The 10 Commandments: The Seventh Commandment 05/28/2023

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Our New Testament reading today is 2 John, the second epistle of John, one of the shorter books of the

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New Testament. John addresses a person called the elect lady and her children.

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There is a debate as to what that refers to. Was he writing to a specific lady that he knew, a family, or was that elect lady a word or metaphor for a church?

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I think it's probably a local church that he was writing to. And here he defines what love is.

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Love is ordering your life and your relationships according to the law of God.

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And then he emphasizes the need to adhere to the doctrine of Christ.

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He's concerned about some who claim to be Christian that had departed from the teaching about Christ, namely that Jesus Christ is both eternal

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God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, as well as God incarnate.

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He is truly a man in the incarnation. And that there were deceivers who had claimed to believe on Jesus, but they did not recognize

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Jesus as he truly is, as God and man. I received a little card yesterday in the mail, actually a little envelope addressed to me.

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I don't know who it was who sent it, a man and woman, husband and wife in New Hampshire, basically inviting me to participate in their

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Jehovah's Witness Bible study. I don't know how they sent it to me, whether it was through the radio or whatnot, but I plan on sitting down and writing a response to them.

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And I can't help but think of them because this epistle confronts them.

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They departed from the doctrine of Christ and they deny the deity of Christ. Second John, the elder to the elect lady and her children, whom

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I love in truth, not only I, but also all those who have known the truth because of the truth, which abides in us and will be with us forever.

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Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the

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Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth as we received commandment from the

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Father. And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

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This is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment that, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

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For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh.

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This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we might receive a full reward.

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Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the

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Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, nor greet him, for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

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Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with papered ink, but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

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The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen. Let's pray, please.

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Thank you, Father, for your word. And, Father, thank you for the anointing that you've given your people, an understanding as to the person of Jesus Christ, eternal

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God, the second person of the blessed Holy Trinity. And, Father, you sent him into the world and he assumed our human nature, truly

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God, truly man. He lived the kind of life that is demanded of each of us, but none of us could possibly aspire to live to.

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And yet he died upon the cross, our God. He gave up his life. And so our sins are atoned through his death, and his life of righteousness will exonerate us on the day of judgment, because that gift of righteousness is given us through faith in him as our

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Lord and our Savior. Help us, our God, to always be true to you. Don't allow us to depart, our

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God, from the truth that's in Jesus, for many deceivers have gone out into the world. So help us to obey your word here.

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Let us look to ourselves that we not be deceived. And, Father, we do pray you'd help us to bear faithful witness that we do encounter those that are, say,

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Jehovah's Witnesses, well -intentioned, zeal, but in terrible, terrible, damnable error.

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And help me, Lord, to bear witness to this couple that took the time and effort to write me. Help now,

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Pastor Jason, as he comes and brings your word before us. May the blessed Holy Spirit take your word, illuminate our minds to its truth.

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We pray you stir our hearts with its importance and relevance, and we pray you'd help us to be responsive, our

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God, according to your word, to humble ourselves, repent of our sins, and trust ourselves afresh to Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.

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This morning we continue our study of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, verses 1 -17.

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Thus far we have covered six of the Ten Commandments. Commandment number one, you shall have no other gods before me.

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Commandment number two, you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

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You shall not bow down to them or serve them. Commandment number three, you shall not take the name of the

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Lord your God in vain. Commandment number four, you shall remember the

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Sabbath day to keep it holy. Commandment number five, you shall honor your father and your mother.

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Commandment number six, you shall not murder. And commandment number seven.

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Commandment number seven, Exodus 20, verse 14, you shall not commit adultery.

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What is adultery? The term adultery refers to sexual intercourse with someone who is married to another person.

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Adultery is marital unfaithfulness. It is marital infidelity.

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It is a violation of the sanctity and bond of the marriage bed.

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Adultery is the greatest sexual sin because it rips apart the one flesh unity that the

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Lord God has established between husband and wife. Adultery shatters the marriage covenant and it breaks the promise that was made before the

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Lord God and men. It is a breach of the marriage oath.

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It is a violation of the trust between husband and wife. Adultery is a very damaging and very destructive sin, which is why the consequence of adultery was so severe in the

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Old Testament. Leviticus 20 .10, if a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

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Deuteronomy 22, 23, and 24. If there is a betrothed virgin and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death with stones.

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The young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife.

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So you shall purge the evil from your midst. Adultery is evil and the man who commits adultery not only injures the other person, but he also dismantles and destroys his own family.

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Adultery is a betrayal against your spouse. It is a betrayal against your family and it is a betrayal against the

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Lord God. In the book of Genesis, Abraham and his wife

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Sarah were sojourning in the city of Gerar and the text says that Sarah was a very beautiful woman and Abraham feared that he would be killed on account of her beauty.

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So rather than trusting in the Lord God for his protection and his provision, Abraham resorted to a self -preserving scheme.

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He would tell others that Sarah was his sister, which was partially true.

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In Genesis chapter 20, Abimelech the king of Gerar sent and took

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Sarah from Abraham. Genesis 20 verse 3, but God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him,

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Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken for she is a man's wife.

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Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, Lord, will you kill an innocent people?

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Did he not himself say to me, she is my sister. And she herself said, he is my brother in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.

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I have done this. Then God said to him in the dream. Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart.

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And it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore, I did not let you touch her.

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In Genesis 39, Joseph had been sold into slavery and he had been brought down to Egypt.

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And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard bought him and made him the overseer of his house.

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And he put Joseph in charge of all that he had. Joseph was handsome in both form and appearance.

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And Potiphar's wife cast her eye upon him. And she said to him, lie with me.

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Genesis 39, eight through nine, Joseph refused. And he said to his master's wife, behold, because of me, my master has no concern about anything in the house.

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And he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am.

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Nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife.

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How then could I do this great wickedness and sin against God? After King David had committed adultery, the

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Lord God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him in his sin. And David cried out to the

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Lord God in Psalm 51. I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.

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Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

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Adultery is an evil and destructive sin that is first and foremost against the

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Lord God, which is why we are commanded, Exodus 20, 14, you shall not commit adultery.

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The seventh commandment teaches us many things. This commandment is not restricted to the physical act of adultery alone, but to all forms of sexual sin and sexual immorality.

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The Heidelberg Catechism states in question 108 and 109, what does the seventh commandment teach us that God condemns all unchastity and that therefore we should thoroughly detest it and live decent and chaste lives within or outside of the holy state of marriage?

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Question 109, does God in this commandment forbid only such scandalous sins as adultery?

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The answer, we are temples of the Holy Spirit, body and soul, and God wants both to be kept clean and holy.

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That is why God forbids all unchaste actions, looks, talk, thoughts, or desires, and whatever may incite someone to them.

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In other words, the seventh commandment applies not only to the external, but to the internal as well.

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Like every other one of the 10 commandments, the seventh commandment is spiritual. In the book of Matthew, in the

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Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Christ made a very bold and shocking statement to the multitudes.

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He said, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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At the time these words were spoken to the common man, there was none as holy and righteous as the scribes and the

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Pharisees. In terms of their religious status, the scribes and Pharisees were religious royalty.

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They were the spiritual elite. But the scribes and the Pharisees had a major shortcoming.

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Even though they had devoted their entire lives to keeping the law, and recording the law, and interpreting the law, they were utterly blind to its correct interpretation.

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The scribes and the Pharisees had a faulty view of the law, and a faulty view of the righteousness that was required by the law.

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In Matthew 5, 21 through 48, in a series of six illustrations, the

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Lord Jesus Christ corrected their faulty view of the law, and their view of righteousness by revealing the correct view of the law, and the correct view of righteousness.

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The correct standard of righteousness that is required by the law, and required by the

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Lord God, a heart righteousness. Matthew 5, 27 through 30, you have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

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But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

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If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out, and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

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And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off, and throw it away, for it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

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The phrase you have heard suggests that the multitudes to whom Christ was speaking, had not studied the law of God for themselves, but had based their understanding of the commandments on the teaching of the scribes and the

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Pharisees. The problem was that the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees was erroneous.

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Their teaching and their interpretation of the law were incorrect. Matthew 23, 23, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

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These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.

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The scribes and the Pharisees had reduced the law of God to the letter alone, ignoring the spirit of the law, and thus ignoring the intent of the law.

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They had been very careful to stay away from the gnat, but they had failed to steer clear of the camel, swallowing it whole.

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In Matthew 5, 27, the specific commandment to which the Lord Jesus Christ was referring was the seventh commandment,

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Exodus 20, 14, you shall not commit adultery. In the eyes of the

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Lord God, there are many ways in which we violate this commandment. And it's important for us to remember that each commandment stands for a whole category of sins.

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Each commandment not only governs the specific sin that is mentioned, but also all the sins that lead up to and the supposedly lesser sins of the same kind.

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The seventh commandment, you shall not commit adultery, not only forbids the physical act of adultery, but it also forbids everything that surrounds and leads up to the physical act of adultery.

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Philip Graham Ryken, in his book written in stone writes, most adulterous relationships don't start with sex.

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They start with inappropriate intimacy. The seventh commandment thus forbids a married man to flirt with another woman or a single man to get close to someone else's wife.

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In order to forestall temptation, a certain social distance needs to be maintained.

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The commandment also forbids a married woman to seek primary emotional support from some other man, whether at work, at church, or in an internet chat room.

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Also included in the seventh commandment are the sins of fornication, prostitution, incest, self -gratification, homosexuality, sexual abuse, pornography, immoral words, immoral thoughts, and any other immoral action or behavior that violates the covenant of marriage.

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At the time of Christ, the scribes and the Pharisees had reduced this far -reaching commandment to the physical act of adultery alone.

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So as long as you had kept yourself free from the physical act of adultery, you had technically fulfilled this commandment.

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The scribes and the Pharisees completely misunderstood how to correctly interpret the ten commandments.

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The Lord God is not pleased by our outward conformity to the law if internally we are resistant and rebelling against it.

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The law of God demands inward integrity as well as outward conformity.

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Because, 1 Samuel 16, 7, the Lord God sees not as man sees.

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Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

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The Lord God looks at the inner man. The Lord God looks upon the heart.

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The Lord God looks into the deep recesses of our thoughts and our desires. J .C.

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Ryle remarked, the head is not the principal thing. You may know the whole truth as it is in Jesus and consent that it is good.

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You may be clear, correct, and sound in your religious opinions. But all this time, you may be walking in the broad way that leads to destruction.

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It is your heart which is the main point. Is your heart right in the sight of God?

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Your outward life may be moral. It may be decent and respectable in the eyes of people.

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Your minister, friends, neighbors may see nothing very wrong in your general conduct. But all this time, you may be hanging on the brink of everlasting ruin.

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It is your heart which is the main thing. Is your heart right in the sight of God?

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And beloved, this is a question that each one of us must contemplate. Is your heart right in the sight of God?

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Your external behavior is pleasing to the Lord God only when it represents that which is truly in your heart.

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Because the Lord God looks at the inner man. The Lord God looks upon the heart. The eyes of the

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Lord move to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is completely his, to those whose heart is pure and blameless before him.

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The law of God governs our outward actions, and it governs our inner thoughts.

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The law of God governs the deeds of the flesh, and it governs the desires of the heart.

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The law of God demands our external conformity to his law, as well as demanding internal integrity.

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The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated this truth by giving us the correct interpretation of the seventh commandment.

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Matthew 5, 27 through 28, you have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery.

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But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

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In saying, but I say to you, the Lord Jesus Christ was not exalting his own teaching over and above the scriptures.

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Rather, he was exalting the scriptures and the correct interpretation of the scriptures over and above the legalistic traditions of the day.

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The term translated looks, everyone who looks at a woman, is a present participle, which refers to an ongoing, continual process of looking.

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This term doesn't describe an involuntary glance, or a quick and casual peek, but an intentional, prolonged, and leering stare with the purpose of lusting.

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You see, looking in and of itself is not the problem. It is entirely possible to look upon another person and recognize their beauty and not lust after them.

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The problem is when we look at another person with lustful intent. The problem is when we look at another person in a way that leads to lustful arousal.

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The phrase lustful intent means to turn upon a thing, to desire, to long for, to crave, or to covet.

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This term is descriptive of a strong and overpowering impulse that is not easily satisfied.

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It's descriptive of a strong and overpowering impulse towards someone or something that fully consumes our passions and our affections.

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Lustful intent refers to an unhealthy desire and a preoccupation for that which is forbidden.

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It refers to the many cravings of our fallen human nature, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.

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Martin Luther remarked, this commandment applies to every form of unchastity, however it is called.

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Not only is the external act forbidden, but also every cause, every motive, and every means.

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Your heart, your lips, and your whole body are to be chased and to afford no occasion, aid, or encouragement to unchastity.

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This kind of lustful look, this kind of lustful intent was characterized by King David in his desire for Bathsheba.

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In the book of 2 Samuel, at the times when the king went out to battle, King David remained in Jerusalem.

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2 Samuel 11, it happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's palace, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing.

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And the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman.

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And one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Elam, the wife of Uriah the

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Hittite? So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.

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Now notice the steps that led to this grievous act of adultery. First came the look.

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King David saw a woman bathing. Then came the lustful look. Rather than averting his eyes,

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King David leered, and he took notice of her beauty. Then he took the necessary steps to satisfy his longing.

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King David inquired about her. He sent messages to her. He took her, and he lay with her.

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And beloved, this is always the pattern that lust follows. I see, I want, and I take.

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King David was not at fault for seeing Bathsheba bathing. He was walking on the roof of his house.

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She was in plain sight. King David's sin was dwelling on the sight and then succumbing to the temptation.

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Charles Spurgeon remarked, temptation is the enticement to satisfy a

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God -given desire in a God -forbidden way. We must all remember that character is revealed by what you do in secret when no one else is around to see it.

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King David's palace likely commanded the best view, and there was no one who could see into his courtyard except, of course,

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God. The consequence of King David's sin was severe.

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It was long -lasting. Bathsheba became pregnant, and in deceit, King David sought to cover up the sin, but the cover -up failed.

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So David murdered the husband of Bathsheba. Then Bathsheba had the baby, but the baby died.

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After the sin of adultery, King David's kingdom never regained its former glory. Even his own son tried to kill him, and all of these difficulties resulted from a lustful look.

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Beloved, it was not the beauty of Bathsheba bathing that caused David to sin. It was not the external look that caused

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King David to sin. It was the already existing sin in his heart that caused him to look, to leer, to inquire, and commit adultery.

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A lustful look is the resulting manifestation of an immoral and impure heart.

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All sin begins with an evil thought sown in the heart. I believe it was

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Ralph Waldo Emerson who stated, "'Sow a thought, and you reap an action. Sow an act, and you reap a habit.

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Sow a habit, and you reap a character. Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.

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Sow, guard your eyes, and beware of the lustful look.

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Guard your heart, and beware of its treachery. The seeds of every sin have already been planted in our hearts, and the adversary is seeking to nourish them and water them.

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The heart of man is deceitful above all things. It is desperately sick. Even after the

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Lord God regenerates and makes new our spiritually dead hearts, evil still lies close at hand."

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So how do we fight against the lustful look? How do we fight against the lusts of the flesh?

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How do we safeguard our moral purity and keep ourselves free from the sin of adultery, from the sins of sexual immorality?

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Matthew 5, 29. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

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For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

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For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. The Lord God's blueprint for addressing the sins of the heart is radical amputation.

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The Lord God calls us to dramatically sever the people, the places, and the things which lead us into sin.

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Anything that morally or spiritually hinders your walk with the Lord God, hinders your fight against sin, or hinders your deliverance from sin must be thoroughly eliminated.

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The phrase, tear it out and throw it away, are aorist imperative. In other words, these are commands that are meant to be urgently followed.

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Tear it out and throw it away right now. Without any hesitation, tear it out and throw it away.

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Do not waver. Do not delay. Do not dilly -dally. Tear it out and throw it away.

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Beloved, you must deal drastically with your sin. You must deal drastically with anything that predisposes you to sin.

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You must protect your thinking and not let your imagination feed on inward lusts and fantasies, because our fleshly desires can quickly lead us to the destructive sin of adultery and sexual immorality.

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There is a burning fire within each and every one of us, and it is our responsibility to ensure that nothing flammable gets past the door of our hearts, because once those flames are fed, the flames will grow and they will burn.

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Beloved, in order to put sin to death in our lives, we must be willing to take drastic and serious measures against our sin.

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We must completely separate ourselves from whatever it is that is causing us to stumble. We must separate ourselves from whatever situations are tempting us to sin.

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We must tear it out and throw it away. If you're struggling with an inappropriate relationship with someone other than your spouse, do whatever is necessary to eliminate that relationship.

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Tear it out. Throw it away. End the relationship right now. If you're struggling with someone with some other sexual sin, be it in thought or action, do whatever is necessary to eliminate its influence in your life.

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Tear it out and throw it away. If you're struggling with your thoughts, do whatever is necessary to eliminate the temptation.

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You may need to get rid of your smartphone, your tablet, your Kindle, your laptop, your social media, or your television.

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Tear it out and throw it away. End their negative influence in your life immediately.

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Well, do you think the practice of radical amputation is realistic? Is it honestly realistic to eliminate all sorts of people and things in order to walk in a closer obedience to the

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Lord God? Yes, it is realistic. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

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And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. This must be our constant approach to sin.

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You must radically amputate the things in your life that hinder your walk with the

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Lord God. Well, what if the inappropriate relationship that you're fostering is with your boss or your neighbor?

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Should I quit my job? Should I move to another neighborhood? What if it's my work computer that's causing me to stumble?

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What if it's my work phone that is causing me to stumble? I can't get rid of my work phone.

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I can't get rid of my laptop. It's impractical to take such drastic measures.

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Well, let me ask you another question. Is the temporary excitement of an inappropriate relationship more important to you than the eternal state of your soul?

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Are the temporary feelings of arousal and pleasure more important to you than your peace with the

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Lord God? Is the convenience of a smartphone and internet connectivity more important to you than your connectivity with the

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Lord God? If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.

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And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. And do you know why we are told to take such drastic measures in our fight against sin?

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Matthew 5 30. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

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And here the implication is crystal clear. The Lord Jesus Christ is saying that if you do not fight against your sin with the kind of seriousness that is willing to tear out your own eye and cut off your own hand, quit your job and move to another neighborhood, then you will go to hell and there you will suffer for all eternity.

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The Puritan William Grinnell asked the question, what lust is so sweet or profitable that it is worth burning in hell for?

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The answer is obvious. No lust is so sweet. No lust is profitable that it is worth burning in hell for.

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Another Puritan, Thomas Watson, remarked, adultery without repentance damns the soul.

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The fire of lust, which will bring to the fire of hell, who for a cup of pleasure would drink a sea of wrath while the adulterer feeds on strange flesh, the sword of God's justice hangs over his head.

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Now there's a picture that we should remember. Beloved, there is nothing as important as your soul.

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When it comes to your eyes, your hands, the intention of your heart, the thoughts of your imagination, heaven and hell are at stake.

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This warning most assuredly applies to each one of us. The scriptures clearly teach us that fleshly lusts wage war against the soul, and it is on account of these things, adultery and sexual immorality, that the wrath of God will come.

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So do whatever it takes to keep yourself from sin. Do whatever is required to keep yourself from sexual sin, and this may require you to take drastic and radical measures, but always remember what is at stake.

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It is your eternity of your soul. One of the most practical helps that's been an extremely beneficial help to me in my walk with the

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Lord God and in my fight against sin is the put -off, put -on principle. In the book of Ephesians, Ephesians 4, 22 through 24,

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Paul writes, put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

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This passage has been a great encouragement to me because it is a formula. It's God's formula for dying to sin and living to righteousness.

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If your desire is to be conformed to the image of Christ, if you desire to be pleasing to the

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Lord God, if you desire to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, then here is the prescription.

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Put off the old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new.

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Put off the old, renew your mind, and put on the new. It's very simple and easy to remember.

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In our fight against sin, we must first put off the old man. We must put off sinful thinking, sinful actions, sinful behavior.

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We are to strip off the thinking and behavior of the old self, just as you would strip off clothes that were old and filthy.

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And then we are to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. Well, how are we renewed in the spirit of our minds?

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Well, through the scriptures. As we behold the scriptures, as we hear them, as we read them, as we study them, as we memorize them, as we meditate upon them, the

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Holy Spirit illuminates the Word of God to us. The Holy Spirit enlightens our minds so that we can receive it, so that we can understand it, so that we can apply its truth to our lives.

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And finally, we are told to put on the new self. After we put off the old, we put on the new, just as we would put on a new set of clothes.

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We are to put on the thinking and the behavior that is exemplified in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. The old self was concerned with one thing, pleasing itself.

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The new self is solely concerned with pleasing the Lord God alone. The old self was conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.

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The new self is being conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our fight against sin, in the strength of the

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Lord, we are to put off the old man with its evil practices and passions and replace it with the new man with new practices that please and honor the

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Lord God. And a great example of this formula is found in Ephesians 4, 25 through 31.

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Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

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What's the put off? Falsehood. What's the put on? Truth. Verse 28, let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

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What's the put off? Theft. What's the put on? Labor, honest work, so that we may have something to share with others.

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Verse 29, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, so that it may give grace to those who hear.

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What's the put off? Corrupting talk. What's the put on? Edifying talk, talk that builds up.

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Verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

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Verse 31 is the put off. And the put on? Verse 32, be kind to one another, tender -hearted, forgiving one another, as God and Christ forgave you.

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This is how we fight against sin. This is how we fight against adultery.

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This is how we fight against sexual immorality. We put off the old man, we are renewed in the spirit of our minds, and we put on the new man.

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So put off adultery. Put on faithfulness.

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Put off sexual immorality. Put on sexual purity. Put off immoral thoughts.

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Put on moral thoughts. Put off selfishness. Put on selflessness.

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Put off fornication. Put on holiness. Put off unrighteousness.

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Put on righteousness. Beloved, living to righteousness becomes a reality by departing from our sins, by turning away from our sins.

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Living to righteousness becomes a reality by dying to sin and living to God.

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In other words, as you live to righteousness, as you put on the new man, you will die to sin and put off the old man.

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Thus, you put off by putting on. Romans 6 .11.

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So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

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Let not sin reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

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For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace.

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Beloved, do not let sin have any dominion over you. Do not let sin have any control over you.

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You must deprive your evil desires of their strength, their power, and their control.

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You must mortify your evil desires. You must kill them off. You must tear them out.

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You must cut them off. With all your might, with all your strength, with all your being, do everything possible to rob your evil desires of their influence and power in your life.

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Fight, wrestle, strive, tear out your eye, cut off your hand, bury your sinful desires in the grave, remembering that you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

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Galatians 5 .16 says, but I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

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For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.

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For these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the

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Spirit, you are not under law. Beloved, be led by the

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Spirit of God. Keep in step with the Spirit of God. Walk by the

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Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

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If you follow after the flesh, if you succumb to flesh, if you walk according to the flesh, judgment awaits.

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First Corinthians 6, 9, and 10. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

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Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

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I think we would all agree that these sins are very serious sins.

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These are life -dominating sins. Adultery, homosexuality, greed, drunkards, sexually immoral, idolaters.

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These are sins that are not so easy to put off. They're not so easy to cast aside.

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But beloved, there is hope. The Lord God can deliver you from these types of sins.

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Because in the next verse, 1 Corinthians 6, 11, and such were some of you, but you were washed.

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You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the

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Spirit of our God. Beloved, despite the strength of the sin that holds you in bondage, be it sexual sin or any other sin, there is always hope for change in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. And such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified.

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You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. It is the

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Lord God who sanctifies his people. It is the Lord God who is working in our lives.

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But it is our responsibility to fight against sin and to put it off.

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If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out. Throw it away. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.

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You shall not commit adultery nor any lesser sin leading up to adultery, be it physical or spiritual.

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Beloved, strive to be holy. Strive to be like Christ and remember that eternity is at stake.

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Let's pray. Lord God, we come before you and we are so, so grateful for the work of Christ.

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Because Lord, with each one of these commands, we fail. We can't keep the seventh commandment nor can we keep the other six.

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We can't keep any of these things, Lord. And so we cry out to you and we look to you for deliverance.

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And we thank you, Lord, that you have kept the law, that you have fulfilled the law. And now,

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Lord, you point us back to the law in order to live in a manner that pleases you. And so,

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Lord, as we look upon the law in the power of the Spirit, we pray that we would walk in obedience.

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Lord, give us wisdom. Help us to know what we should cut out and how we should cut it out.

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We pray that you would give us a great hatred for these sins. These are destructive sins, Lord.

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Adultery is such an ugly sin. It not only affects the marriage, it affects the family, it affects friends, it affects the church.

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We pray, Lord, that you would keep this sin far from us. Help us to see its seriousness and help us to have the same hatred of it that you have.

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And, Lord, help us to keep our eyes fixed on Christ. No one is above this sin. And we pray,

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Lord, that we would abide in you, that we would walk in love, that we would walk in light, that we would walk in wisdom, that we would make the most of our time.

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So, Lord, we pray that you would help us in all these areas. Thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.