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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
"You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28
"Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man's wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished." Proverbs 6:25-29
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Our society is spinning out of control sexually.
It seems more and more that we’re bombarded with sexual, promiscuous imagery whether it’s in fashion, on television, at the movies, or streaming on the internet. The world can’t get enough when it comes to sex and the decency envelope is continuously being pushed.
Indeed, people today obsess over sex, craving it in larger and larger quantities, something that Satan loves. He is always ready to stoke the flames of passion and desires to the place where they become sinful.
If you doubt this truth, consider these statistics:
** Conservative infidelity statistics estimate that 60 percent of men and 40 percent of women will have an extramarital affair. These figures are even more significant when we consider the total number of marriages involved, since it's unlikely that all the men and women having affairs happen to be married to each other. With this, if even half of the women having affairs (or 20 percent) are married to men not included in the 60 percent having affairs, then at least one partner will have an affair in approximately 80 percent of all marriages, a complete affront to God’s call for a man and woman to be one flesh together in marriage.
** It is estimated that 53% of all people will have one or more affairs during their lifetime.
** 2 out of 3 women and 3 out of 4 men admit they have sexual thoughts about co-workers. 75% of men and 65% of women admit to having sex with people they work with.
** 86% of men and 81% of women admit they routinely flirt with the opposite sex.
** The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families states that approximately 40 million people in the United States are sexually involved with the Internet. A recent survey of 38,000 users showed that one in 10 respondents said they are addicted to online sex. Further, only 46% of men believe that online affairs are adultery.
These are just a few of the statistics out there and when you consider the number of people who wouldn’t be honest in admitting sexual immorality, we can see this problem is an epidemic.
One thing is for certain, lust is burning a hole in the hearts, minds, and souls of people today, putting them opposed to the Almighty God of all creation. And as we see in the seventh commandment, this isn’t just a modern day problem.
For back in the days of the Book of Exodus, God demanded this from the ancient Israelites:
"You shall not commit adultery."
In that day and time, well over 2,000 years ago, adulterous actions were primarily physical in nature. If you had sex with someone else’s husband or wife, then you had committed adultery. But then Jesus came from Heaven to earth and in His first formal public teaching, the famous Sermon on the Mount, we find Him expanding the definition of adultery, just as he did on the subject of murder. Look again at what our Savior had to say:
"I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28
Alright brothers and sisters, let’s get real.
How many of us have broken this commandment, having committed adultery under Jesus’ definition?
I’m afraid we all have at one time or another for if we’re truly honest with ourselves, I’m sure we can remember a time when we were turned a watching eye to admire a beautiful man or woman we saw on television, in the movies, online, in the workplace, at the beach, or maybe just out in public somewhere.
You see, we seem to have a real weakness when it comes to sex and Satan is always seeking to exploit it. This is why we find Jesus getting to the root of the matter when it comes to adultery, attacking the sin’s catalyst, lust. Just as anger and insulting were triggers for murder, lust is the launching point for infidelity and Jesus knew that unless the root was treated, the transgression would happen. It was true in His days and it remains true today.
So how do we address and combat these lustful tendencies that work against us?
The Bible gives us an awesome example in the story of Joseph found in the 39th chapter of Genesis. You’ll recall that he was Jacob’s favored son and his brothers became so jealous that they sold him off as a slave to a group of Ismaelites and then told their father that he had been killed.
Well, Joseph ended up being taken to Egypt where he was purchased by one of Pharaoh’s officials, Potiphar, and because of God’s blessings, he did such a great job that Potiphar placed him in charge of his entire household. All was looking great for Joseph except for one thing. Potiphar had a wife who was consumed by lust.
The scriptures tell us that she looked at Joseph and sized him up as being “well built" and "handsome." And so she approached him, wanting him to have sex with her, a classic example of adultery. But we see Joseph rebuff her advances, making the following powerful statement:
"How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
And he backed this up with his actions as he refused to go to bed with his master’s wife or even be with her.
In other words, Joseph distanced himself from the source of seduction.
Frankly, we need to follow his lead because we are all sinners who fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) but this doesn’t mean we have an excuse to be unfaithful in our marital relationships, giving into lust. Instead, we need to realize our shortcomings, identify our weaknesses, repent of our past failures, and then take positive action to repeat failing again. Like Joseph, we need to refuse to be in the presence of what might tempt us toward sexual failure.
If it’s in the television shows you watch, stop watching them.
If it’s in the movies you watch, stop watching those movies.
If it’s the internet, put in controls that will block access to pornography and other sexual materials.
For just as easily as a person can make the choice to be unfaithful, they can likewise opt to be faithful instead.
The truth of the matter is that God ordains marital relationships and blesses us with the chance to share special love with one another, one man to one woman and vice versa. In marriage and only in marriage, He permits a couple to consummate their love for one another at the highest possible plane, physically and emotionally.
Keep in mind that it’s not that the Lord doesn’t want people to have sex. He designed a male and female body for it. But that sex must be withheld until the right time otherwise, it loses the special reserved value God intended for it to have.
So what are we to do with this commandment and the further expansion of it given by Jesus?
Well, just like the commandment on murder, we are to embrace it, cherish it, and ultimately obey it. For Jesus knew that the root of adulterous action came in the way of lustful passion. His method was as perfect as He is. For when we remove the lust for others from the occasion, then and only then can we begin to reverse the statistics mentioned earlier and move toward a place where infidelity is eradicated.
Friends, the Lord knows we’re weak in this regard and so He stands by to give us the strength and power to gain victory over this sin, just as He does for all others. Let’s trust Him and give Him our deepest adoration, gaining His unadulterated love in return, an unadulterated love we can share with our husband or wife as we devote ourselves to them in the way that God expects.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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