Deuteronomy 5:18
The Seventh Commandment

I. Sex and Discipleship
1. A Puritan church had a lady member who brought to the church her husband for not having enough sex.
2. If there were more real, Biblical disciples in our society, there would be more sex.
3. The Biblical prescription is that a couple has sex whenever either spouse needs.
II. The Commandment
1. The seventh commandment does not say “No sex.” It focuses on the illegitimate sex, the adultery.
2. Sex is created by God before there was sin. If there had been no sin, there would still have been sex.
3. “The two shall become one flesh” (1 Corinthians 6:16) refers to a uniting of a couple during sex.
III. For the Glory of God
1. “Whether we eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31), especially with marriage.
2. Get married to glorify God in our marriage, that she will help me serve the Lord, etc.
3. In 1 Corinthians 7:2-5 the Apostle instructs couples not to deprive each other of sex.
4. The Biblical way is that I am in this marriage to help my spouse serve God.
5. Satisfying them decreases their vulnerability to sin; it helps them obey the Lord. It’s all about God.
6. The husband and wife have a higher commitment than their marriage that even motivates their sex.
7. Some people put all their hopes for happiness in their spouse and that’s too much for any of us to bear.
8. If we make an idol out of our spouse, in the end we cannot help but be disillusioned.
9. If we love our husband or wife as a way of loving God, then we will have a happier marriage.
IV. Adultery
A. A Breach of the Marital Covenant
1. Adultery is an attempt to enjoy the pleasure of a covenant without the responsibility of the covenant.
2. The Lord Jesus tells us (Matthew 5) that a legalistic approach can still be just as adulterous.
3. Don’t expect credit from God if you have all the drive to be an adulterer but lack the opportunity.
4. The legalistic approach thinks this command is all about lines, keeping in borders.
5. The smug religious person thinks he or she hasn’t crossed the line but they are burning with the lust.
B. Sin
1. Jesus said if you could eliminate sin by cutting off your hand, it would be worth it.
2. But, sin is not in your hand or your eye. It’s in your heart; it infects every part of your soul.
3. Many people feel that sex is dirty. Greco-Roman culture, with Platonic philosophy taught so.
4. Puritans had a healthy view of sex and a Biblical view of sin. Sin is being selfish, willful.
5. If it’s your view that it is the sex that makes something sinful, you didn’t get that from the Bible.
6. In 1 Corinthians 5, the sexually immoral are compared to the greedy, idolaters, revilers, etc.
7. It was lack of repentance, obstinacy, stubbornly remaining in sin that brought about discipline.
C. Adultery for the Single
1. Sex consummates your marriage. 1 Corinthians 6 talks about becoming “one flesh” to a prostitute.
2. Only have sex with the one with whom you have thoughtfully entered into a covenant.
3. Though sex is holy, it should be kept private. Being sexually provocative is only for marriage.
4. For an attractive young person to use his or her body to allure and manipulate others is selfish.
D. Sex Soaked Culture
1. Pornography is about stoking lust, lighting a fire your spouse should be lighting and satisfying.
2. The sexually immoral will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9). They will go to hell.
3. If lust is chasing you, pursue holiness. Sometimes being chased is the incentive to run faster.
4. We live in a sex soaked culture. Advertisers and Hollywood has discovered that “sex sells.”
5. They make it seem normal to be promiscuous, immodest, and focused on the “sexy body.”
6. Jesus calls to take up our cross, deny physical desires’ claim to rule us. Seek first God’s rule.
V. Invitation: Adultery is breaking a covenant because you want the pleasure that belongs to another; you don’t want any rule over you, no covenant restraining you. If we have been born again, we have new hearts that seek to live under God’s rule, in His Kingdom, then He’s written a new covenant on our hearts. We’ll stop being adulterers when we so long to be made right we are willing to chop off our hands or scoop our eyes but we know that’s not where the trouble lies. The trouble lies in our self-centered hearts, which now He has made new, born again, with a new covenant written on it. Stop, turn around, and really believe in Him now.