all right? And the Roman Empire, basically they would not allow the Jews to just, in their own laws, put someone to death. They had to carry that out through Roman law. This is why when Jesus Christ was arrested, he had to be brought before Pilate, and Pilate had to be the one that crucified him to death, all right? Anyway, they're trying to find fault with Jesus. Because if Jesus says, yes, Moses is correct, let's stone her to death, and then they can go to the Roman Empire and say, hey, this man's not following the laws of Rome, all right? Let's kill this guy, or whatever, okay? So this is what they're constantly doing, right? So Jesus finds himself in this, well, I think for a lot of us, we'd be in a tough situation here. But Jesus Christ always has the answer. Is he going to uphold Roman law, which is subject under, or is he going to uphold the law of Moses? What's he going to do? What do you think? Well, let's keep going. What does Jesus Christ do? Verse number six. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. See, it's not just, they're not just bringing some woman, and they just want Jesus to carry out justice. No, they're trying to accuse him. They're trying to find a problem with Jesus Christ. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he had heard them not. As he had heard them not, yeah. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. So this is so good, right, of Jesus Christ. Does he uphold the law of Moses? Does he uphold that the adulterer should be put to death? Yes, because he says, he that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at her. He goes, all right, let's stone her then. But the first one that casts a stone, make sure that you're sinless. Make sure there's nothing about you that God will be upset about. Now here's the thing, none of us are sinless. You know, all of us are willing to say, hey, we're not perfect, we've all made mistakes. What I love about this, what I love about Jesus Christ, is, you know, God thinks differently to man. You know what man thinks? We think, oh, that adulterer, that adulterer is, oh, I'm glad I'm not like them. Oh, I've got my sins, but you know, I'm not an adulterer. You know, and this is why when I preach, and I preach against sin, I always say, or I don't always say this, but I always hope that this is received. That you would say, hey, stop thinking about brother so-and-so, or stop thinking about sister so-and-so, and stop thinking, oh, I hope this family is listening to the sermon right now. Forget that, and think about how does this sermon apply to me? Because I'm a sinner as well. That's what Christ does. So you're so focused on this woman committed adultery, what about your sins? You're a sinner as well. But notice that he upholds the law of Moses. So yeah, let's stone her then. Now, here's what's interesting. The only person there that is without sin is Jesus Christ. So if anyone's going to pick up that stone, it's going to be Jesus. Right? Let's keep going. What happens? Verse number 8. And again he stooped down and rode on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even until the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. So everyone's gone. They're all convicted in their hearts, man. We're sinners. They walk off, okay? And now it's just Jesus and the woman. Now what does Jesus Christ say? Verse number 10. When Jesus had lifted up himself, he 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. Now did she sin? Yes. Because Jesus says, Go and sin no more. He says, Stop committing adultery. Alright? Stop being a wicked sinner. He tells this woman. But why is it that he cannot condemn her? Because she's, look, where are thine... He says, Where are those thine accusers? Have no man condemned thee? Now if you're going to put someone to death, how many witnesses did you need in the Old Testament? Two or three witnesses. Are there any two or three witnesses left? They're all gone. So Christ can't even put her to death. If he's following the laws... Listen, Christ is honoring the laws of Moses. He says, Yes, she should be put to death. But then they all walk away. They're all convicted because they're all sinners. And now he can't put her to death anyway because there aren't two or three witnesses. Alright? And in doing this, going through this process, he also upholds Roman law. Because he knows they can't put someone to death under the laws of the Roman Empire. Okay? And so you see, Christ somehow, you know, in his wisdom, in his knowledge, he's able to uphold both laws even though they're contradictive. Okay? Because he's God. He's almighty. And this is the challenge of us, brethren. We have the laws of God. We understand. And then there are the laws on this earth. There are laws of Australia. And you know what? The laws of God says the adulterer should be put to death. But the laws of the land says they're not going to be put to death. The laws of the land are going to be like, Who cares? That's just a family problem. That's not an issue, you know, to be brought before courts. And so we've got to walk this line. You know? People have said to me, Why do you preach about the death penalty? Why do you preach against adultery? You know, nothing's going to change in Australia. Yeah, probably nothing's going to change. Well, not yet. Not till Jesus comes back. Okay? Then things will be different in Australia. Trust me then. Okay? Yeah, okay. Things that might not change in this world. But it's still going to proclaim God's word. You know? And you know what? We're not some vigilante church. We're not out there trying to find out who's worthy of death and trying to kill them ourselves. No, the proper place is the government. Okay? Even for Christ, he recognizes the proper place for someone to be put to death is by the Roman Empire. Because that was the power of that day. Now, can you please, during John chapter 8, please go to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. So, in summary, as you turn to Matthew 5, Christ did not do away with adultery. He did not change his mind and say, Well, now maybe it's not the death penalty. You know, Jesus Christ is the same God of the Old Testament. He is the Word of God. Right? He is the author of the Bible. The author and the finisher of our faith. Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever. Okay? And so, Christ... Look, listen. People should still be put to death today for adultery. Jesus Christ did not change it. Okay? He just was smart enough to play, you know, and uphold both laws. Now, I said to you last week that when Christ came to this earth, he lifted the standard. Alright? We're talking about murder last week. And then I had shown how Christ basically says, Well, you've committed murder if you are angry at your brother without cause. Okay? You know, the Lord Jesus Christ takes that which is external, which is obvious and sane, and he's the master of bringing it internally with what's happening in our minds and within our hearts. And in Matthew chapter 5 verse number 27, look at this. Matthew 5, 27. Because, again, we might be like these scribes and Pharisees and be like, Oh, that's an adulterous person. Okay? Well, that's a fornicator. Look at us. We're church going clean Christians. And I hope you are. You know, I hope you're doing the best to live holy lives, brethren. Okay? But don't forget you're still a sinner. Okay? And so we're not allowed to take this attitude and just look down on everybody that's wicked because we need to remain humble because we're not righteous. And the Bible says in Matthew 5, 27, these are the words of Christ. Ye have heard that he was said by them of old time. Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Brethren, you don't even have to be married to commit adultery. If you look upon a woman to lust after her in your heart, you've committed adultery in your heart, brethren. Adultery of the heart. Now, of course, the adultery of the heart is not worthy of death. You know what I'm saying there, right? Being angry with your brother without a cause is not being worthy of death. It's not lined up as the same as first degree murder. You are under the umbrella of adultery. If you look upon, you know, a woman, or if a woman looks upon a man and lusts after him, all right, you've committed adultery in your heart. So, you know, this teaching is so important because, again, it keeps us humble. You know, ah, the adulterous world, the wicked world. Yes, it is a wicked world. But then what's going on in your minds? What's going on in your hearts? You know, are your hearts wicked as well? Because, brethren, that's where adultery starts. It doesn't just start on the outward. It starts on the inward. It starts in the heart, the temptation, the lust of the flesh. You know, you give into that lust. You give into that sin, okay? And, yeah, maybe in the mind, in the heart, it plays out there. Eventually, it's not going to be enough. Eventually, you're going to be driven to do it on the outward, okay? It all starts in the heart. We need to guide our hearts. We need God's help to guide our hearts, brethren, when you're being tempted. And I'm going to quickly read to you Job 31 verse 1. I read this actually yesterday for New Life Baptist Church, but Job was a perfect and upright man. And I want you to notice what he says. In Job 31 verse 1, Job says, I made a covenant. A covenant is like a promise, yeah? A promise. I made a covenant with mine eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? You know what? Even Job, a good, upright, perfect man, you know, the best man on the earth, he says, you know what? Even I can have a problem with this. Even I can look upon a woman with lust. And so I'm going to make a promise with my eyes. He says, eyes, we're not going to look upon some woman. Because if I look upon some other woman that is not my wife, the temptation might come that I think about her in a lustful way and committing adultery in his heart. Job was, you know, was, what's the word I'm looking for? Anyway, Job was active. Proactive. That's what I'm looking at. Job was proactive. He says, before I even think about a woman, I'm going to tell you, eyes just don't look upon a woman. And you know what? That's how it ought to be. You know, for us men, I know men, we can sometimes have this problem, right? If you see a woman that you find attractive, yeah, I mean, I guess you can't help but, you know, you're walking, it's not like you walk blind. Hey, but when you notice that, you say to your eyes, look, that's it. Don't look back. You look away. Walk the other direction, all right? Don't let your eyes, you know, stare upon, don't take the second glance or the third glance. All right, the first glance, you can't help it. You're walking, you know, you don't notice until you see it, all right? But then you got to stop it. Make a covenant with your eyes. Make a promise. Say your eyes, eyes, just stop looking. Because I don't want to commit adultery in my heart. And Brevin, again, you know, I'm serious because this is a major issue. You know, I hate the way women dress in our society today. You know, it's so hard even going up to the Sunshine Coast because it is a beach area. You know, you go to the shops and women walk around in their underwear, in their bikinis, all right? And it's not just that, you know, the billboards, the magazines, the TV, everything. It's just throwing it in your face constantly. We're just constantly having to make this covenant. You know, remind your eyes, stop looking upon these things. Again, there's nothing wicked in of that, in of itself, as long as it's within the boundaries of marriage. It's like God created marriage. It's supposed to be a beautiful thing. It's supposed to be an honorable thing. You know, please stay as virgins, you know, till you get married. You know, and do your very best to stay a virgin in your heart as well. Okay? Control those eyes. Now, can you please turn to Matthew chapter 5? Turn to... Actually, brethren, turn to Matthew 19. Turn to Matthew chapter 19. Let's quickly talk about divorce, okay? Because when we talk about adultery, we've got to talk about divorce as well. Divorce is rampant in Australia, okay? People are getting divorced all the time. And look, if you've been divorced, I'm not having a go at you. I'm preaching God's word, all right? And if you've made that mistake, well, just don't make that mistake again, okay? You know, just say, hey, from this day forward, whatever scenario I find myself in, I'm just going to keep myself pure. I'm going to keep myself honoring the Lord Jesus Christ. See if you've been divorced and remarried, you know, twice, three times, who knows how many times, all right? God still accepts you through the Jesus Christ, through his blood, all right? And whatever marriage you're on, if it's marriage number 10, just remain faithful to that one person till death do us part. You can't go back and fix the past, okay? But you can stay faithful in the present. So you turn to Matthew 19. Is that where I was going to turn? Yeah, Matthew 19. And let me just read some other passages to you before we read Matthew 19. Because to me, this is such an easy doctrine. And it's so easy that I never thought there'd be any issues. Like I never thought people, it's like things are so easy in the Bible sometimes, and mankind still wants to complicate what is simple and easy. Let me just give you an example. Matthew 5, 32. These are the words of Jesus. But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, that's another way of saying divorce, if you put away your wife, saving or except for the cause of fornication, cause of her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, commit adultery. To me, that is clear. You know what, if you, let's just take Australia, because normally in Australia, we consummate our marriage on the wedding night, or whatever, at least a few days later. You know, there are some societies that you might consummate that marriage several weeks even after the marriage, marriage ceremony, okay? I've said before, Chile has this practice, where in Chile, you get married, okay, you're legally married, okay? But many Christians will not consummate that marriage, they will not live together with their spouse until sometime later when they have an actual marriage ceremony, say in the church or something like that, okay? And then they have that marriage ceremony, they consummate that marriage, but they've been legally married for maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months, as they're getting their marriage ceremony together, okay? That's how it is in Chile, that is how it is in some European countries, that's how it is in the Bible times. And listen, when it says here, saving or except for the cause of fornication, we know what fornication is, all right? So here's the thing, you can be legally married, and have never consummated that marriage just yet, but if you have found out your spouse has been unfaithful in that time period, you can divorce her, you can put her away. Moses gave allowance for that Bill of Divorcement to put away that wife. And the Bible says this is fornication, not adultery, because you've not yet consummated that marriage. I hope that makes sense. This is why when Joseph, you know, discovered that Mary, his wife, they had not yet consummated the marriage, they weren't married, legally married, okay, he found out that she was pregnant, what's the first thought that's gone through his head? The Bible says he was a just man and tried to privily put her away. He tried to just secretly divorce her so she's not ashamed, so obviously he loved Mary, and then of course the angel came to Joseph to explain that, hold on, you know, she wasn't unfaithful, this child is Jesus Christ, you know? And so, to me it's very clear, if you get divorced and you get remarried, you commit adultery. Or if you get divorced and you're just sleeping around, you've committed adultery. To me it's black and white, I don't know what's so complicated about these passages. Let me read another one to you. Mark 10 and 11. And he's safe unto them. Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commiteth adultery against her. Straightforward. Getting remarried after getting divorced, it's adultery. Verse number 12. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commiteth adultery. Straightforward. Whether you're a man doing it, or whether you're the woman doing it, you've committed adultery if you get remarried. It's straightforward, simple, isn't it? But, you know, there are Christians. And here's the thing, you know why? Because there's so many Christians, I say Christians. You know, there are so many unsaved Christians that believe salvation is by living a righteous life, repenting from your sins, and they find themselves in a divorce and remarried situation, and they're like, oh, I can't fix this. And it's a burden upon them, and they're trying to, maybe Jesus Christ doesn't mean it that way. And they try to work their way around it because they're trying to go to heaven, be saved on their own merits. Forget your merits, man. We're all sinners. Let me read another one to you. Luke 16 verse 18. Luke 16, 18. These are all the words of Christ. Whoso putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, commiteth adultery. And whoso marrieth her, that is put away from her husband, commiteth adultery. I mean, literally every single book of the Gospels, the four Gospels contain this teaching. It's black and white. You get married, you make a vow, and then you get divorced, and you get remarried again, you've committed adultery. All right? Now, let me make something very clear though. This is not perpetual adultery. All right? This is not perpetual. So, if you're in your second marriage or something, or your third marriage, it's not like I'm still an adulterer. No, obviously that first union with that other person was when you committed adultery. Now, if you've made vows and you've got remarried, okay, that is your wife. Okay, that new person, you'll no longer commit adultery because that person is your wife, or that person is your husband. Yes, it's probably your second wife, or your third wife, or whatever it is, all right? But that is your wife, okay? And it is a legitimate marriage. Some people think that they come to these teachings and go, oh, man, I've been remarried. Therefore, this marriage that I'm in is not legitimate. It is legitimate, okay? You know, as soon as a man and woman make vows before witnesses, all right, a wife is a wedded woman, a husband is a wedded man, and the word wed comes from the word making a vow and making a promise. Okay, once you've made those vows, you are married, okay? And you're no longer committing adultery in that life, okay? So you don't have to keep beating yourself up and think, I'm an adulterer, I'm an adulterer. All right, the first time you're an adulterer, commit unto the Lord, ask for forgiveness, and ask God that he would just help you remain faithful in this marriage to death do us part. All right? And the reason I say that, how many wives did Solomon have? A thousand. 700. 700 wives, 300 concubines. Is that right? Is that the right mix? Yeah, 700 to 200. Yeah, for some reason I always get those two mixed up. Anyway, 700, that's what I asked. 700 wives. The Bible says he had 700 wives. Were they all legitimate wives? Yes, okay? There was a marriage ceremony, there were vows, there was something that took place. The Bible, the narrator of the Bible, the Holy Spirit says these were wives, okay? They were legitimate wives. But just because they're legitimate wives, it doesn't mean that's what God wants you to do, okay? In fact, the Bible's very clear, God made Adam and Eve one man, one woman, for life, that's how it ought to be. And the only reason, the only biblical scriptural reason why you should ever have a second spouse is if your first spouse passes away. Because again, marriage is till death do us part. Once your spouse passes away, then the marriage vows are disallowed, it's finished, it's over, okay? And you can then take on another spouse. All right? Anyway, you're in Matthew 19, verse number 3. Matthew chapter 19 and verse number 3. Matthew 19 and verse number 3. I guess I'm saying this just because, you know, you might have a man and a woman and then, you know, one of them might end up going and committing adultery or something, right? Because they're not happy in their marriage. And they might say, well, I'm not happy in my marriage, I don't want to commit adultery. So let's just get divorced and I'll just get remarried to someone else that I like. Well, you're committing adultery doing that as well. Like, you know what? If there's a problem in a marriage, you know what you got to do? You fix it. That's what you do, you fix it. You forgive each other. You know, you try to improve. We all have faults. You know, I'm sure there are things even today that I do that my wife doesn't like. You know what? She got to a point where she doesn't bring it up anymore. Okay? Because she's like, what's the point of fighting about this stuff? Right? Sometimes I leave my shoes laying around. I know my wife doesn't like it. So I try not to do it. But sometimes I do it, brethren. But you know what? We're not going to start fighting about it. We're not going to, you know, start causing cracks in our marriage about something as stupid as shoes. But that's what divorces, that's where they start. Stupid little arguments. All right? Instead of just realising that, hey, you know what? I've committed myself. You've got faults. I've got faults. We'll both try to improve as much as we can. But listen, we're sinners. You know what? We're not perfect. And this is life. And we just have to... And look, as you grow in love, then you start overlooking the little faults in life anyway. You know what? The more you love... You know, I love my wife today more than I loved her before. Before, you know, when I got married. I love her more today than the day I got married to her. You know? But Matthew 19 verse 3. It says the Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and said unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? You know, is it lawful? Can a man just put away his wife whenever he wants? No fault divorce, as it's known today. Look what Jesus Christ says. 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 he said, For this cause shall a man, a one man, leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, not wives, one wife, and they twain, twain to, not three, not four, they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore, they are no more twain but one flesh. What therefore God have joined together, let not man put asunder. What God has joined together, don't let man break that reverend. You know, your marriage, God put it together. You say, but pastor, given I got married before I was saved, God put you together, okay? And don't be someone that breaks it. Don't get divorced, all right? One man, one woman for life. That's what Jesus Christ is teaching. So these kings that took on 700 wives or whatever, they were wrong, okay? If I was not saying this is fine, they were wrong. But you listen, they're just wicked men, they're sinful men. And they did stupid things. You know, power and money and authority went to their heads. And they just, that's what happens. That's why I never want to be like excessively rich or something. Because who knows what stupidity someone could get up to, right? When you got too much money or power in your hands. Anyway, verse number seven, they say unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away? Because what you're saying, one man, one woman for life, then why did Moses allow divorce? Verse number eight, he saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you or allowed you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be forth on occasion, and shall marry another, commiteth adultery. And whosoever marryeth her, which is put away, doth commit adultery. And so brethren, understand that divorce will lead to adultery. All right? Divorce is never the answer. It's never the answer to your marriage problems, okay? It will just lead to adultery. And Christ is basically clarifying that Moses' allowance of divorce is upon the condition of fornication, okay? Before that married couple has consummated their marriage, all right? So stay together, make it work, make it work, okay? And if you're struggling in your marriage, go and seek the Lord. Ask the Lord, here's the one that joined you together. If there's anyone that can keep you together, it's the Lord God. Go to him for help, all right? And brethren, if you're in your second, third marriage or whatever, you've made mistakes in the past, you are legitimately married, okay? Don't think, oh, you know, some people might use it, oh, yeah, man, I didn't like my third wife now. I've now realized I've just committed adultery. So I'm just gonna break this off and try to return back to my former wives or something. No, that's horrible. That's even worse. Listen, you can't, like two wrongs don't make a right. Isn't that the same? Like just, where are you now? Just make it work now. Okay, you're in your third marriage, you're in your fourth marriage. Whatever it is, whatever that woman, the Samaritan in the world, how many husbands does she have? I can't remember. She had, sorry? She had seven husbands. And even then, Jesus Christ will ever use the woman, the Samaritan woman, to go into her city and preach unto them Jesus Christ. Okay, so yes, you're gonna ruin your reputation, but you can still serve the Lord, no matter how much you've messed up your life. Praise God for that. You can still be a sole winner. You can still preach Jesus Christ, no matter how much you've messed up your life. Now, can you please turn to James 4, we're gonna end on this one. James 4, James 4. So, we spoke about adultery, physical adultery. We've looked at spiritual adultery. So, we looked at adultery of the hearts, didn't we? Now, we're gonna be looking at spiritual adultery, spiritual adultery. Now, we've gone through the Jeremiah series in this church, and you may recall, as I said, many times, the nation of Judah is described as an adulterous woman, okay? And it's not so much, and yes, the people of the land were committed adultery, they were. But when Christ is speaking about the adultery they've committed against the Lord, it's because they worshiped idols, okay? They've given their love, their service, their worship to idols, to false gods. And God basically compares adultery to the sins that they've committed. Just for an example, I'll read to you from Ezekiel 23, 27. It says, they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, okay? So, idolatry is adultery. Idolatry is adultery, okay? The Roman Catholic Church, with all their idols, with all their statues, you know what they're doing? They're committing adultery against the Lord, all right? So, let's go to James 4-4, though. James 4-4, because again, I've already covered idolatry, false gods, statues, etc. And I'm pretty confident no one in this church has any of that stuff in their house. Or at least you don't know, maybe it's somewhere in a cupboard from your past religion or something, right? But, so, it's very unlikely that we're going to worship idols. But James 4-4 is here as well, James 4-4. And James is writing to the saved, okay? He's writing to us, we're saved. It says, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoso therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. What is it saying here? If you just love this world, you become a friend to this world, you're given to the lusts, the passions of this world, brethren, you are committing adultery against the Lord. That's what it's saying. Let's keep going there, verse number 5. Do you think that the scripture safe in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Now look at this, verse number 7. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Brethren, if you start loving this world, loving the pleasures of this world, loving the wealth, loving the prosperity, you know, seeking to just make yourself something in this world, brethren, it's because of the devil. You've got to resist the devil, and the devil will flee from you, brethren. Alright? You love this world, brethren, you give yourself to this world, rather than giving yourself to God and to his kingdom, God calls you an adulterer or an adulteress. This is, of course, spiritual adultery. Let's keep going there, verse number 8. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. And brethren, this is all of us. We've all been double-minded. We're probably even double-minded even today. You know, we love the Lord, we want to serve the Lord, but then there's a part of us, well, with this world too, you know? There are great things to be had in this world, and yeah, maybe God doesn't like it, maybe Jesus would not be happy for me to be participating in this or that, and so we constantly have that fight, though, the flesh and the spirit. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. The spirit wants to serve the Lord God. The spirit loves the Lord. The flesh just wants to prosper in this world. You know, seek this world. You know what? You can't be double-minded. You can't be in two places at once. You either decide to serve the Lord or you decide to serve this world. And you know what? You say, Pastor Kevin, today I'm going to serve the Lord today, yet tomorrow you're going to probably serve the world, okay? It's a constant fight. You know, we don't have this altar call. People come here weeping and crying, ah, I've been serving the world, I haven't been serving God, and they come before the altar, and they make promises, we're just going to serve God for the rest of our life, yet tomorrow you're going to be back serving the world again, because you still have the flesh. You have the flesh. The devil is still there. The devil has his kingdom. You know, Satan has his devils causing temptations, you know, drawing us to lust after this world, you know, to commit adultery in our hearts, you know, to not find satisfaction in our spouses. You know, the devil's at work trying to destroy families, trying to destroy marriage. And brethren, let's just read verse number 8 once again, because if we read verse number 8, it's going to help us in all three areas of adultery. The physical adultery that you might be tempted to do, the adultery that is committed within the heart, and also spiritual adultery. Let's just read verse number 8 again. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Brethren, we need to go to the Lord when we're being tempted. When you know you've had that wicked thought, you go to God. Say, God, help me. I want to draw nigh to you. You draw nigh to me, God. The closer we're in fellowship with God, the easier it is for us to overcome the sin of adultery, the sins of fornication, things like this. All right, brethren, that's commandment number 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Let's pray.