I would like to mention again, God gave us these ten commandments for many reasons, but the primary reason, is that God wants us to know what HE LIKES, and what HE DISLIKES.
We are told that we have over twenty-two thousands laws on the books today. These laws continue to grow in number, because we have politicians who do not have a thing to do, it seems, except sit around making more laws. Every time something comes up as a problem, it seems the solution is to make another law.
For example, during the summer of 1999, we had several shootings in this country that made national news.
• One was a school shooting in Colorado
• Several other public shootings occurred.
What was the solution that our politicians gave? We need more gun control laws.
Why is it, that every time we have a shooting where innocent people are killed, the liberal politicians go before the television camera and say, WE NEED MORE LAWS ON GUN CONTROL?
When will this crowd come to understand, that these people who go out here and kill people with guns, are not law abiding citizens? It does not matter how many laws they put on the books, the criminals do not intend to obey any of them.
If you ask these politicians why they are continuing to make new laws daily, they will tell you the purpose of all these laws are to protect us. Well the thought occurs to any thinking person, if we have twenty-two thousand laws on the books now, and it is not safe to walk down the street, how many more thousands will they have to put on the books, before it is safe to walk down the street.
Did you know that they could take all the laws that are on the books today, and eliminate every one of them, and follow God’s ten commandments, and we would be better off. In the first place, we would not need all these lawyers, who are always arguing on television among themselves about what these laws mean.
The ten commandments are written so sensibly, that any intelligent person can understand them. God gave us these ten commandments, because they tell us what GOD LIKES, and what HE DISLIKES. For those of us who want to please Him, this is important.
These ten commandments are a summary of everything in this Bible that PLEASES or DISPLEASES GOD!
We looked at:
I. HIS PRIORITY LIST.
II. HIS PUNISHMENT LIST.
III. HIS POLITENESS LIST.
IV. HIS PLACE LIST.
V. HIS PARENTS LIST.
VI. HIS PROTECTION LIST.
Let us continue to look at this list and we will see-
VII. HIS PARTNERSHIP LIST.
Look at verse 14, we read, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” This commandment ranks among the highest when it comes to being violated. People violate this commandment in three ways every day. Some do it through-
(A) MENTAL ADULTERY.
Preacher, how can a person commit adultery mentally? The Lord Jesus explains how in Matthew 5:28. We read, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
Illus: There is a story of two Buddhist monks walking in a drenching thunderstorm. They came to a stream, and it was swollen out of its banks. A beautiful young Japanese woman in a kimono, stood there wanting to get to the other side, but was afraid of the currents.
In characteristic Buddhist compassion, one of the monks said, "Can I help you?" The woman said, "I need to cross this stream."
The monk picked her up, put her on his shoulder, carried her through the water, and put her down on the other side. He and his companion went on to the monastery.
That night his companion said to him, "I have a bone to pick with you. As Buddhist monks, we have taken vows not to look on a woman, much less touch her body. Back there by the river you did both."
The first monk said, "My brother, I put that woman down on the other side of the river. You're still carrying her in your mind." (John Claypool, "The Future and Forgetting," Preaching Today, Tape No. 109.)
This is why it is wrong for men and women to look at pornography, because there is no way a man or a woman can look at impure pictures of the opposite sex, and not have sexual lust. When a person lusts for the opposite sex, it can be as addictive as taking illegal drugs. It is surprising how many men and women are addicted to pornography. Like all addictions, the thing they crave does not satisfy.
Illus: Craig Brian Larson, stated, “As a kid, I saw a movie in which some shipwrecked men are left drifting aimlessly on the ocean in a lifeboat. As the days pass, under the scorching sun, their rations of food and fresh water gave out. The men grow deliriously thirsty. One night, while the others were asleep, one man ignores all previous warnings and gulps down some salt water. He quickly died.
Ocean water contains seven times more salt than the human body can safely ingest. Drinking it, a person dehydrates because the kidneys demand extra water to flush the overload of salt. The more salt water someone drinks, the thirstier he gets. He actually dies of thirst.”
When we lust, we become like this man. We thirst desperately for something that looks like what we want. We don't realize, however, that it is precisely the opposite of what we really need. In fact, it can kill us.
The devil knows, before he can ever get anyone to commit PHYSICAL ADULTERY, he first has to get them to commit MENTAL ADULTERY. He knows that if he can get them thinking about it, they soon will be doing it.
Illus: David Mains, said, “When two people have settled in their minds that ‘We are going to love each other’…Each is to say, ‘The whole of my affection is given to my partner, and I will not allow myself to think romantically about another’."
The most popular way to commit adultery, is through mental adultery. You can do it every day, and more than likely no one will ever know about it, BUT YOU CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT GOD KNOWING ABOUT IT.
One of the ways that people displease the Lord, is they often commit MENTAL ADULTERY. God says when a man lusts for another woman, he “…hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Another way we can commit adultery is through-
(B) PHYSICAL ADULTERY.
These are people who have taken a sacred vow, to become one with a person of the opposite sex, and now they join themselves to someone else.
Illus: Steve Farrar, said he remembered some years ago, watching Phyllis George interview Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach. It was a dull interview, until Phyllis asked, "Roger, how do you feel when you compare yourself with Joe Namath, who is so sexually active and has a different woman on his arm every time we see him?" "Phyllis," Roger answered, "I'm sure I'm just as sexually active as Joe. The difference is, that all of my activity is with one woman." Touchdown!
Roger hit the end zone with that comeback. Real men don't commit adultery. A real man sticks with one woman. Period. (Steve Farrar, president of Strategic Living Ministries in Dallas. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 1.)
Another way we can commit adultery is through-
(C) Spiritual Adultery.
Marriage is a picture of our sacred relationship with Christ. We have become one with him, and when we join ourselves with the world, we are committing spiritual adultery.
And it does not matter if a person commits mental adultery, physical adultery, or spiritual adultery. When a person commits Bible adultery, they are not a happy Christian.
Illus: A lady asked her pastor if she could talk to him after church. He agreed to talk to her, and after the service she confessed to him that she had been involved with a man, other than her husband. After some counseling, the pastor said, “Let me ask you something, why do you feel the need to tell me of this relationship.” She said, ”Because the only two that knew about this relationship, were myself and the man I am having the affair with. I knew I could not talk to him, because he is not ready to end this relationship, but I had to talk to you.” The pastor said, “Why did you feel that you had to tell me?” She said, “Because I am so miserable, I can not stand to look at myself in the mirror. I was hoping you could tell me something that would bring this nightmare to an end.”
Listen, anytime adultery is committed, it always brings misery. This is why some people, in our churches today, are so miserable. Why? They commit spiritual adultery on the Lord all week, and when they come to the house of God, they are miserable.
We know from the scriptures, anytime we commit adultery, and it does not matter if it is:
• MENTAL ADULTERY,
• PHYSICAL ADULTERY,
• SPIRITUAL ADULTERY
the Lord is displeased with it.
This is GOD’S PARTNERSHIP LIST, but let us look also at-
VIII. GOD’S PROPERTY LIST.
Look at verse 15. We read, “Thou shalt not steal.” Also, this commandment has to rank as one of the most violated commandments in the Bible. With all the stealing going on in our society, you would think there is nothing in the Bible that prohibits it.
One of the reasons this country and other countries have so much stealing, is because when we catch the thief, we almost immediately put him back on the streets, so that he or she can steal some more.
Illus: In August of 1999 when the tragic earthquake took so many lives in Turkey, many people were shocked that there was so little looting going on.
A lot of times, when tragedies occur in this country, you have people breaking out store front windows, and going into the stores, stealing everything they can haul away. But when Turkey had this tragedy, there were no pictures on television of people taking advantage of the situation.
DO YOU KNOW WHY? Because they have tough laws on stealing. They have a law, that if someone is caught and convicted of stealing, they will cut their finger off. Can you imagine what this country would look like, if we started doing the same thing.
Illus: It certainly would hurt the computer business, because there would not be too many around, that would have fingers to type on their key boards with.
However, there are all kinds of ways we can steal:
(1) A student can steal from another class mate on an exam.
(2) An employee, can steal from the employer, by accepting money when actually they did not work.
(3) A gossip, can steal the good reputation of someone who has worked hard to gain such a reputation.
(4) We can steal time and money, that rightfully belongs to our family.
(5) We can steal, by robbing God of the tithes and offerings that belong to Him.
There are all kinds of ways we can steal, and God is displeased, every time a man or woman chooses to violate this commandment. God said, “Thou shalt not steal.” God has given us the right of ownership. If anyone takes these things we have worked for, they are violating this commandment.
This is HIS PROPERTY LIST. But let us also look at-
IX. HIS PAL’S LIST.
Look at verse 16. We read, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” When we tell something that is not true, we are lying. Have you noticed, no one likes to be called a liar.
There are some folks, that if you call them a liar, you better duck, because if you do not, you are going to get a right or left hook to the jaw. But, those same people who tell lies, and get mad when you tell them they are liars, WON’T QUIT LYING!
Look at Proverbs 6:16-19. When God lists the six things He hates, look how many of them deal with falsehood. We read, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” Notice, in this list of things that God hates, four out of the six have to do with lying.
Listen, there are people who will claim to be your PAL, and behind your back they will say things that are destructive. God’s Word lets us know, He is not please with this.
This is HIS PAL’S LIST. But look at-
X. HIS PERSON’S LIST.
Look at verse 17, we read, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
When it comes to people violating these commandments, this commandment also has to rank high as one of the most violated. Why? Because we live in a coveting society. It seems that no one is satisfied with what they have, they all want what someone else has. But God does not want us coveting what someone else has.
For example, God gives us a grocery list of things we are not to covet. We are not to covet our:
• Neighbour’s house.
• Neighbour’s wife.
• Neighbour’s manservant.
• Neighbour’s maidservant,
• Neighbour’s livestock.
And just in case you do not get the picture, God’s Word says, “…Nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
Conclusion:
God gave us this list, that we call the ten commandments, because God wants us to know what HE LIKES and what HE DISLIKES.
I. HIS PRIORITY LIST.
II. HIS PUNISHMENT LIST.
III. HIS POLITENESS LIST.
IV. HIS PLACE LIST.
V. HIS PARENTS LIST.
VI. HIS PROTECTION LIST.
VII. HIS PARTNERSHIP LIST.
VIII. HIS PROPERTY LIST.
IX. HIS PAL’S LIST.
X . HIS PERSON’S LIST.
Note: You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach many of these sermons on Youtube. Just type Youtube Lykesland
