Deuteronomy 5:18 - The Decalogue The Basis Of The Covenant, The Essence Of The Whole Law, And The Condition Of Life And

The seventh commandment. The religion of the body.

In the second part of the Decalogue there are stern prohibitions against sin, without any positive indication of the opposite virtue. Nor is there a hint of how to attain such a life as shall make an offense against the commandments impossible, so that unless we recognize the educatory purpose of the Law, we shall at once underrate it and yet overrate it. We shall underrate it if we forget that it was just what was wanted, and all that could be serviceable at the time of its promulgation; we shall overrate it if we think that the mere prohibitory letter of this precept expresses the whole will of God in the matter to which it refers. We will, therefore, set side by side therewith, New Testament teachings. First, let us look at Matthew 5:27-29 . Just as in referring to rabbinical teaching on the sixth commandment, Jesus Christ tells us that it is not only the open act of murder which is forbidden, but even the spirit of anger and revenge which might lead to it; so here, it is not merely the open act of physical degradation which is forbidden, but even the spirit of unhallowed passion which, if unbridled, might lead to it . Nor must we stop here. The New Testament opens up to us the Divine will in the positive direction ( 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 ). We are told also what is the true secret of attaining a life which conforms to that will ( Galatians 5:16 ). If we cultivate the life of God in the spirit, the lower life will be in due subjection. Reasons, moreover, which were not given in Israel's childhood are given now ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 , 1 Corinthians 6:20 ); while the issues of a life in which these are lost sight of, are put before us in dread array ( 1 Corinthians 9:27 ). Hence a homiletic treatment of this seventh commandment can only be effective as it deals with it as but one branch of a subject, wide, deep, and high, viz." The religion of the body ." Observe—

I. GOD CLAIMS THE GOVERNMENT OF OUR WHOLE NATURE . We regard man's nature as triple—body, soul, and spirit. As an acute and learned divine remarks, "The body is the link between the soul and the world, the soul is the link between the body and the spirit; the spirit is the link between the soul and God." It is in reference to our spirit-nature that we are made in the image of God. He is "the Father of spirits." The same Book which reveals God to us, reveals us to ourselves. Any one who understands the structure of his own nature, will perceive which part thereof was meant to rule the rest. The body is to be at the service of the soul, the soul is to be regulated by the spirit, and God is to govern all. But it is by the great work of redemption that the stamp of true dignity has been most clearly impressed on man. The Apostle Paul tells us that it was through the cross that he learned truly to estimate human nature ( 2 Corinthians 5:16 ). And elsewhere he argues, "Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." Christ is "the Savior of the body ." If we are the Lord's, our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. No part of the body is base unless basely used. All its functions are to be discharged "in sanctification and honor."

II. THIS SACREDNESS OF OUR WHOLE NATURE , AS REDEEMED BY CHRIST , SHOULD LEAD TO A " RELIGION OF THE BODY " ON THE PART OF THOSE WHO HAVE NOT ENTERED ON THE MARRIED STATE , This seventh command is far broader in spirit than the mere letter would indicate. It condemns all impurity of every kind, it forbids us to let the lower self run off with the higher, and, like the preceding commands, though negative in form, it is positive in substance. It bids us:

1. Let our own nature be duly honored, and self-respect be diligently cultivated.

2. Observe towards others that self-same respect which we owe to ourselves, on the same ground, and for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. The art of " bridling the whole body" is one of the most important in a life of godliness.

III. A DUE REVERENCE FOR THE SACREDNESS OF HUMAN NATURE WILL IMPART SANCTITY TO THE MARRIAGE TIE . Marriage is God's holy ordinance. It is not a sacrament, in the same sense in which Baptism and the Lord's Supper are. Neither is it merely a civil contract, as is sometimes shockingly said. It is a union of two in the closest ties of nature, based on an affinity of spirit which leads each to see in the other what each most admires. It is a union of spirit in the Lord (if it be all that it should be); each one of the two ceases to live in and for himself or herself, and begins practically to unlearn selfishness by living for the other, and thus the reciprocal outgoing of affection is a formative action of spirit, and tends to the very noblest culture of life. And where the Divine idea of marriage is carried out, the purely natural side of it will be by no means the only one or even the highest (see Matthew Henry's touching words on the creation of woman, and also Kalisch's most admirable remarks in his commentary on Exodus 20:14 , on the position of woman under the Hebrew economy). There are spheres of duty which are most appropriately filled by men, e . g . those in professional and commercial life; there are other spheres which are most appropriately filled by women, e . g . those in the quiet of the home. And the work of one is the supplement and complement of the work of the other. Hence each one looks to the other for the discharge of special service. Thus there is a mutual leaning on one another. And if the crowning joy of married life be present in both being one in the Lord, in their spiritual fellowship they fan each other's love to him who died for them. Each will supply what the other lacks. Perhaps the strength of the man may lie chiefly in intellectual power. That of the woman will lie in tenderness, and also in far keener and surer perceptions and more swiftly acting intuitions. Thus, through one being the fitting complement of the other, they become mutual helpers in all that is right and wise and true; and as even before they were made one, each one knew how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, so, when they are one, each honors the other, by making the sacred union subservient to virtue and to the honor of God. Thus rolling years do but deepen the fondness and sweetness of their love, and if it becomes calmer and less demonstrative, it is because it has become fuller, richer, and stronger. When youthful ardor dies down, the holy tie is holier than ever; their very souls become knit together in one. The care of one is the care of both; the joy of one is the joy of both; and any unkindness that stings one wounds both, As two trees side by side in a grove, their arms interlace and interlock, yet each has its separate root, So husband and wife, as trees of the Lord's own right hand planting, do through the whole of this earthly life become interlocked with growing firmness, while their one Savior in whom they live is the common joy of their spirits, their one hope for eternity! That there are innumerable cases in which a noble type of Christian excellence is reached by the unmarried, we all know. While marriage opens up those claims in the discharge of which the most symmetrical character is usually formed, yet Divine grace can so sway the spirit as to culture it nobly for eternity, irrespectively of these sacred ties. There are fathers and mothers in Israel who are so by spiritual relationship. Thus, when our nature is duly honored in ourselves and others, by its uppermost part being kept uppermost, out of loyalty to Christ, it is possible for both the married and unmarried to glorify God in their body as well as in their spirit.

IV. IT IS OBVIOUS THAT IF THROUGH THE REDEEMING GRACE OF GOD WE HAVE OUR WHOLE BEING THUS LIFTED UP INTO A HIGHER REGION , THE STERN " THOU SHALT NOT " OF SINAI WILL BE NEEDED NO MORE . We shall have risen to a sphere in which the transgression of the seventh commandment will be impossible (see 1 John 3:9 ; Galatians 5:16 , Galatians 5:24 ). The sure guarantee of our keeping this law, in the spirit as well as in the letter, is for us to be so re-created by God ' s Spirit, that it shall be impossible for us to break it. "The law is not made for a righteous man."

V. WE SHOULD NOT FAIL TO NOTE THE IMPERATIVENESS OF THE LAW . If there are those who are not in the region of a higher life, as indicated above, they should be reminded that this law, in its wide sweep and searching depth, condemns all impurity of every kind; it discerns "the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hence the words in Matthew 5:28 ; hence the warnings in Mark 9:43 , Mark 9:45 , Mark 9:47 . One indulged sin will drag the whole man after it . "Science," says Dr. Farrar, "confirms by decisive evidence that the Lord avenges the sins of the flesh. It tells us that men must possess in manhood the sins of their youth; that if they sow to the flesh, they will of the flesh reap corruption; that the punishment of sensuality, working not by special interventions, but by general laws, bears a fearful resemblance to the sin itself; that the Nemesis of a desecrated body is an enfeebled understanding, a tormented and darkened soul;" and—the writer might have added—a face from which the luster of the Divine has departed, and in which the lines of a true manhood are manifestly vitiated and defaced, and even exchanged for lines of sin and of shameless vice. Let all take heed and remember:

1. That where each one's weak point is, a sentinel should be kept on watch.

2. We are not safe till the very thoughts are under control.

3. Only the Spirit of God can give us power equal to this.

4. Unless we keep ourselves in subjection we shall be cast away.