The Seventh Commandment

[00:00:00] Well, let's turn to the Book of Exodus. [00:00:03] Turn to the Book of Exodus, chapter 20. We're going to go into our next commandment, which is the 7th commandment. [00:00:12] Now, we've already covered this commandment from the perspective of the question of divorce and remarriage, which we looked at, you know, several, I guess, several months ago now. But we're going to look just at this commandment and kind of go through it quickly and just look at what the Bible says on the matter. Of course, this won't be anything new or revolutionary, but I think there are some important things for us to keep in mind as we look at this commandment. Exodus 20, verse number 14. [00:00:48] The Bible says, thou shalt not commit adultery. [00:00:54] All right, let's pray. Father, I thank you, Lord, for your blessings. I thank you for your word, Lord, that by your word we see that which is good and that which is evil, that which is holy and that which is unholy, that which is, that which is light and that which is darkness. Lord, thank you for your word. This world is just so turned around and twisted and upside down, and so much so that they look at us and they think that we are upside down. [00:01:25] And, Lord, so many things are subverted, and right is wrong and wrong is right. And so, Lord, I pray that you would help us just to be focused and our mind, our heart, our worldview would just be centered on what you have said. And we would be that way without shame and without fear. [00:01:46] And, Lord, we would be bold in the truth. And, Lord, we would also have a clear understanding of the gospel and how it relates to these things. So, Lord, as we look at this, and look not only at what the law says, but also what you said in the New Testament as well, please teach us and guide us as we look at these things in Jesus name. Amen. [00:02:07] All right, thou shalt not commit adultery. The 7th commandment. Let's go to Genesis, chapter two. We're going to bounce around a little bit, just for time. We'll try to hurry to get through some of these verses. [00:02:20] Genesis, chapter two and verse, the end of the chapter, verse number 23. Of course, we know in verse 22, God made the man, then he made the woman from the man. [00:02:33] And then in verse number 23, the Bible says, and Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father. Excuse me. Leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. So this is the first mention of marriage in the Bible. And in the first mention of the marriage in the Bible, we see the principle which we've already looked at previously, which is the principle that God expects that a man and a woman be married for their entire lives as long as they're both alive. [00:03:24] And part of that marriage covenant, part of that marriage, that godly, holy marriage relationship, remember, this was established before there was any sin in the world. [00:03:37] Part of that was the phrase, and shall cleave unto his wife. That's where in the marriage vows they say, and forsaking all others, and forsaking all others. [00:03:50] And this is God's standard for marriage. [00:03:54] And listen, this world does not, in some far off kind of idealistic way, this world says, yeah, if everything goes right, then this is what we'll do, right. If everything goes right, then we will keep ourselves for our spouse. But the reality is this world in the actual practice does not do that. And that, of course, one way they try to get around that is what we talked about before, which is through divorce and through remarriage. In other words, in the Jews, not just the Jews, but in humankind, that's been one way to kind of circumvent this, keeping yourself for others. Because the idea is if you get divorced and you get remarried, well, you can just have another. [00:04:40] And of course, Jesus our Lord, he dealt with that very directly, very strictly, and said, you think you're getting away with it, but you're not. It's the same thing. It's a violation of the 7th Commandment. But the Bible says a man and his wife should cleave to one another. And that means that, by implication, that means all others are forsaken. [00:05:04] All others are forsaken. Look at proverbs chapter six as a warning. [00:05:10] Proverbs six. I'm just hitting the high points because I know we don't have a lot of time and we could park at each one of these passages and study them at length, but for our purpose, we'll just kind of go through them a little bit quickly. Verse 24 of proverbs chapter six. [00:05:29] This is the go to passage in dealing with adultery as it relates to a young man. [00:05:39] The Bible says, verse number 24, to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Notice verse 25. It's interesting. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. Now at this point, it's not really clear whether we're talking about a married situation or an unmarried situation. All right? But as you keep reading, it says this, for by means of a whorish woman, a man is brought to a piece of bread, and the adulteress, you know what that means? She's married. [00:06:16] The adulteress will hunt for the precious life. So verse 25 is in the context of adultery. But notice what the Bible says now. We're not even to the New Testament, which we'll get to that in a minute, in which Jesus deals with lust, all right? But lust is something done in the heart. It's not something done outwardly, okay? But even in proverbs, remember what the Lord said? There were new things that the Lord Jesus Christ brought, new truths that the Lord revealed right in his earthly ministry. But much of what he taught is in the Old Testament. In other words, this is not new. The fact that what the Lord said about lust was not a new thing. Here it says, lust not after her beauty in thine heart. So even in proverbs, dealing with the heart of the matter is prioritized. Because if verse number 25 doesn't happen, does verse 26 happen? [00:07:16] If verse 25 doesn't happen, does verse 27 and 28 and 29, do any of those happen? No. It all starts with the heart. It all starts with the heart. [00:07:27] So he says, can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned? Obviously, the answer to that in both cases is no. It is not possible to take a coals of fire into your. To pick up something that's on fire and hold it to yourself and your clothes not be burned. It's not possible to walk upon hot coals and your feet not be burned. Here's the point. [00:07:56] So he that goeth into his neighbor's wife, whoso toucheth her shall not be innocent. In other words, there's no set of circumstances, there's no world. There's no world that is or could exist in God's economy in which involving oneself in adultery will not bring harm upon yourself. [00:08:21] It does not happen. It does not happen. The pleasure that is sought momentarily is far outweighed by the lifetime, by the lifetime of suffering. Okay, this is what this verse is saying, and this is very simple. This is very to the point. [00:08:47] Men and women, men, as you'll see in a minute, men are the one primarily aimed at in the question of adultery more so than women in scripture. Okay? That's why it says lust not after her beauty. That's addressed to a man, not a woman. So there's a principle there. [00:09:07] But this idea that men primarily, and then sometimes women think that they can involve themselves and betray their husband or wife and do so, and somehow it's going to end up good for them. This is what people believe on a daily basis, and it's false. It doesn't matter if you're a believer, an unbeliever. It doesn't matter if you're in the world, you're an atheist, doesn't matter if you're in a foreign country, you're in the United States. It doesn't matter. It is not possible that it does not bring you harm. In other words, to use the Analogy, you'll get burned. You will get burned. [00:09:43] Whoso toucheth her shall not be innocent. Now I know, listen, now, for those of you that aren't married, I know that the word touch here toucheth her is obviously a reference to adultery, right? But it is interesting that the Bible does say touch, because in one corinthians seven, verse one, it also refers to touching. It is good for a man not to touch a woman. And that's a reference to also to immorality. But there's something to be said. Listen, you can't commit adultery if you don't touch her, right? [00:10:19] You can't fornicate, you can't be immoral with this person that you like if you don't touch her. And listen, maybe that seems old fashioned or fuddy dutty or whatever, but if you're unmarried, you ought to be very careful about that. Even if you are planning on marrying this person, just keep your hands off of them. Do you get married? Amen. [00:10:44] Anybody who's interested in my daughters, I just need to keep my hands off to my daughters. So you get married. You get married and do whatever you want. I don't want to know. I honestly don't want to know about it. But until you get married, I'm embarrassing my kids right now. And that's okay because that's what dads are for. Right, brother? [00:11:00] But even as a married person, even as a married person, I know we have greetings and shake hands and all this stuff. That's not what I'm talking about, but light hearted, touching people of the opposite, people of the same, roughly the same age as you in a casual context. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. [00:11:32] You have no business doing it. [00:11:35] If you don't do that, you can't commit adultery. If you don't lust, you can't commit it. You see what I'm saying? The Lord wants it. He puts guardrails there to keep us from going over the cliff, right? It says, whoso toucheth her shall not be innocent. Men do not despise a thief. Verse 30. If he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry, but if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold. He shall give all the substance of his house. But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding. [00:12:04] In other words, he's stupid. [00:12:09] He that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. Self destruction. [00:12:17] A wound and dishonor shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away. You notice that? In other words, this is a special category of sin, such that when a man or a woman engage in it, they are marked. You've heard about the scarlet s, right? The scarlet s. And I know that's not what this is talking about, but the truth of that is true. The Lord says, you're marked. You're marked. And men, you all know people that have been involved in this, and this is not something that goes away. [00:12:53] You can agree with this wholeheartedly. [00:12:56] Now, let's look at Leviticus, chapter 20. [00:13:02] This is going to be the unpopular part, not for you guys, of course, but for people in this world, because this is over the line, outlandish kind of talk. [00:13:13] God's punishment. God's prescription of punishment for adultery. We've already covered this when we study John eight. [00:13:21] Leviticus 20. Excuse me, 20, verse ten. And then you want to get, for time's sake, if you want to get deuteronomy 22, you can do that as well. That way you can flip right to it. [00:13:32] Leviticus 20, verse ten. The Bible says, and the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death. [00:13:50] Deuteronomy 22, verse 22. Look at what it says. [00:13:55] If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die. [00:14:02] Both the man that lay with the woman and the woman. So shalt thou put away evil from Israel. [00:14:09] I am afraid that if this was implemented, we would have a steep decline in population, a steep decline in population in our country. [00:14:29] Now, here's what I want you to remember about this passage before we move on. [00:14:34] What we just read are the civil and the spiritual laws of God, right as spoken by God to Moses, nobody, no Christian, no Bible believing person should be able to look at the tech, these verses. I know, listen, I know they go against the grain in the world's thought. I know that. But no believing person should look at these verses and go away saying adultery is anything less than a vile and a wicked sin. Right. This is what God's trying to convey to us. Now we know. Look in the church. [00:15:16] Somebody help me here. If someone in the church is found having committed adultery, does the church stone the person? [00:15:24] Is there any prescription to stone a church member who commits adultery? No, because that's why it's important we understand we're not under the law. But listen, just because the church doesn't take people outside the front doors and stone them in public doesn't mean that God is somehow okay with it. Or doesn't mean that God has changed his mind. For we serve and we believe and we trust in. And we know the very same God who wrote these things in Leviticus and in deuteronomy. His opinion on this matter have not changed. Has not changed whatsoever. Not one little bit. Well, we're under grace now. And that doesn't mean he thinks adultery is any better. Here's the difference. In the church, there is a prescription for adultery. You know what it is? [00:16:10] It's being put out of the church. If there is no repentance, public repentance, it's to be put out of the church to put away wickedness. In fact, that is why they were put to death in the Old Testament, is to put away, we just read it in deuteronomy, put away wickedness out of Israel. But the church is not a civil organization. [00:16:29] It's a spiritual organization. [00:16:31] So there's a spiritual way to deal with sin in the congregation. [00:16:37] But make no mistake, the severity that we see in these verses is just exactly what God thinks of it at this moment. Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. [00:16:52] Now, what does this harsh? What seems to us to be, I say harsh. It's not harsh. It's holy. Right? It's holy. Not harsh. It seems to the american mindset, it's harsh, but it's holy. Okay, what seems to us to be harsh? What does it demonstrate to us about adultery? Here's what it shows. Number one, it shows the supreme importance of marriage in the sight of God. It is so important to God the relationship, the covenant, the fidelity between the husband and wife is so important to God that he put the highest, the most severe punishment that is possible upon it when that was broken. [00:17:48] It demonstrates this is serious. Business with God. In other words, not just adultery, but let's take it a little bit further. Our relationships with our spouse, our marriage relationship is that important to God, right. It is that important. We should give attention to it. We should make it a matter of priority in our lives. Right? That's what the first thing it shows. Second thing it shows is that it shows us the true gravity of adultery. [00:18:19] We must not get our opinions from what this world thinks of it. [00:18:24] We must get our beliefs from what the scripture says. That's what the Bible says. The Bible is our sole authority of faith and practice. [00:18:34] So I know you know all of these things. I know you know all these things. I don't say these things to try to inform you, but I think you know what? [00:18:44] We need these reminders. [00:18:47] It's in the scripture. We need to be reminded of these things, because it's not just like I believe that any of you are on the precipice of committing adultery. I know Ben's not, because Ben doesn't have a wife. But it's not that. [00:19:02] It's to reaffirm and solidify what the scripture says so that anytime we meet with this subject, we have the right response to it. Right. We understand this is not something to be trifled with. The Lord looks upon it very strictly. Now, in the scripture, there are three kinds of adultery. You've already covered one, which is physical adultery, right? Physical adultery. What we think of as committing adultery. But there's two others. [00:19:33] The second one is called adultery of the heart. So let's look at that in Matthew, chapter five. [00:19:41] Matthew, chapter five, verse 27. [00:19:55] Matthew, chapter five, verse 27. The Bible says this. Ye have heard the Lord Jesus says, ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her have committed adultery with her already in his heart. Now, this goes back to proverbs six, right? That's what we saw. This. You see how they pair together, right? [00:20:20] Whoso looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Now, I have heard some people, what I believe is they misuse this verse simply because my wife and I were talking about this earlier. Simply because the word with is in the verse, right? It says, whoso looketh on a woman to lust after her have committed adultery with her already in his heart. And so they say, see, ladies, here's the way the argument goes. See, if you dress immodestly you're actually committing adultery as well as the man who looks at you with lust, right? That's how it goes. Because it says with. And my response to that is, what if the lady's dressing perfectly modestly and she doesn't even know you're in the world? [00:21:13] The man. She doesn't even know the man's in it. She walks into Starbucks or Ingalls or the restaurant or whatever, and she's just minding her own business. She's not doing anything wrong. She's dressed perfectly modestly and the man is lusting after you say, well, can a man lust after a woman who's dressed modestly? Yes, women can lust after men even though men normally are dressed modestly. They can do it on an emotional level, can they not? Yes, they can. Lust only means the word lust. We categorize it as something special. You know what it simply means? What does it mean? [00:21:48] Desire. That's all it means. [00:21:51] Desire. [00:21:53] So can a man lust after a woman who's dressed modestly? Yes. [00:21:57] So this idea that somehow the woman is minding her own business and she's somehow involved, or even if she's dressed immodestly and is not obeying the Lord's commands concerning dress, that doesn't mean she's doing this. On the other hand, the man is. [00:22:13] He is guilty in God's sight of adultery, even though he has not committed any physical act. Okay, now, okay, well, then what do you say about the woman who dresses immodestly? Well, it's like many, many other things in life, it's a stumbling block. Right? And this is one reason why we were talking about honoring your father and your mother not too long ago, right? Several weeks. A couple of weeks ago. [00:22:46] And we talked about how it is incumbent upon the children to honor and obey their parents, right? But then the Lord says, also, don't you make it difficult on your children by provoking them to anger. Right. You know what you're doing? You're casting a stumbling block. In other words, you're tempting them to fall, to disobey the command of God by doing that. Right. Well, in the same way, when a woman does not dress modestly, she's casting a stumbling block before the man. Right? That's how that fits together. But the idea that somehow she's engaging in adultery or whatever when she don't even know the man's in the world, that's not accurate. [00:23:30] But it does tell us men or women, in maybe a less frequent case, it does tell us that where our eyes go. [00:23:43] But this is not talking about eyes. This is more than eyes. Where our eyes go and especially where our desire goes. [00:23:51] God's looking at it. God's paying attention. It matters. And you know what? As men, if we pay attention to our eyes, we will not have to worry about the desire. And without the desire, there's no adultery. You see, where I'm going, it's a downward step. [00:24:13] So first thing we can do is pay attention to our eyes where they are, and then guard our heart. Keep our heart, and that'll keep us from the sin. [00:24:26] Now notice, I want you to notice real quick, this thing that by saying verse number 28, the Lord is showing us that he is concerned not only with the outward Jesus. And this is one of several. [00:24:45] Last week, we talked about murder, right? Thou shalt not kill. [00:24:50] And in verse 21, he talks about that, and then he talks about hatred. Hating your brother is like murder, right? [00:24:57] So this is similar in that way. But in both cases, the Lord is teaching us that. He could have said, listen, just don't commit adultery. Everything will be fine. No, the Lord says, that's not good enough for you if you're Christ's disciple. If I'm Christ's disciple, it is not good enough that we just stay away from the outward sins. Our hearts have to be right also, because God is the one who's looking on the heart. [00:25:23] But see, if our only concern is what other men see, then we will not pay attention to our heart. But if our primary concern is our heart before God, when that's right, we don't have to worry about the other. Right? Because our heart is right. [00:25:40] That's why we focus on the heart. You get to the heart of it. You get your heart right, you don't have to worry about the other. So the Lord's standard is really an inward standard. You see, he's looking at that. That's where our primary focus should be. [00:25:58] So that's adultery of the heart. Now, I could go into verse 29. [00:26:02] In the context of lust and adultery, the Bible says, and if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Now, notice here it says whole body. Normally, we think of people going to hell. The soul goes to hell, but their body goes to the grave. Right? But this is referring to the final judgment when, you know, when the dead are raised again to stand before the great white throne. In revelation, chapter 20, that person has a body and a soul and a spirit. He's not a disembodied soul like a person who's died. He's alive, raised to stand before God. But imagine what the Lord is describing is someone whose lust, whose adultery came between him and eternal life. [00:26:55] Does that happen? Oh, yes. [00:26:58] People choose their mistress over Christ. [00:27:03] That happens. That is a real thing. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off. It is and cast it from thee. It is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And anybody that reads this in the world, and they think that's just extreme, right? [00:27:24] What's the brother David, the modern terminology, radical, whatever they call it. There's another word. I'm slipping. [00:27:34] What's that? Divisive. But I'm thinking of what they call something that sometimes it's the far right, the far left. The fringe. Maybe that's the word. Yeah, fringe. This is fringe thinking. [00:27:49] Well, if you think your whole life is about the here and now and you're not thinking about eternity, you might think this is fringe. [00:27:59] But as we read these verses, we have to keep something in mind. [00:28:04] Man, you can pluck your eye out and still lust. [00:28:09] You can cut your hands off and you can use your nubs to still sin. So it's not like doing these things is going to fix it. The Lord is using an analogy to help us understand nothing. Nothing. [00:28:22] No sin. [00:28:24] There is nothing so extreme that it should keep us from eternal life. Right? All right, the last one that I want to talk about is spiritual adultery. Spiritual adultery. Look at Jeremiah, chapter three real quick. [00:28:42] Jeremiah, chapter three. [00:28:47] So you have physical adultery. You have adultery of the heart. And then Jeremiah, chapter three, verse number eight. [00:29:03] And we could look at Ezekiel 23, verse 37. Matthew twelve, verse 39. He calls them an adulterous generation. [00:29:13] James four. Four. Ye adulteresses. Adulterers and adulteresses. [00:29:18] Revelation 222. They commit adultery together. [00:29:23] This is all referring to spiritual things. I'll explain it in a minute. Jeremiah, chapter two, chapter three, verse eight. Chapter three, verse eight. And I saw when for all the causes whereby backsliding, Israel committed adultery, I had put her away. You know what that shows us? [00:29:40] That divorce is permitted in the cases of adultery, which is what Jesus taught. [00:29:46] And given her a bill of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the likeness of her whoredom that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and with stalks. [00:30:03] That's funny. [00:30:05] The Lord is mocking. [00:30:07] He's mocking with stones, stalks. That is a trunk of a tree. [00:30:14] You say? That's crazy. That's what the Lord thinks, too. [00:30:20] Now, what does it mean? What is spiritual adultery? Okay, let me try to explain this. [00:30:29] You can see it in here. Of course, this is referring to Israel, who was, as it were, wedded to the true God. God had delivered them from Egypt. God had brought them into a covenant. Right? We are in a covenant with the Lord. What covenant is that? The new covenant. I will remember their sins no more. Right. That's part of the new covenant. He'll write his law in our heart. That's the new covenant. We're in a covenant with God also with Christ. [00:31:00] So spiritual adultery is the concept, the analogy it's built upon and based upon the analogy of the Lord being wed to his people. Now, in the Old Testament, Jehovah is wedded to Israel, right? Jehovah calls him, like, in these verses, he's Israel. [00:31:18] He compares himself to Israel's husband in the New Testament. It's not that way. But we do see that the church is the what? [00:31:27] The bride of Christ. [00:31:30] But this spiritual adultery is based on that fact. We have a relationship. [00:31:36] We have. Listen, we have a, if I can say it like this, a monogamous relationship to our Lord. He is faithful to us. [00:31:46] How do we know? He died for us. He died for the church. [00:31:51] He showed his love to us. He is ever faithful to us. He will never betray his promises to us. He will never betray or violate his covenant to us. [00:32:04] And so in that context, we have to understand spiritual adultery is not the regular failure or unfaithfulness in our devotion or our service to God. Now, how many of you can say, this past week, I messed up and maybe I wasn't fully faithful and diligent in my service to the Lord and my devotion to the Lord. We could all probably raise our hand and say, I could have done better. There's some times I missed. I messed. [00:32:36] That's sadly, that's common, right? Okay. If you're married, I know. Brother Vernon and Sister Betty, they never have a spat. They never have a disagreement. [00:32:49] I know that's not true because they're married. It's just that Sister Betty always wins. But anyway, husbands and wives have spats. That happens. [00:33:02] The best of marriages, it happens. If anybody tells you that doesn't happen, don't believe them. They're not telling you the truth. It does happen. Two sinful people in one relationship, living in the same house 24/7 it's going to happen and it does. [00:33:17] But that's not adultery, is it? Right. So even when we stumble and we fail and we fall short in our service to God and our devotion to God, that's not the same thing as adultery. That's a different thing. Would you agree? That's kind of a different in kind, a categorically different. [00:33:37] In fact, spiritual adultery is far more serious. [00:33:42] Now, I'm trying to follow the analogy a little bit with you. We're almost finished, so just hang in there. [00:33:49] So we're married to the Lord. That's the analogy. He is our husband. We're his wife. Right. He's faithful. We're in a covenant relationship to him. [00:33:59] Now, in that I'm married, I have my wife. [00:34:05] Am I permitted as a husband to give love, affection and devotion to another beside my spouse? The answer is yes. [00:34:15] You give love and devotion and affection to your children. [00:34:18] You give love, devotion and affection to your parents, right to your grandchildren. So it's not the issue of giving love, devotion and affection to another person. [00:34:29] We give those, to all kinds of people, friends and family and those kinds of things. But here's what adultery is. In the physical sense, it is the giving of love, affection and devotion that is due only to our spouse. It's that part that is unique that is only allowed to be given to the spouse. Now, in the physical sense, that's referring to the intimate relationship. [00:34:55] So in this way, spiritual adultery is similar to a violation of the first and second commandment. [00:35:02] In other words, the Bible says in the first and second commandment, thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make into thee any graven image in those things. [00:35:11] No other gods are permitted. Right. [00:35:14] Does that mean you can't show honor to a king or can't show honor to your parents? No, you can show them honor. You just can't show them the honor that is due only to God. Right. [00:35:26] Well, in the matter of the spiritual adultery, with spiritual adultery, there is a special relationship that exists between a husband and wife and that only is to exist between the husband and wife and no one else. [00:35:46] Did you know? That's true of you and the Lord. There is a special relationship that's supposed to exist, a special love, affection and devotion that's supposed to be between you and the Lord. That no other relationship, no matter how close, no matter who they are, is to approach or touch. [00:36:05] And when it does, that's when you've crossed into adultery. Spiritual adultery. [00:36:11] That means in marriage there are prerogatives that belong only within that marriage. In our spiritual relationship. There are prerogatives in our relationship to the Lord. That belong solely to him. [00:36:25] And it is for this reason. [00:36:28] Now hear me. This is what I want you to hear. [00:36:31] It is for this reason that there is only a single person. Listen now. There is only one single person to whom we give unqualified devotion. [00:36:46] Single person. And that's God himself. [00:36:50] Not your spouse, not your kids, not your friends. [00:36:54] The only person that we should give singular, unqualified devotion. [00:37:01] I mentioned Brother Vernon and sister Betty. [00:37:04] I know they want to serve God until the Lord takes them home, right? But if one of them went away from God. [00:37:11] The other must not betray the Lord to follow them. [00:37:18] You see what I'm saying? God must be supreme above the husband and wife. [00:37:25] Because anything less is adultery, you see, that belongs to God and God alone. [00:37:31] Listen to these verses. [00:37:33] Matthew 1037. [00:37:36] We've already covered these in other ways. But just follow me. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. You know what God is saying there? Supreme love belongs to God alone. [00:37:56] Not your mom, not to your dad, not to your children, not to your husband, not to your wife, but to God alone. Right? You see, that's just like the marital relationship. Matthew 22, verse 37. Listen to this. [00:38:10] And Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Notice this. Who gets the all, all heart, also all mind. You know who gets it? God. And then the second commandment says, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. That's a different standard, is it not? That's lower. [00:38:40] So your neighbor is to get the amount of love you give to yourself. But God only is to get supreme, supreme love. Well, what about your spouse? Listen to this. Ephesians five, verse 33. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. So, Brother Vernon, love Miss Betty even as yourself. But don't love her like you love God. [00:39:07] God alone has that supreme devotion, that supreme love, all the heart, all the soul. Unqualified affection. [00:39:20] God must. This is just simply saying, God must be supreme. Anything less is adultery. [00:39:28] Right? [00:39:30] Now, the good news is that we know, and I have to say this because we're talking about the law. Exodus 27, 2014. [00:39:44] God can and does forgive adulterers. [00:39:48] He does. [00:39:50] David committed adultery with Uriah's wife and God forgave him. [00:39:57] He should have died. But God said, thou shalt not die. God had mercy on him. He can forgive him. [00:40:06] And we know the law cannot give you righteousness. [00:40:11] We have to have Jesus for that so we can be faithful to our wives, faithful to our husbands and in heart and in body. That doesn't make us right with God. [00:40:23] Doesn't make us right with God. We got to have Jesus to make us right with God. Let's pray.