ADULTERY

Text: Exo 20:14, Mat 5:27,28, 1Co 6:18

Introduction: God created man and woman for a holy purpose of procreation. �Be
fruitful and multiply,� He told them. What man did with the holy purpose after sin
entered the world struck a blow and hurt into the heart of God. It started with
polygamy when Lamech, a descendent of Cain, took two wives. It spread into the
genealogy of Seth after the flood. Man began having more and more wives, then
concubines. Seriously, I�ve wondered how these men kept so many women satisfied
with their love.
What man did with the wonderful gift of sex has become so vile that much of it is
not wise to discuss in mixed audiences, and even worse, it is not wise to bring
children into the subject. Yet today, �sex education� in these areas is beginning
to take place among children as young as kindergarten!
Our lesson today is about adultery, but we cannot ignore fornication. Adultery
involves sexual relations of a married person with someone he is not married to.
Fornication involves these relations among unmarried people. Perversion in sex then
includes incest, rape, lesbianism, homosexuality, bestiality. Not much is preached
about masturbation, but some even believe this is a form of sexual misconduct.
What we�re going to cover today will go beyond the physical realm because of the
spiritual application God gives to this sin.
I. Sexual adultery
A. The attitude (lust in the heart)
1. Appeal through literature (written and pictures)
2. Appeal through laxness (immodest dress)
B. The action
1. Often an innocent beginning (undue close friendship or discussions with opposite
sex)
2. Soon an indecent act (falsely called �love,� casually called �an affair�)
C. The affects
1. Broken homes (divorce)
2. Abortion often a decision concerning an unwanted pregnancy
3. Diseases (VD, HIV, etc.)
4. Loss of respect for sex
5. Loss of trust in marriage between husband and wife (when one is unfaithful)
6. Mental scars
D. The atonement�The sin can still be forgiven, as Jesus did (John 8), but the
shame and scar
remains.
II. Spiritual adultery (over and over the children of Israel were told of their sin
in this way)
A. Putting other things, pleasures, or people before God
B. Carnal living (unfaithfulness to God)
III. Sound advice
A. Right friends
B. Right reading and meditation (�bring every thought into captivity,� 2Co 10:5,,
Php 4:8)
C. Flee temptation (better yet, don�t create potential temptation).
D. Pray for the right mate.
E. Abstinence is the only �safe sex� before marriage!
Conclusion: Note our text in 1Co 6:18 says that fornication is the only sin man
commits against his own body. It is the ruin of the most intimate and sacred part
of God�s creation of our body.