PASTOR’S NOTES
You shall not commit adultery.”
Adultery is defined as sexual relations between someone who is married and someone who is not that person’s spouse. The Bible is very clear concerning this sin and the damages it causes. Personally, I have counseled with many people that struggle with addiction, depression, and loss and in my time with others, the sin of adultery has been the hardest to overcome. There are many layers of hurt when dealing with this issue.
God does not want that hurt for His children.
Concerning the sin of adultery, we must first realize that God is calling us to protection. Near the beginning of the Bible, God calls us to protect that which is so important, our marriage which is a ministry. Biblically our marriage exemplifies the union between Christ and His church. Marriage is a covenant made before God and is a witness to the lost and saved of the goodness and blessings of God. Marriage in so many ways is worship and ministry. Adultery is like a grenade thrown right in the middle of that ministry and blessing. This sin breaks the marriage covenant and crushes relationships.
So here in Exodus, God calls the people to protect their marriages and to not give over their bodies to lustful desires. We see all throughout the scriptures that lustful desires do not produce what we actually want once those desires are obtained. Lust of any kind is like quicksand and drowns us the more we move towards it.
Protecting our lives from adultery is not simply avoiding physical contact with others that are not our spouse, it also includes protecting our eyes and minds. Jesus tells us, “You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Most of us don’t lose sleep over our inward sins because we believe that no one can see our hearts and what people do not see, doesn’t hurt us. However, God sees and knows all. Not only does our inward sin matter, it is what leads us to outwardly acting. Giving in to lust is like playing with fire. Solomon asked, “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?” The answer is no!
Through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, God calls us to protect our heart, mind, and eyes. In doing so, this will almost always protect our actions. When it comes to sin, the more we think on it and look at it, the more we want it. God calls us to cast our eyes on Him and Him alone. The greatest protection from sexual sin is to gaze upon the Lord! To study His word and to walk with others within His church. Through this, our eyes and heart do not lust over the things of this life, but the promises of the next.
SCRIPTURE TO GO ALONG WITH THE MESSAGE
Read 2 Samuel 11-12 as this is the text that we will teach through on Sunday morning.
HIGHLIGHT IN YOUR BIBLES
Highlight verses 12:13-15 in 2 Samuel.
