(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Good morning. Thanks for coming to our Sunday morning service. The verse of the week is Deuteronomy 32.4. He is a rock. His work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he. So it's a great verse there. Our pastor is Pastor Aaron Thompson and he's here today. So that's going to be a great sermon and a great time. And we also have service on Sunday at 3.30 p.m. Wednesday Bible study at 6.30 p.m. Saturday soul winning, we have Sunday at 1 p.m. today and also Saturday at 10 a.m. Yesterday we had one salvation in Spokane and I believe we had one salvation in Tri-Cities. Not during soul winning but after, right? So we had two salvations yesterday so praise God. I believe that makes it for August 6th. I forgot to update the numbers but six salvations for August if I'm not mistaken. It's been a pretty crazy week and for the year it's 171 salvations. So that's awesome. And today Pastor Thompson will be preaching, both services. And on Wednesdays we have, we're going through the Book of Colossians. But Jason I believe will be finishing up the Book of Colossians this Wednesday. So come for that. And on September 2nd Pastor Thompson will be preaching in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Fundamentalist Conference. So if anybody wants to go to conference there's your chance. Those that missed the Red Hot Preaching Conference. And then also Pastor Thompson will be preaching at Pure Words Baptist Church. And Pastor Jimenez will be preaching at Vancouver on November 7th. So it's going to be a great time as well. And we see here the preaching schedule, birthday announcements. And we all know the rest of the information there and the Monday matters at the bottom of the bulletin. And that's all for the announcements. And right now let's sing Psalm 139. I know it seems like we've all seen that Psalm when Pastor Thompson is here. But actually that's how it turns out. It's been a while. It's not on purpose I promise. It's been a while we sang it. And it's an awesome song. So Psalm 139. Alright. Start there in verse 19. Psalm 139. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. For they speak against thee wickedly. For they speak against thee wickedly. And thine enemies take thy name in vain. And thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. I count them mine enemies. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. Do not I hate them, O Lord, I hate thee. Great singing. Right now we'll have tithes and offerings. Lord, Jason, if you can pray for the tithes. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day, Lord. I thank you for everything you've given to us, Lord. I pray that you'll bless us as we give back to you, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen. All right, you can open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus chapter 20. We'll read the chapters our custom is in Exodus chapter 20. And God spake all these words saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers, upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, or thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear, but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God has come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was. And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall you make unto you gods of gold. And altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen, and all places where I record my name. I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon. Brother Brandy, can you pray for the service? Amen. Alright, well it's great to be in Spokane once again. And thanks everybody for coming this morning. Let's look down at our Bibles at Exodus chapter 20. I've got to find my place in here. I hope it always messes me up. Never mind. Alright, I'm just going to look on my sheet then. Alright, Exodus 20 says, in verse 14 it says, Thou shalt not commit adultery. So that's what the title of the sermon is this morning, is thou shalt not commit adultery. And I'm talking about, there's different forms of adultery, but obviously God's just saying here, that's one of the Ten Commandments obviously, one of the most famous chapters in the whole Bible. But let's have a word of prayer before I begin, alright? Heavenly Father, we thank you Lord so much for this day that we could spend together, and I pray that you just bless everything that's done at your house today. And Lord, the soul winning this afternoon, and everything that's preached, I pray you fill me with your spirit, and with boldness and power. And I pray that the people that have words, that the words that are spoken today, that the people would believe them, and take them to account in their own lives. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Alright, so, thou shalt not commit adultery. And what is adultery? I mean, most people know what that is, but I'm just going to define, I have a dictionary definition here for you. It says, it's voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person, and a person who is not their spouse. So it's someone that would go outside the bonds of the marriage, when people get married they make a vow to each other, that they're going to stay with each other, tell death do they part, and they make these vows to be true only to that other person. So when you go outside those marriage bounds, then it is adultery. And even someone that might not be married, and they commit this, if they do this act with someone that is married, they're still committing adultery. So, because that other person is married. So I have five points today, and I'm going to go through them really quickly. I'll try to anyway. But point number one is adultery is a capital crime and a wicked sin. Number one, adultery is a capital crime and a wicked sin. And committing adultery is extremely wicked. And so it's so wicked that if you commit it, God says that you should be surely put to death for it. It's not something that He plays around with, and obviously we live in America. And in America, you know, the laws and things like that are way different than they were under God's nation of Israel. But these laws, the Bible says the law of the Lord is perfect. The law of the Lord is perfect. So His saying that adultery should be put to death, adultery should be put to death, is He right by saying that? Absolutely He is. Let's look at Leviticus chapter 20, verse number 10. Turn to Leviticus chapter 20, verse number 10. Remember the point number one is adultery is a capital crime and a wicked sin. So, look at Leviticus chapter 20, verse 10. It says, 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 adulterous, shall surely be put to death. Shall surely be put to death. There's no doubt about it, right? That's what God calls for is the death penalty for a person that would commit adultery, and either spouse committing this sin is a death penalty situation. Now, of course, God has forgiven people in the past for even committing the act of adultery, which is the physical act of adultery. God spared David and He didn't make David die for what he did. And who else? The woman caught in the act of adultery, Jesus said, you know, go and sin no more. And He said He is without sin, cast the first stone. Obviously, those guys had pretty much a bunch of skeletons in their closet, so they just kind of walked away, right? So, anyway, let's look at Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, verse 31. This would be a different type of adultery that it's talking about here. It's still adultery, though. So, look at Matthew chapter 5, verse 31, it says, It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement. But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery. So, unless there was fornication before the marriage, then, you know, that's the only way that God is going to allow you to get out of that marriage. And so, divorcing for any other reason is not right. That's what Jesus is saying, right? I mean, can everybody see that that's what he's clearly saying? Now, do people, through the hardness of their hearts, still get divorced today? Absolutely. You know, some people just, you know, not everybody believes the Bible, first of all, and not everybody believes this scripture right here. So, this scripture is very clear, but people say, Well, my pastor said it's okay to do this, so I'm going to get divorced. I personally know pastors that have allowed someone to divorce their spouse because their spouse was an unbeliever, and then got that person remarried at the church. That's a wicked sin. They're going to account to God for that. You can't, as a pastor, you can't skirt around these issues right here. So, it says, and then, so, let me read it again, verse 32. But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, commiteth adultery. Now, I'll get more into this later, but I don't think that this particular type of adultery is punishable by the death penalty. Because, obviously, once you're divorced, you're divorced. And then that person, if they marry somebody else, they're still married to that other person, aren't they? So, but like, you know, people would probably disagree with me about this, but what about adultery of the mind? Is adultery of the mind a capital crime? No, it's not. So, if two people are divorced and they get remarried, it's adultery, and God will judge that adultery, but I don't think it's on the same level as the caught-in-the-act adultery, because they are divorced. So, that's my opinion on that. I mean, you can take that for what you want, but let's look at Matthew chapter 19. Jesus talks about this more than once. So, look at Matthew chapter 19, verse 3. Matthew 19, verse 3, the Bible says, The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And so, they're saying, every cause, whatever we want to get divorced for, is that what we can do? 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 his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain, they too shall be one flesh. Wherefore, they are no more twain, but one flesh, what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Is that clear? That's crystal clear. And people, I preached a sermon a few years ago that has, you know, a lot of people disagreeing with me on it, but, like, Jesus said what he said. Like, you know, who's the ultimate authority in the Bible? You know, in the New Testament, is Jesus' words, are those authoritative? Absolutely. So, I don't understand how people can just skirt around this issue and say, Oh, no, but what about this? What about that? No, that's what Jesus said. So, that's what I have to preach. And people come to me with marriage problems all the time, you know, and, you know, I understand that people are going to have problems with sinful people and things like that, but people will say, Well, is it okay to get divorced for this reason? Is it okay? No, it's not. If they're an unbeliever, that's not a reason to get divorced. You know, sometimes people get saved after they're already married and the other person doesn't get saved. So, obviously, that's a problem in the home and it's a house divided, but, you know, it talks about, you know, separate, letting them leave, but it doesn't say divorcing them when they leave. So, and obviously, you know, you can't, you can't even stop a divorce anymore. Like, if someone says, I don't want to get a divorce, and the other person does, you know, they can still put the divorce through even though the person hasn't signed the papers. So, you know, if someone, you know, wants, if you want to be right with God in a situation like that, and I'm not saying anybody in this room, I'm just saying, you know, if it ever comes to be where someone tries to divorce you or whatever, then just don't sign the paperwork, you know, and just do what God says to do and you're going to be the one that's in the clear over that issue. Look at verse number seven. It says, So what's he saying? He's saying the beginning, that was not how it was, but because of the hardness of your heart. See, this is why people get divorced, because of the hardness of their hearts, you know, and so it's not God's fault that those things happen. It's not God's fault that someone's a cheating, you know, whatever, or that someone just says, I don't like them anymore, so I'm just going to divorce them, and they just throw all their vows out. You know what? God expects you to keep your vows. If you make a vow to your spouse, that's what it means. You're saying, I'm going to stay with them until death do us part, and whatever else comes, we're going to work through it, because the D word should never come out of your mouth. That should not, you know, and obviously, I'm sure people have gotten in fights, and you know, maybe we should just get a divorce. Don't ever do that. It's not right. You know, and I know people do that a lot, and you know, you get in the heat of battle, and you're pushing each other's buttons, and you know, all things are thrown to the wind at some point. You know, I know you guys fight, so just stop. Everybody that's married fights for the most part, but not everybody does, but like, there's a small percentage of people that probably don't, but you know, me and my wife both have temper, so you know, I mean, there's been times when we've gone at it, but you know, it's just the way it is, but hey, don't let your heart get so hardened that you would do some wicked sin and divorce your spouse. You know, and if you've already been, look, I just want to caveat this. If you've already been divorced and remarried, I'm not trying to beat you down or anything like that. I'm just saying that now, if you're remarried, then stay with that wife. Don't leave that wife. Don't leave that husband. You know, know what the Bible says and obey it, and then just, you know, all that stuff that's in the past, hey, just get over it, and just ask God to forgive you and move on. It's real simple. So it says in verse 9, And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, I mean, listen to how clear this is, committh adultery, and whoso marrieth her, which is put away, doth commit adultery. I mean, how much more clear can it be? It's very clear. So number one, you know, it's the death penalty, and obviously I'm not saying that this type of adultery is the death penalty, but like when Jesus, that woman that was caught in the act of adultery, it was a death penalty situation. But see, at that time, you know, they were trying to put Jesus in a catch-22 where he, you know, whatever decision he made, was the wrong decision, because they weren't supposed to be putting people to death in Israel at that time. But obviously Jesus had the authority, as God manifests in the flesh, to put her to death at that point, or to say she should be put to death. But like, so, you know, but God also has the choice to forgive people if he wants to. And so we're not God. We don't have that, you know, but you can forgive people. You know, we're not God, but we're like God. We're made the image and likeness of God. And so we have parts of us that do resemble God, and we have, you know, a mind that, you know, if you're saved, you have the mind of Christ. And so you should know and just look at these verses. It doesn't matter how mad you get. It doesn't matter how hard your heart gets. It doesn't matter what they said to you. You know, a lot of times we get in arguments and we think, this is it. It's over. We're never going to be able to get over this part. It's not going to happen. And then, lo and behold, you're still married, you know, however many years later. You know, people get in some pretty nasty fights, and it's still, you know, you think it's over, but it's not really over, you know. And we always hurt the ones that we love the most, it seems like. And you wouldn't talk like, some people would say, you know, you wouldn't talk like that to somebody else, but yeah, but we always love the ones we hurt the most. That's the point. We know each other the best. We know what the other person doesn't like that you do, and we know what buttons to push in order to get that person zero to pissed off in like 10.9 seconds or whatever. We know, because we know each other more than we know anybody else as spouses. But look, don't let your heart get hardened against that person to where you would just say, well, I'm just done. I just don't love him anymore. You know, we all go through seasons of life. We go through seasons in our marriage where sometimes it's rough, sometimes, you know, it's like stormy seas and the waves are crashing and, you know, and then, you know, the sun comes out and everything's good again. And so, and if you're having problems in your marriage, work on those things. Look what the Bible says about marriage and try to emulate what the Bible says to do when it comes to being married. Number two, adultery is a carnal desire and a heart problem. Adultery is a carnal desire and a heart problem. Look at Proverbs chapter 6 verse 23. Proverbs chapter 6 verse number 23. Proverbs 6 verse 23. The Bible says, For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lest not after her beauty in thine heart. What's this talk? You know, guys are the ones that mainly have this problem. Women are more emotionally attached. I'm sure that women like good-looking guys still too, but men are more inclined to have this problem where they'll look at some woman and lust after her, and in their heart, they'll lust after them. It says, but we're not supposed to do that. So Job said, I made a covenant with my eyes that I might not look upon a maid. And so that's something that men, we need to really keep ourself in check on. You know, this is adultery. This is what it's talking about, adultery of the heart, where you would, you know, you're just constantly looking at flesh. And, you know, and obviously in 2021, it's harder to do this than any other time because women just, and men, they dress like, you know, they don't dress like, you know, obviously Bible-believing Baptists, okay? You know, on a hot day like today, you probably can't go anywhere to the river or anywhere like that without having to see nakedness everywhere. And so it's very difficult. So we, as Christians, we have to avoid things like that in order to not get ourself ensnared in those types of situations. So, and you know, if you're just, if you go to a place and you're just like looking down the whole time, you know, maybe you should just not go to that place. Or if you're going like this, you know, blocking, you know, it might not be a good place for you to go to. So, I mean, we, as a young man, I like to go to the river and swim and jump off rocks and all that kind of stuff. But, you know, we don't do that stuff very often anymore. I don't think ever, really. We just go to church and stuff. But you can still have fun. But, you know, like even in Hawaii, we tried to find this secluded beach, you know. And, you know, the first thing we see is like a bunch of some queer with a, you know, string bikini. I didn't see him, thank God. But other people did. And, like, this is like a beach where there's hardly anybody at. It's on the other side of the island. And we're just trying to go to a place where there's not going to be as much people. And the first thing we see is nakedness. And it's just like, ugh, you know. So we have to be careful, you know, just make a covenant with your eyes, men, you know, that we won't look upon a maiden. So it says, Lest not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. So hold your finger right here in Proverbs chapter 6, and then turn to Matthew chapter 5 verse 27. Hold your finger here because we're going to come back here in just a minute. But I want to show you a couple verses before that. So Matthew 5 verse 27 says, Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. And, of course, that's from Exodus chapter 20 in our text. And it says, But I say unto you, that whosoever, and you'll notice in this sermon, there's a lot of whosoever in these verses, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. So it's one thing to just look at a woman, but it's another thing to look at a woman with lust. So there's nothing wrong with looking at a woman, but like if you're with your wife and you're just staring at some woman, that's looking too long. If you glance or whatever, but if you're doing like the double takes and the double looks and the triple looks, then you've got to probably need to reign it in. And so obviously for men that can be a hard thing. But it says you've already committed adultery with her in your heart at that point. And that's not saying you should be stoned with stones for that. It's just saying you need to reign yourself in. It's a different type of adultery. So wouldn't it be true, I mean just logically speaking, if someone just thinks about it and someone actually does it, which one's the worst sin? Not all sin is equal. But it's still categorized in the same category. It's just not, it's a sub-level of that category of sin, which was adultery. So look at Jeremiah chapter, keep your fingers still in Proverbs chapter 6, but turn over to Jeremiah chapter 6. Actually, I'll just read this. Just go back to Proverbs chapter 6. I'm going to read Jeremiah 17 verse 9. It says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Look, this thing of saying listen to your heart, and you know, there's songs about listening to your heart. There's songs about, you know, or people, have you ever heard that saying, whatever the heart wants. You know, that's not a way, that's not what God says. God says don't do what the heart wants, because usually what the heart wants is something that's desperately wicked. You know, the fleshly part of our heart, our flesh wants to do wickedness. Our flesh wants to do evil. And you know, our flesh, you know, the lust of the flesh, you know, there's different lists for those things, but you know, the heart is deceitful above all things. You can't trust your heart. You can't trust those feelings. You know, you're like, well, I just feel this. You can't trust that. You can't trust your feelings. You can't trust your heart in a situation like that. So if your heart would be saying, well, you know, I like that girl a lot better than my wife, because at least, you know, she follows along in her Bible while the preaching is going on, or she, you know, she seems to be such a well obedient woman, you know, look at her, and you should never compare yourselves, even in marriage, amongst yourselves in this church, because you don't know what's going on at home. She might be beating him up at home. You don't know. I'm just teasing. But we don't know. You don't know what she's like at home. So I mean, that's a wicked imagination. That's not a thing that you should crave after somebody else's spouse and think that, you know, I got the short end of the deal, you know. Well, hey, you picked them. You know, that's your fault now. I mean, you got to go with what you got. You know, you should have picked better. But just because you think they're better doesn't mean that they really are. So we don't want to get in ourself in a situation where we're being worldly and saying, hey, we should just listen to what our heart says, whatever makes you happy, you know. That's not what the Bible says. So number three, adultery causes you physical and spiritual harm. Physical and spiritual harm. Look at verse number 26 where I had to keep your finger there in Proverbs chapter 6. It says in verse 26, A man is brought to a piece of bread, and what does it say? The adulteress will hunt for the precious life. God's, he's liking it to a hunter. You know, someone that's hunting. You know, you think about Bambi getting shot in the first, you know, or Bambi's mom getting shot or whatever in the first, you know, Bambi, the only Bambi movie that I've ever seen. But Bambi gets shot and everybody's like, oh, poor Bambi, it's Bambi's mom. Or is it Bambi's dad? I can't remember. Is it mom or dad? Does anybody know? Okay, it is mom. I'm a member of PETA, people eating tasty animals. But it's likening this to someone that's on the hunt for a precious life. And what is it talking about? An adulteress that's hunting for men that she can take their life away. And is it always going to be a physical life taken away? Well, if the laws of God are put into effect, it would be hunting for the precious life because you commit adultery back then and you're put to death, you know. Or if the jealous spouse gets ahold of you, you might be put to death or beat up really badly or whatever, or both end up dead. But also, your life in public. You know, your reputation is tarnished. And so it can cause you physical and spiritual harm. So look what it says in verse 27. Look at how the Bible explains it. It says, can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? No. If you take coals into your shirt like this and you're walking around with them, you're going to get burned from it, right? And it says in verse 28, can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned? And the answer again is no. You're not going to get away from that without burning your feet. So what's God saying? Hey, if you commit adultery with somebody, you're going to get burned in one way or another. And so it could be some kind of disease that you pick up that you can never get away from. It could be AIDS. It could be some of the other syphilis or some of the gonorrhea or some of these really nasty venereal diseases. Do you think God didn't make those diseases because of things like this? He did. He's made everything. So anything that hurts people or harms people like that, God intended it to be that way. But you're not going to get away unscathed. You're going to get physically hurt or you're going to get spiritually hurt from it. And it could be physically hurt by various different types of ways. So look at verse 29. It says, so he that goeth into his neighbor's wife, whosoever touches her shall not be innocent. God's not going to say, hey, that person's innocent. You're going to be what? Guilty. What's the opposite of innocent? Guilty. So if you go into your neighbor's wife, if you commit adultery, then you're not going to be innocent. God's not going to hold you as an innocent person. Look at Hebrews chapter 13, verse 4. Hebrews chapter 13, verse number 4. Here's a promise from God that you should really pay attention to when it comes to this adultery. It says, marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge. Does it say he might judge? No, he will judge. Even if you don't get put to death, he's still going to judge you for it. What was David's penalty for committing adultery? His kid died. Okay, that's pretty heartbreaking. And then also, the sword would never pass from his house, so his own sons turned against him and tried to murder him. Absalom, right? His other son was some weirdo that fell in love with his sister, and he got killed because of it, and David was always constantly having battles and fights because of what he did. So did David get out of what he did? No, he didn't get out of what he did. He was judged by God, but he just wasn't killed. He wasn't put to death for it, but he was punished severely for it. I mean, could you imagine losing one of your children because of a sin that you committed? I mean, that'd be terrible, wouldn't it? But you still can. That's the point. If it happened to David, it could happen to anybody. So if you're fooling around, or if your mind is going to a place that it shouldn't be going, the next step from mental or just looking on a woman with lust is actually committing the act itself, because it is covetous. Covetousness is wanting something that does not belong to you. Okay? So, and then physical. So you could have physical, you could have diseases, you could have possible death, you could have physical violence happen to you, and you could have public shame and embarrassment. So that could be the physical punishments that you would endure from committing adultery, and also spiritual. So judgment from God Almighty Himself. Do you think that would be a spiritual judgment? Absolutely. Kicked out of church. Now you're saying, well, Pastor Thompson, that's not in the list of things that you'd be kicked out for, but here's the thing. I would kick you out if you were not repentant. Like if someone, if I found out two people were in a marriage and one of the persons was committing adultery, and then I went to that person and I said, hey, you know, you need to stop this and you need to make things right, and that person was like, no, I'm not going to make things right, then I would kick them out. Because I'm not going to just sit there and let some adulterer sit in my church and act like everything's hunky-dory. So I would kick them out for that. And then if they got things right, then I'd let them back in. So number four, adultery can bring the wrath of man upon you. Adultery can bring the wrath of man upon you. Look at number, let's look, oh man, where am I at here? I cut off, I don't think I have the right, I'll just read the scriptures for you because I forgot to put in the sub where it was from. I think it's in Proverbs, but anyway, I'll just read for you what the Bible says here. So, men do not despise a thief if he is still to satisfy his soul when he is hungry. I think it's in Proverbs, but I'm not sure what chapter, so sorry about that. If he is still to satisfy his soul when he is hungry, but if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold, he shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding, he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. When you commit adultery, you lack understanding, and you're going to destroy yourself. Why would you want to destroy yourself? And that's the thing that I just can't fathom, a person that would say, I know what I'm doing is wrong, I know it's not right, but I'm just going to do it anyway. And you know what I would say to that person? Well, you know what? God's going to judge you. God's going to judge you, God's going to destroy you for that sin. So, why would you want to continue to do something that you know God's going to destroy you for? It says in the Dultures, God will judge. Alright, God will judge that sin, and if you're just going to sit there and act like it's not a big deal, then you are going to be judged even more severely because you're doing it willfully. Look at verse number 3, oh, I never gave you the text. Okay, so, sorry. For jealousy is the rage... Okay, let me back up here. A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away. See that? So, it's not just going to be something that just you can push under the rug, people are going to know it's true, people are going to find out about it, and it's embarrassing, you know? And it says, for jealousy is the rage of a man. When you think about someone, or your wife committing adultery against you, it would enrage you, would it not? Therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. So, if a man that is treated like this, or his wife commits adultery, or even vice versa, I think when my wife gives the Gospel presentation, she says, what if, you know, you caught your spouse, you know, your spouse and somebody else fooling around when you got home, you know, and you killed them, you know, I forgot how she says it, but anyway, she makes it to her like it's a situation where it brings anger instantly to their heart. And like, yeah, I'd want to kill that person, you know what I mean? So, that's what you would think about it, you know, if you love your spouse and you're jealous for her, it makes you enraged and want to hurt that person. And that means that you won't spare in that time of vengeance. If you have the chance to get vengeance on that person, then you're going to take that opportunity and, you know, it's not going to be pretty. And it says, he will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though thou give us many gifts. You could say, hey, here, I'm sorry that I did this, and try to give him a gift, and he's going to be like, you know, I don't care about your gifts, I'm going to kill you, or I'm going to beat you up, or whatever. So, here's the degrees of adultery. Number one, caught in the act. And that is the death penalty, according to the Bible. And can it be forgiven? Yes, it can be forgiven. Alright, but it's still caught in the act, adultery is still the death penalty. So, and obviously not in this country, but this country is all backwards and topsy-turvy with all kinds of different laws that it has. So, anyway, number two, adultery through divorce and remarriage. That's breaking of the vows. And it's not necessarily a death penalty situation, but, and it's also forgivable. So, adultery through divorce, but could God kill you in that situation? I think he still could. I think he still might. You know, it just depends on the situation. If, you know, you dump your spouse that has never worked a job, and you're so new IAFB and all this other stuff, and you just like dump that wife that, you know, only had eyes for you, and you go off and you're having a relationship and committing adultery outside of the home, and then you're just not repentant about it, God might smash you, and God might destroy you for that sin. And especially if you're just not repentant about it at all. You just think, oh, I didn't do anything wrong. That was something about them. So, now number three is adultery of the heart. Alright, covetousness. And lust. So, covetous, you're coveting after your neighbor's wife. I mean, it specifically talks about that in Exodus chapter 20. And it is lust. It's something that your heart desires to do. It wants it really bad. And so, you know, once that sin is conceived, or once that lust brings forth, it brings forth sin, or sin and sin bring forth death, right? So, ultimately all sins that we commit are going to, ultimately we're all going to die physically from those things, right? So, just in conclusion, adultery is a wicked sin. Adultery is extremely hurtful, okay? I want to park it here for just a second. There's nothing more hurtful you can do to your spouse than to commit adultery against them. Now, obviously, you know, you don't want to be even doing the looking sin of it, but, like, to actually do the physical act is very hurtful. And it does something to the other person that people probably couldn't even explain. You know, it's so wicked. It's so hurtful. You know, it's not something that anybody wants to go through. And adultery is extremely harmful to your reputation if you're caught in the act or whatever. It's going to make your reputation go downhill, right? I mean, if you're in a small town and everybody knows it, it's going to be harmful. And adultery tears families apart. It's a very selfish sin. It tears families apart. So, and I'm talking about the physical act of adultery, caught in the act of adultery, and then you're just like, okay, well, I'm not going to be married to that person anymore. You know how much that happens in this country? Every single stinking day it does. Turn to Proverbs 5, and this will be the last place I'll have you turn. Proverbs 5, it says in verse number 15, Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. You're like, Pastor Thompson, what does this have to do with adultery? Well, this is a euphemism for being married. You don't want to drink out of somebody else's well. You don't want to taste those other waters. You know, you're supposed to, you know, and I'll prove it to you here in just a second. Look, it says, Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be thine own, and not strangers with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. So you see how it's bringing it to show you that it's talking about a marriage, okay? Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe. Let her breast satisfy thee at all times, and be thou ravished always with her love. It's talking about sticking with the person that you got married to, and then whoever you're married to, you keep that person to yourself, and you don't go outside those marriage bonds. And it says, And I, excuse me, in verse 20, And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He pondereth all His goings. So now, just another way of saying, hey, God's watching what you're doing. God sees what you're doing. You might think that you're in the shadow of darkness. You might think that nobody saw you do that. You might think that nobody saw you see that. You might think that nobody, you know, knows about it, but you know who knows about it? God knows about it. And God, everything is, you know, is laid bare for the eyes of the Lord. There's nothing, you can't put a lead suit on. You can't put a tinfoil hat on. You can't cover yourself up in a blankie. God can see everything you do, no matter what you try to do to hide it, okay? So God, and be sure your sins will find you out. And it says in verse number 22, his own iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holding with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray. So, you know, don't be that person that is without instruction. I mean, if you sit here and listen to this sermon, you know what the Bible says. You probably knew what the Bible said about this before I got it from a preacher, I'm sure. So we don't want to be those fools that go astray into these types of areas. And look, you know, the heart is deceitful, and it's desperately wicked. You know, we need to make sure that we don't, that we need to take heed lest we fall. Don't just be that person that's like, well, I would never fall. I'm not going to be put in that situation. I can sit there and talk to this girl for two hours, and, you know, she's not my wife, but it's okay. We're just work friends or whatever. You know, you got to put yourself, you know, in the best situations you possibly can, because that's how adultery start. You know, I personally believe that you shouldn't have, like, if you're married and you're a man and you have women friends, I don't think that that's right. Amen. And vice versa. You know, if my wife was talking to dudes all the time on the phone or whatever, I'd be jealous. And you know what, being jealous isn't wrong. God is a jealous God. And so if God's jealous, then it can't be a sin. So people just misuse the word jealous, and they say, oh, you're just jealous. Well, you know, sometimes that might be the case, but envy is what they actually mean. Envious is the one that's sinful. Jealous, hey, if something belongs to you, if you're married, you belong to each other, and you should be jealous of your spouse. And if they're talking to some, if your wife is talking to some dude for too long, then I would expect that that guy's going to say something and say, hey, you know, you need to cut out the chit chat with that dude. So that's just, you know, that's old-fashioned stuff that's just going to help you. You know, what's wrong with being old-fashioned? There's nothing wrong with it. You know, we're too not old-fashioned in this country anymore, and people just do, you know, they act. They don't have any, they just don't have any boundaries. You know, we need to have boundaries set in our lives. We need to have boundaries set in our homes. We need to have boundaries set in our marriages and things that just are not okay to do. You know, I mean, it's just, I'm not saying don't talk to any other woman ever for any reason. You know, you just, you see a woman who's just like, you know, I mean, that can be a little bit awkward, right? You know, why does he always walk away from me? Well, you know, and, but obviously, maybe that person is someone you're attracted to. Maybe you shouldn't talk to them. You know what I'm saying? And so you just got to be careful in the boundaries. And you know what's right and wrong. You know how you feel about things, and you need to set up your own boundaries. You know, nobody, you know, there's things in our minds that nobody else knows, you know, and those are things that you wouldn't want anybody else to know, right? Those thoughts that pop into your head sometimes. You know, even songs that pop into your brain at six o'clock in the morning. I mean, why is that song in my brain? I don't know. But the heart just, the fleshly heart wants to rule you. The flesh wants to control you. We need to feed our spiritual side so that our fleshly side doesn't take control. And when it comes to adultery, it is a lusting thing. It's a big problem in this country today. It's a big problem even in churches. Everybody has lust problems, I'm sure, in one's way, shape, or form. So don't act all proud like you're just the bee's knees and you never ever, you know, would ever think on a maid or you would never look at another guy. I know that's not true. You know, let's just be honest. Let's just be honest, okay? So, but we can put fail safes in place for us to avoid those issues. Make a covenant with your eyes and those types of things. So anyway, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, so much for this wonderful day. We pray that you just bless the rest of our day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.