Be Faithful to Your Spouse
September 23, 2007 Evening Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: God’s perfect plan is for husband and wife to be faithful to each other.
Focus Passage: Exodus 20:14
Supplemental Passage: Matthew 5:27-30
Mat 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’;
Mat 5:28 but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Mat 5:29 "And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Mat 5:30 "And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell.
A couple from Zenica, Central Bosnia, are divorcing after accusing each other of being unfaithful following an online affair. “They met online, where he called himself “Prince of Joy,” and she called herself “Sweetie.” Their real names were Sana and Adnan. “The pair [each] thought they had found a soul mate with whom to spend the rest of their lives.” [They] poured their hearts out to each other over their marriage troubles. . . . Sana, 27, said: “I was suddenly in love. It was amazing, we seemed to be stuck in the same kind of miserable marriages. How right that turned out to be.” Finally they decided to meet in person, and they discovered that they were married to each other: When it dawned on her what had happened, she said: “I felt so betrayed.”
Adnan, 32, said: “I still find it hard to believe that Sweetie, who wrote such wonderful things, is actually the same woman I married and who has not said a nice word to me for years.”
Three kinds of adultery
I. Physical
a. Give historical def of adultery. Man “against” married woman. Not “against” spouse.
b. Job 31:1 I have made a solemn promise never to look with lust at a woman.
c.
II. Emotional
a. Someone with whom you would rather spend your time with instead of your spouse. Internet relationships, etc.
b. Someone with whom your mind is consumed. You think about day and night. May or may not be able to be with them. Internet pornography.
III. Spiritual
a. Rev 2:4 But this is what I have against you: you do not love me now as you did at first. (ch at Eph)
b. Are you still in love with Jesus, or have you allowed someone or something else to become the focus of your passion?
c. Would you be satisfied with a spouse that is 50% faithful? 75%? 90%? Yet we expect God to be happy with us when we are less that 100% faithful to Him!
Invitation: Adultery starts in the mind. Control your thoughts.
Maybe I’m speaking to someone who says this message doesn’t apply to me. I’ve never committed adultery and never will. First, let me say, you have committed adultery. All of us have. Every time we sin, we put something or someone in the place in Jesus alone should occupy. Make sure that Jesus is still your first love, your greatest passion. Second, I would say, watch out. Let him that is standing right now be very careful that he does not fall. No one is above falling to this temptation given the right set of circumstances. Be ware.
Maybe I’ve been speaking to someone this evening that has been guilty of adultery against your spouse either in your mind, your emotions or with your body. You need to seek God’s forgiveness. God’s grace, His ability to forgive, cleanse and restore, is greater than any sin that we might commit. He is willing to forgive. In 1 Cor. 6:9-11, Paul said that many of the believers at that church had been adulterers, but they had been washed, they had been forgiven, they had been changed. You can be forgiven too.
Maybe I am speaking to someone who has experienced the pain of adultery because you were the one that was cheated on. God can heal your pain – He can even heal your marriage – but only if you are willing to forgive both your spouse and the person that they were with. If God can forgive them, do you really think that you have the right to hold a grudge, the seek revenge, to withhold your love? To the same extent that you forgive others, you will be forgiven the sins that you commit.
