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The Ten Commandments
02-02-2011 Vol. 3 Part 10
Psalm 30:5-12 NLT For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. When I was prosperous, I said, "Nothing can stop me now!" Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain. Then You turned away from me, and I was shattered. I cried out to You, O LORD. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, "What will You gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise You? Can it tell of Your faithfulness? Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me. Help me, O LORD." You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give You thanks forever! Jesus I ask you to bestow your blessing on the individuals and their families that are on the Prayer List. You know what each person and family needs and ask that your will be done. We raise you up and praise your most Holy and Precious name, Jesus. Amen.
Exodus 20:14
Exodus 20:14 NLT "You must not commit adultery.
Do you think a fence is like God’s Ten Commandments? What happens when a Brahma bull rider gets bucked off? The cowboy's natural instincts kick in and he begins to run. He heads toward the fence as fast as he can go and after putting that barrier between himself and two thousand pounds of rage, he feels pretty good about that old fence. He might even embrace it and give it a kiss.
Why should a rodeo cowboy love a fence? Because the fence isn't there to restrain the rider, it's there to restrain the bull. Without a barrier the bull would destroy the cowboy.
That's what God's Commandments do for us. They put a barrier between us and that which would destroy us. The Commandments place a restraint on flesh that wants, what it wants, at any cost (desire; lust).
This world has really digressed in my lifetime. Now people say, "I can do what I want to do. It's my life. I can live the way I want to. If it feels good I’m gonna do it! I don’t care if God does say, 'Don't commit adultery, it's really none of His business how I live."
Yet it is His world, He created it, and it is His business. Think about how a corporation is ran. The CEO has the control and power to implement anything he desires to. Not all employees may agree with his decision, but you have to abide by it. If you don’t then there are consequences. That’s the way it is with the Ten Commandments. The Commandments are God’s law and if we disregard them, God will judge us accordingly.
God loves people like you and me so much that He made a list of restrictions to protect us from things that would destroy our lives and those of the people we love. One of the differences between God and a corporation is that the corporation is physical meaning you can see and touch it. God’s world is also physical in a sense (trees, plants, animals, humans, etc.), but it is also spiritual. Being governed in a spiritual nature we think we can get away with whatever we desire, but God will have the last say. Romans 9:27 NLT And concerning Israel, Isaiah the prophet cried out, "Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved.
Adultery is one of those important laws of God. Why should purity and faithfulness in a marriage be so important to God? It is because He ordained the home and the church to visibly model His love. It is in Satan's interest to disfigure both of those models. In particular, Satan seeks the destruction of the love in a marriage and in the family.
I don't watch much TV, but I've seen enough to know that on any given evening you will encounter a constant parade of suggestive sexual encounters. Virtually every program is riddled with immorality, seduction, and flirtation. It is even portrayed on the news broadcasts, food programs, house hunting programs, etc. You ask how is that, just look at the seductive clothes being worn. It doesn’t stop there either. Listen to the improper use of God’s name and other filthy language. It's adultery and blasphemous, plain and simple. But Hollywood has made it appear so exciting, fulfilling, and even funny. The image makers surround it with laughter, beautiful music, and sumptuous settings. People who witness these make believe encounters begin to think, my life is so dull, so unromantic, where is the music and laughter? Maybe this will fill that gaping hole in my heart. There is only one person that will fill that hole, and that is Jesus Christ. He is the missing jigsaw puzzle piece that fills all voids.
Some will say, "I've never committed adultery and never would. This is a waste; it doesn't apply to my life!" Really? What about Jesus' words in Matthew 5:27-28 NASB "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. This doesn’t just pertain to men. In current times you hear women talking about men the way men talk about women. So it isn’t just men committing adultery in their minds.
Adultery begins in the mind? There is no such thing as a one night stand. An affair begins to play itself out on the stage of imagination long before it occurs in real life. The real battle is with the mind that conceives the thought. If the thought isn’t snuffed out it will smolder until enough heat is produced and then a spark ignites, and all of a sudden a raging fire takes place that is uncontrollable.
Satan begins to whisper in your ear, and you find yourself thinking about what you want (desire; lust), what you "need," and what (by all "rights") you should have. God is watching and has a record of everything we think, say, and do. God tells us numerous times in the Bible over and over and over to heed his word, but no we climb over that fence of protection (Commandments) that God puts up for us, and jump in with that bull (Satan) which is destruction and death. An everlasting life of torment, pain, and suffering. Luke 13:28 NASB "In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. Psalm 112:10; Matthew 8:12, Matthew 13:42, Matthew 13:50, Matthew 22:13, Matthew 24:51, Matthew 25:30
The sin of adultery and lust has been since the fall of mankind. In actual history timeline, the book of Job falls in behind Genesis. Job even mentions the lust and how he had to restrain his eyes from the sin. Job 31:1-12 NLT "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. 2 For what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high? 3 Isn't it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil? 4 Doesn't He see everything I do and every step I take? 5 "Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone? 6 Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for He knows my integrity. 7 If I have strayed from His pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin, 8 then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted. 9 "If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor's wife, 10 then let my wife belong to another man; let other men sleep with her. 11 For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. 12 It is a fire that burns all the way to hell. It would wipe out everything I own. Here is a list of verses pertaining to adultery; Leviticus 18:20, Leviticus 20:10; 2 Samuel 11:4-5, 2 Samuel 11:27; Proverbs 2:15-18, Proverbs 6:24-35, Proverbs 7:18-27; Jeremiah 5:8-9, Jeremiah 29:22-23; Malachi 3:5; Matthew 5:27-28; Mark 10:11-12; Romans 7:2-3; Ephesians 5:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; James 4:4; Revelation 21:8.
You can be sure, however, such people will not quote the Bible as the authority for such advice. The Bible very clearly teaches that intimate relations between the two sexes is for MARRIAGE ONLY! 1Corinthians 7:2 KJV Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 1Corinthians 7:9 NASB But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 1Corinthians 6:18 KJV Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Proverbs 5:18-19 NLT Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. 19 She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Here is a list of verses pertaining to fornication; 1Co_5:11, 1Co_6:9, 1Co_6:13, 2Co_12:21; Gal_5:19; Eph_5:3; Col_3:5; 1Th_4:3; Heb_13:4; 1Pe_4:3.
What about other sexual sins, like homosexuality, pornography, watching movies with sex scenes, sexual jokes, etc. You say God is all about love. Yes I agree with that, but he is also a just God and will send you to Hell for eternity for committing these sins. If you think he is all love and won’t condemn a person to hell then why did he destroy Sodom, Gomorrah, and all the people but eight with the flood? It was because of the sexual immorality, and thoughts or ideas imagined that was going on at that time, and God hated it.
Pre-Flood; Genesis 6:4-7 NLT In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times. 5 The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the LORD was sorry He had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke His heart. 7 And the LORD said, "I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them."
Pre-Sodom/Gomorrah; Genesis 19:5 NLT They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!"
Homosexuality is condemned throughout the whole Bible. Leviticus 18:22; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:23-24; Romans 1:26-27; 1Corinthians 6:9; 1Timothy 1:10. Anyone condoning the act is not following God’s Holy and True word. Do we love the person committing the act? Yes, as a fellow human being, but we hate the sin. A true Christian will point this out to the person with Bible scripture and love without confrontation. If the person accepts or rejects the scripture that is their free will, but you did your part by pointing it out to them (Watchman verse Ezekiel 33:1-9).
Is that all of the sins of sexual immorality? No, here are some more and I’m sure I will still miss some. The book of Leviticus, Chapter 18 is all about sexual immorality. Here is just a few, you will have to read the chapter. Leviticus 18:16-17 NLT "Do not have sexual relations with your brother's wife, for this would violate your brother. 17 "Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take her granddaughter, whether her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act. Lev 18:22-25 NLT "Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin. 23 "A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act. 24 "Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. 25 Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out. After reading chapter 18 go to Leviticus 20:8-23 everything listed in chapter 18 is listed again along with the punishment for each.
What it all boils down to is that sex is for married couples and only married couples. Marriage is sacred to God and that is why he stated Genesis 2:24 NKJV Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Our body is a temple for the Holy Ghost to live within us. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NLT Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. When we give our life to Jesus to take control of, the Holy Ghost comes and lives in us. John 14:17 NLT He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn't looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you.
My God, How Great Thou Art! Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
Bill
Last Week’s Trivia: What is fasting? What and how can it be used?
Answer: In the Bible, fasting refers to the discipline of abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. Although it is often linked with prayer it is a spiritual discipline all its own. Fasting is continuous prayer without words.
1. There are three main forms of fasting presented in the Bible.
a. The normal fast: abstaining from all food, solid or liquid, but not from water.
b. The absolute fast: abstaining from both food and water (Esth 4:16; Acts 9:9). Normally this kind of fast should not be for more than three days, for the kidneys may start to shut down and the body to dehydrate. Moses and Elijah undertook the absolute fast for 40 days, but only under supernatural conditions (Ex 34:28; Deut 9:9, 18; 1 Kings 19:8).
c. The partial fast: a restriction of diet rather than complete abstention (Dan 10:3).
2. Christ Himself practiced this discipline and taught that it should be a part of Christian devotion and an act of preparation for His return. The NT church practiced fasting (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23; 27:33).
3. Fasting with prayer has several purposes:
a. To honor God (Matt.6:16-18; Zech 7:5; Luke 2:37; Acts 13:2).
b. To humble ourselves before God (Ezra 8:21; Psalms 69:10; Is 58:3) in order to experience more grace (l Peter 5:5) and God's intimate presence (Is 57:15; 58:6-9).
c. To mourn over personal sin and failure (1 Sam 7:6; Neh 9:1-2).
d. To mourn over the sins of the church, nation, and world (1 Sam 7:6; Neh 9:1-2).
e. To seek grace for a new task and to reaffirm our consecration to God (Matt. 4:2).
f. To seek God by drawing near to Him and persisting in prayer against opposing spiritual forces (Judges 20:26; Ezra 8:21,23,31; Jer 29:12-14; Joel 2:12; Luke 18:3; Acts 9:10-19).
g. To show repentance and so make a way for God to change His declared intentions of judgment (2 Sam 12:16,22; 1 Ki 21:27-29; Jer 18:7-8; Joel 2:12-14; Jonah 3:5,10).
h. To save people from bondage to evil (Is 58:6; Mat 17:14-21; Luke 4:18).
i. To gain revelation and wisdom concerning God's will (Is 58:5-6,11; Dan 9:3,21-22; Acts 13:2-3).
j. To open the way for the outpouring of the Spirit and Christ's return to earth for His people.
Life in the Spirit Study Bible; KJV; Copyright 1992; Zondervan Corp.
This week’s Trivia: How many forced laborers were appointed to build Solomon’s temple?
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