Sermon Central
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Consenting Adultery Series
Contributed by Jerry Shirley on Aug 1, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: Don’t just roll over on this one and say w/ the masses, “Just be safe.” Or, “If you can’t be good, then be careful!” There is no sex safer than sex within God’s plan, marriage! Link inc. to formatted text, audio & video, PowerPoint.
Consenting Adultery
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ConsentingAdultery.html
The 1631 edition of the KJV had a misprint. Some would call it minor...just one little word accidentally missed by the typesetter. He left out the word ‘not’ in our text today, reading “Thou shalt commit adultery.” As a result, that edition is known as ‘The Wicked Bible’...but it seems to be the version our world has chosen to claim!
The 7th commandment has never been more dismissed than it is today. No generation has ever been so sex crazed as ours is.
This commandment stands guard over the sanctity and chastity of marriage, and even the preservation of our society. Violation of this command results in broken homes, wrecked lives, disease and death.
The sexual revolution of the 60s has only snowballed since, and our senses are dulled down so we don’t recognize it so much. It’s an all out assault on the 7th commandment. It is scorned, ridiculed, and belittled. It’s considered outdated and archaic...so old fashioned. We hear so much about ‘consenting adults’ that if we’re not careful we will begin to consent to it and accept it. The church no longer speaks out against it like we should. We should all be taking a stand. “I stand alone on the Word of God” ... the word ‘alone’ is becoming more and more realistic, but still we should take our stand!
Who will take a stand if we don’t? Will the TV shows and movies kicked out by Hollyweird, CA? Will porn websites suddenly be shut down? No, they have proven that they cannot be policed sufficiently except by parents. Will advertisers suddenly begin to be responsible for their actions, or will they continue to capitalize on the fact that sex sells? They appeal to mankind’s baser instincts. Hugh Hefner says we’re just another animal, w/ instincts and desires that must be satisfied. To him, women are just pets, bunnies, and we’re all just animals! As kids we were taught evolution in the classroom…and now we are acting like it. If you tell a teenager that they are an animal for long enough, he will eventually prove you right!
Ill.— “Everybody’s doing it.”
This is a common phrase used today to excuse our behavior, but it is no excuse. We were shocked a decade ago when youth ministries guru Josh McDowell did an extensive survey of Bible believing church teens that showed that more than half of them were sexually active, even as they attended their youth groups. Today that number has only increased. Among teen boys something inconceivable has happened by polling standards. You’ve heard of the ‘margin of error’ + or – a certain %. When asked anonymously if they looked at porn teen boys answered yes at the rate of 98% w/ a margin of error of 2%...meaning that 100% is a possibility. It used to be that they would see this in a magazine or on TV, but they answered that it is on their cell phone...and on the internet! So, if you have 100 kids somewhere between 0 and 4 of them AREN’T looking at porn...and still some parents will say, well, my Johnny is one of those 0-4...I’m just sure of it!
“Everybody’s doing it” is the phrase we hear so often, and it’s pretty close to true, but that does not make it right. Today’s surveys have had to go to the next level. I’ve recently seen anonymous surveys of pastors...with over 50% of them admitting they look at porn. And that’s the ones who will admit it! You don’t have to be a very negative person to bow your head and say, yeah, everybody’s doing it...and just give in.
Well, what we need is some to rise up and say, “Well, I’m not gonna do it!” Indeed, not everyone is living together before marriage. We’ve seen that. And some who are are getting saved and fixing that problem, and they are to be commended for that! Not every kid is allowed an unsupervised tv or pc in their room...many parents are wising up! Many are learning that they can easily monitor this as well as cell phones, and many are realizing the importance of accountability, not only of their kids, but of one another. I’m accountable to my wife for where I go and what I do, where I surf online and what I watch on TV. Is this because she doesn’t trust me? No! It’s because I don’t trust myself, and neither should you trust yourself, nor put yourself in a position of no accountability. I have someone in the church w/ the password to my office pc, and they can see what I have been looking at. Forget privacy, there’s a wonderful freedom in accountability! [We’re supposed to be accountable to God, but today we blow Him off easily and for some reason we fear what our family knows about us more than what God knows!]
