Title: The 10 Commandments: Part 4 Scripture: Exodus 20:14&16
Type: Expository Series Where: GNBC 10-27-19
Intro: Here is a great quote on the Moral Law of God by Dr. Steve Lawson: Can you imagine a Christian couple actually praying about living together before marriage? Can you fathom a young woman who professes Christ even bothering to pray about whether she should marry an unbeliever? Can you grasp a Christian businessman having to pray about whether he should tell the truth in a transaction? When the Word of God is so clear, praying to discern God’s will becomes a convenient excuse—or even a prolonged filibuster—to avoid doing what Scripture commands. Many who profess Christ today emphasize a wrong view of grace that makes it a free pass to do whatever they please. Tragically, they have convinced themselves that the Christian life can be lived without any binding obligation to the moral law of God. In this hyper-grace distortion, the need for obedience has been neutered. The commandments of God are no longer in the driver’s seat of Christian living, but have been relegated to the backseat, if not the trunk—like a spare tire—to be used only in case of an emergency. With such a spirit of antinomianism, what needs to be reinforced again is the necessity of obedience. For all true followers of Christ, obedience is never peripheral. At the heart of what it means to be a disciple of our Lord is living in loving devotion to God. But if such love is real, the acid test is obedience. Jesus maintained, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Genuine love for Christ will always manifest itself in obedience. This does not mean that a Christian can ascend to sinless perfection. This will never be realized this side of glory. Neither does it imply that a believer will never disobey God again. Isolated acts of disobedience will still occur. But the new birth does give a new heart that desires to obey the Word.
Prop: Today we will examine the 7th and 9th Commandments.
BG: 1. Today will examine Commandments 7&9. Pastor Richard putting 8&10 together next week.
2. Said this 1st week. OT had different types of Law: The ceremonial law, the dietary law, the civil law, and the moral law. It is a useful distinction to distinguish the moral law from the ceremonial law, because we know that the ceremonial law has been fulfilled in the perfect work of Christ. And we know that the dietary laws have been set apart.
3. In American Law, Law cases are usually divided into two categories: criminal and civil cases. In Israel, criminal, civil, and religious violations were considered by the same “court.” A man could not only be accused of murder or rape (a criminal case), but of damaging property (a civil case), or of idolatry or witchcraft. One prisons. Only financial restitution or physical/capital punishment.
Prop: Let us look at Exodus 20 to better understand and apply the 7th and 9th Commandments.
I. Thou Shall not Commit Adultery – v.14
A. The 7th Commandment Protects one of the most important relationships in life.
1. This passage has to deal with Sexual Ethics.
a. Sexual Ethics – Huge area of confusion today. How this, more than any other area of life the 21st century man and woman has decided to despise and reject the Moral Law of God. There is no concern for what God has designed, what God has declared, or what God has decreed. Sexually transmitted diseases, domestic violence, and relational dysfunction and gender confusion are off the charts and yet no one seems to cares to read what our Maker designed and intended for our pleasure and benefit. Worse are those who know the Word or God or teach the WOG and yet due to cultural and political pressure and correctness, attempt to change the plain teaching of Scripture so as to appease the itching ears of their apostate congregations. The Law of God is an expression of His character. God is immutable (He does not change.). When modern pastors and theologians declare changes in God’s teaching on sexual ethics, they unwittingly are saying that God has changed, which He cannot, because He would then be doing violence to His own character!
b. Looking at v. 14 we see that the passage deals directly with the prohibition for any person to have sexual relations with anyone other than his/her husband/wife. That is the narrow teaching of the verse and the meaning of the Hebrew word: “lotinaf”.
2. Adultery is Condemned because it is Covenant Treason.
a. Illust: Let me remind us of the importance of this command. The foundational building block of society is the nuclear family. That relationship is essential to society. God takes it so seriously and realizes its importance for societal stability that He declares one of the 10 Commandments in relation to its preservation.
b. Illust: What are the duties required of the 7th Command? Chastity in body, mind, affections, words, behavior, watchfulness with our eyes, keeping chaste company, modesty in our dress, fulfillment of our marital commitments. What are the sins forbidden by this command? Adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, all unnatural lust, impudent behavior, immodest dress, unduly delaying marriage, bigamy, pornography. (Westminster Divines).
3. We need to realize that God knows best how to protect this important area of life.
a. Let me be very clear on the topic because all too many evangelical pastors run away from it. Sex is a GOOD thing. Sex was created by God for both procreation and pleasure, and it is to be consummated in the boundary of a committed, monogamous relationship between one man and one woman. Any other relationship is a violation of God’s Word. However, like all of God’s good gifts, it is easily corrupted, distorted, diminished, or depraved. Sexual relations are fundamental to human life. The whole gay/lesbian/transgender movement is not sustainable naturally, so they must convert psychologically. Again, regardless of what the confused prophets and proponents of the LBGQT movement believe, the 1st thing all people notice about another person when meeting him or her for the first time is their sex. Man or woman. Illust: In 53 yrs on this planet I have never met a person in public and wondered to myself: “I think that bloke is a Cisgender!” Or “That dude is a Gender questioning Gender Fluid MTF Nonbinary Neutrois!”
b. The urge for sexual relations is both deep and powerful. Desire has been placed within us by God as a motivation for marriage and procreation. Physical intimacy is one of the greatest gifts God has given man and because it is so emotionally binding God puts a prohibition on adultery. And, it is to be practiced within the framework of the Designer’s plan. Illust: Suppose I had a brand new BMW motorcar. I was reading the manual and it said use on “high test petroleum”. Nah, Mike told me I can use corn syrup. I am going to use corn syrup. How well is the car going to run? NOT! And, I am going to damage the engine. Don’t think you and I can flaunt the WOG and His commands and not have damage in your life.
B. How Does Christ Transform this Command?
1. The Command of Christ is needed in our Ailing Culture.
a. Like many other deteriorating cultures before it, American society has become sex-crazed. Lust has swept to perversion. IN Lev. 18 see a list of deviant behaviors that show us how mankind quickly distorted God’s gift of sexuality. The result is we have made lust into an idol that steals the hearts of men and women from the appropriate object of worship: God. (Goes back to the 1st two commands!) Read Mt. 5:27-28. Christ
b. Illust: The porn industry has gone from seedy shops and sensual magazines to almost entirely online. Most hits online. Globally, millions of hits per SECOND and growing. Our attitudes about it are concerning: 96% of young adults and 90% of teens, when discussing the topic of porn view it in an encouraging, accepting or morally neutral way! 27% of young adults first say online before puberty. Whereas 32% of teens said viewing porn is usually or always wrong, 56% said not recycling is usually or always wrong! Pornography appeals to the mind. Adultery begins in our minds. (Barna and McDowell)
2.
a. Christ calls us to sexual purity. He calls us to this in our hearts first and then to be modeled in our lives. Probably no area today is the contrast between a committed Christian and a non Christian more plainly noticed than in the purity a believer is to demonstrate in his/her physical life: Remaining a virgin until marriage, remaining faithful to one’s partner unto death (Yes such couples do still exist!).
b. So, does Jesus teach on this topic of Adultery? Yes! Read Mt. 5:27-28. When we stand before the withering eye of Christ we all stand condemned. What man hasn’t taken a second or third look at a scantily clad coed? What wife has never thought: “God, why did you give me THIS man to be my husband?” What man or woman has never tried to impress or manipulate with his/her body? What single has never been tempted to idolize a longed for marriage partner or even the concept of marriage instead of trusting God for the sufficiency of His own love? Christ alone is PURE. It is Christ’s holiness alone that satisfies God’s stringent demand for purity so we cast ourselves upon His grace.
C. How does a Christian Apply this Command to our Lives today?
1. First, we must recognize our relationship to Christ as His Bride. Eph. 5:23 (READ)
a. If we desire to avoid committing adultery we need to cultivate purity of heart in sexual matters. Scripture represents marriage as a reflection of our covenant relationship to God. To violate marriage is to violate that covenant just as unfaithfulness to God is adultery. Both the OT (Is. 54:5-7) and the NT (James 4:4-5) condemns God’s unfaithful covenant people as “adulterers”. Chasing after the world is like chasing after another man’s wife. Ultimately, all sin and unfaithfulness is spiritual adultery. Again, adultery, like all of the commands we have noticed, is a matter of the heart and ONLY Christ can change hearts!
2. Only Jesus was truly pure. Only Jesus kept the 7th commandment. His holiness is the ground for our justification in this area of purity. IN the OT, the priests when entered the tabernacle or temple had to wash hands in a basin. Yet, water never purified anyone before God. It is Christ’s holiness alone that satisfies the most stringent requirement of God’s Law. Illust: Years ago had a adult man attending the church who was not married. Told a member that he enjoyed going to strip clubs. Member confronted him about this. “I am not married so it is not adultery for me, but it would be for you.” NO! NO! NO! See how Christ transforms the command and applies it to our hearts and minds and not just actions.
D. Applic: My friend, are you guilty of breaking this command? Repent and turn to Christ where you will find forgiveness full and free.
II. 9th Commandment: Do not Bear False Witness Against a Neighbor. V. 16
A.
1. This Command was Put in Place to Protect individuals in a court of law.
a. Reading this verse we might assume that the Command could be summed up as: “Thou shall not lie.” Judicially it was important to Israel’s legal system in addressing conflict between individuals. However, its application certainly goes beyond that. The context is a legal testimony. False witnesses may take place in a formal court appearance, or elsewhere as it says in Lev. 6:1-7 (READ). So false witnesses can be in some ways a form of theft that seeks to steal from the one we bear false witness against. Illust: In an American court room you are asked to swear or affirm : “I swear/affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Why? Because we are a country of liars!
b. However, in the 9th Command, the focal concern is one’s witness. Legal witnesses in the OT held sway over life and death. IN Lev. 17:7, the Judicial Law required witnesses of a capital crime to cast the 1st stones in carrying out the sentence of death. A witness who was found to have been false was to receive the same punishment as was to be the case for the accused. (Dt. 19:16-19). God’s purpose in giving this Command was to have a covenant people who were honest individuals and not deceptive.
2. This Command Calls us to Truthful living.
a. Illust- Brandon Gaillie website: 25 Nose Growing Facts About Lying states: By the age of four, 90% of children have learned the concept of lying. Based on studies performed in the past, it is estimated that 60% of adults can not have a ten minute conversation without lying at least once. Within those ten minutes, an average of three lies were told. Where the Most Lies are Seen Resumes – 40% Dating Site – 90%! Americans tell an average of 11 lies a week. Most common reasons for lying: Lying to save face. 2. Shift blame. 3. Avoid Confrontation. 4. Get One’s Way. 5 To be Nice. 6. Lying to Make yourself Feel Better. 9 in 10 Middle Schoolers admit to regularly cheating on their homework. If anyone can remember back to the 1988 Presidential Primaries, one of the leading candidates was forced to stop his campaign when it became apparent that he had plagiarized work in law school. And if we are to talk about exaggerations, well, we have that covered in the highest office today too.
b. Why do we lie? Hurt others? Protect ourselves. Embellish the truth. Misrepresent. Want people to like us or desire to impress others. Not very pure motives. We harm one another with our words. We gossip. We slander, we judge rashly, we twist other’s words. Everything that is not of the truth is covered by this command.
B. How Does Jesus Christ Transform this Commandment?
1. Christ calls us to Speak Truth because He is Lord of Truth. In the Book of Revelation, our Lord is called, “the faithful and true witness” (Rev. 1:5; 3:14). The Book of Hebrews begins with the statement that God has finally and fully given testimony to men in the person of Christ: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world” (Heb. 1:1-2). Jesus was like the prophets of old in that He came to bear witness to the truth, but He was unlike them in that He was the truth (John 14:6). He was the “light” who had come to expose the sins of men: “Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life’” (John 8:12). The things which Jesus spoke were the things of the Father. He spoke for the Father:
2. Jesus taught that truthfulness should be a way of life for his followers.
a. Read Mt. 5:37 - In the Old Testament, a witness was sometimes put under oath, swearing to tell the truth. Our Lord taught that truthfulness should be a way of life, so that no oath taking is ever necessary. We should, as it were, always speak as though under oath. Truthfulness that doesn’t seek to demean or distort or devalue.
b. Illust: Not all religions teach the same on this matter of truthfulness. Most Westerners assume that Muslims play by the same rules. They do not. In Islam there are four specific terms used that allow for lying and deception in one’s speech! Takiyya is defined as dissimulation about ones Muslim identity. It comes from the verse in the Quran that says, “Let believers not make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful – he that does has nothing to hope for from Allah (Surrah 3:28). Tawriya is defined as concealing, and it could be called “creative lying”. It is OK to break the intent of the oath, as long as you don’t break the letter of the oath. Kitman is characterized by someone telling only part of the truth. The most common example of this is when a Muslim says that jihad really refers to an internal, spiritual struggle. He is not telling “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”, as witnesses are sworn to do in U.S. courts. Often, kitman results in a gross distortion of the truth. In the example given, the Quran uses jihadand its derivatives 59 times. Of those, only 16 (27%) could be considered “internal” with no object as the target of the struggle based on the context of the surah. Muruna means using “flexibility” to blend in with the enemy or the surroundings. The justification for this kind of deception is a somewhat bizarre interpretation of Surah 2:106, which says, “If we abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten, We will replace it by a better one or similar.” Thus, Muslims may forget some of the commands in the Quran, as long as they are pursuing a better command.
C. What is the Application of this Command for us today?
1. Truth and Truthfulness should be a way of life for God’s people.
a. What do the Scriptures tell us about God, His Word and truth? Notice what several verses declare: “Every word of God is pure,” says Proverbs 30:5. Daniel refers to God’s Word as “the Scripture of Truth” (Daniel 10:21). Jesus Christ said in prayer to God the Father, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). he Bible throughout teaches that “God is not a man, that He should lie” (Numbers 23:19). It explains that “the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth” (Psalms 33:4) because He is a “God of truth” (Deuteronomy 32:4). And “His truth endures to all generations” (Psalms 100:5).As the very source of truth, God requires that His servants always speak truthfully. Under God’s inspiration, King David wrote: “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellow man … [and] who keeps his oath even when it hurts” (Psalms 15:1-4, NIV).
b. The Ten Commandments draw a straight line from love of God to love of neighbor. The two parties are distinguished, to be sure, but in the life of obedience they are inseparable. As Luther pointed out, to disobey any of the commandments is to disobey the first—“You shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:3)—because all disobedience is essentially idolatry. The outworking of allegiance to God in seeking the good of our neighbors is embedded in the Ten Commandments, as the first four are inextricable from the latter six. You cannot, in fact, have God above all gods and hate your neighbor. Jesus says so (1 John 4:20). And so does His brother James in his indictment of hypocrisy, writing: “With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9).
Therefore, when we get to the ninth commandment—“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16)—we should see in the background the preamble to all the commandments, the central truth of the universe: “I am the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:2). This central truth is the rein on the Christian’s tongue. Without this rein—or bit, if you will (James 3:3)—our tongues roll loose, go crooked. If godly discipline is a way of life (Prov. 6:23), the non-discipline of the idolatrous tongue is a way of death.
2. Never lie or misrepresent the truth so as to try to gain financially or in any other way. Illust: The OT is full of examples of false witnesses. Queen Jezebel hired false witnesses to get a tract of land for her wimpy husband, Ahab. Ahab was pouting because Naboth would not sell him the family vineyard and Jezebel said: “Is this how you act as king over Israel?” Get up and eat! Cheer up. I will get you that vineyard of Naboth….” (I Ki. 21:7). What did she do? Paid false witnesses to testify that Naboth had cursed God and the king. They then stoned Naboth to death and Ahab took the vineyard. When Ahab went to have the land surveyed, Elijah the prophet had a word from the Lord for the King. No one had stood up for Naboth, but God saw! My friend, whether it is what is going on in Washington today or in our own homes, God sees. Illust: Never forget that 100’s of years after Ahab, another innocent man stood before a judge. He too faced false witnesses, hired to testify against the One Person in ALL of history who never spoke anything untrue. The Sanhedrin had difficulty getting two witnesses to agree to false testimony about Jesus. At last they found two who could distort what Jesus had said about the temple. Christ died for adulterers and liars.
C. Applic: Speak the truth. If Christ is truth and we are called “Christians”, then we must represent Christ.
