I invite you to turn in the scriptures tonight to the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 11, and that is found in your pew Bible on page 333. This is the word of the Lord beginning at verse 1. In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab and his servants with him in all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. It happened late one afternoon when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing. And the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite so David sent messengers and took her and she came to him and he lay with her now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness then she returned to her house and the woman conceived and she sent and told David I'm pregnant so David sent word to Joab send me Uriah the Hittite and Joab sent Uriah to David when Uriah came to him And David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, go down to your house and wash your feet. And Uriah went out of the king's house and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all of the servants of his lord. And he did not go down to his house. when they told david uriah did not go down to his house david said to uriah have you not come from a journey why did you not go down to your house uriah said to david the ark and israel and judah dwell in booths and my lord joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field shall i then go to my house to eat and drink and to lie with my wife as you live and as your soul lives i will not do this thing then david said to uriah remain here today also and tomorrow i will send you back so uriah remained in jerusalem at that day and the next and david invited him and he ate in his presence and drank so that he made him drunk and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord but he did not go down to his house in the morning david wrote a letter to joab and sent it by the hand of uriah in the letter he wrote set uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and then draw back from him that he may be struck down and die and as joab was besieging the city he assigned uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men and the men of the city came out and fought with joab and some of the servants of david among the people fell uriah the hittite also died then joab sent and told david all the news about the fighting and he instructed the messenger when you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king then if the king's anger arises and if he says to you why did you go so near the city to fight did you not know that they would shoot from the wall who killed abimelech the son of jerubasheth did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at the bez why did you go so near the wall then you shall say your servant uriah the hittite is dead also so the messenger went and came and told david all that joab had sent to tell him him to tell the messenger said to david the men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate then the archer shot at your servants from the wall some of the king's servants are dead and your servant uriah the hittite is dead also david said to the messenger thus you shall say to joab do not let this matter displease you but the sword devours now one and now another strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it and encourage him when the wife of uriah heard that uriah her husband was dead she lamented over her husband and when the morning was over david sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife and bore him a son but the thing david had done displeased the lord may the lord bless the hearing of his word in lord's day 41 of the heidelberg catechism we read what is god's will for us in the seventh commandment god condemns all unchastity we should therefore thoroughly detest it and married or single live decent and chase lives does god in this commandment forbid only such scandalous sins as adultery we are temples of the holy spirit body and soul and god wants both to be kept clean and holy that is why he forbids everything which incites unchastity whether it be actions looks talk thoughts or desires well we live in a culture that is driven by every kind of sexual immorality known under the sun to mankind and christians have had a difficult time dealing with this and processing how much is being thrown at them constantly in fact there are i'm sure here tonight men and women all of us to some degree who have struggled with this who are deeply struggling maybe with sexual sin and here tonight we come to the commandment that deals with this great arena and this problem in our lives there are some i'm sure here who feel that they can't get out there are others whose consciences maybe are so wounded by it because of this particular sin that they wonder if they'll ever get out they see no hope there maybe there are others who have hardened their hearts in it similar to what we just read did you notice how painful that was to read in the spiral of down the spiral down down down and the hardness of heart that was presented to you here some maybe whose hearts are so hardened in it that they've learned to justify the behavior and still think it's Christian to do that that's our culture today even in the church what really grieves me is that the church has in so many ways failed to address this problem and failed to address and help men and women think through God's direction and how he instructs us in the seventh commandment and what his will for us is in the second commandment we are really so over pious when it comes to this issue aren't we it's a strange thing it's almost as if we're afraid of the issue maybe there were mothers or fathers who said i don't want my kids to hear this tonight and they purposely kept them home because of that could you imagine that it's hypocritical it's hypocritical because you can't compartmentalize this or shield off the discussion about this in the church we just we can't we can't do it. And what we see, what we watch, what we're exposed to, what we listen to, what we bring into our living rooms every night, into our ears, through our iPods, what we see, you know this stuff is bombarding us and our children. And if you haven't experienced that with your children, you will. You will. So I start by saying this is a necessity tonight. It's a big commandment for us to consider how much pornography is going on in our culture how much how much adultery and how much do if it is brought into the church and into our own hearts and into our own bodies and into our own lives the fact is the bible isn't embarrassed about this god doesn't blush over this at all he doesn't blush about talking to your children about it he knows it's the the best platform to address the issue as one pastor said we are sexual beings and sexual sins are part and parcel of life such matters he says ought to be discussed frankly and openly as the bible does and it does and tonight we have a passage that does that as i was studying it really is the seventh commandment that helps us to address the issue and deal with this particular subject alongside of really and connection with the 10th commandment and covetousness. You notice how all these have a thread that run together. And like I said this morning, you break one, you break them all. You see that here. And if you're struggling with these things, we can assume that the problem is not here. God does have an answer tonight. God does have his word for you tonight. God does have grace for you tonight. He has grace for adulterers. God has prescribed a path to fight it. But that comes with seriously considering what is really happening and why this particular sin is so damaging in your life. And I mean this particular sin. There are some sins that have greater consequences. There some sins that are most definitely worse than others sexual sin is that doesn't mean it's not equally worthy of of judgment sin we often hear that statement that all sin is equal not in terms of of damage and consequence and even the judgments that we see meted out in scripture according to the sins the old testament teaches us this this very thing well tonight as we approach this of course the commandment like all others is full of all kinds of implications for our lives but To understand its depth and meaning for us, we again have to sort of pull back the letter of the law and look at both the letter and what theologians have talked about, the spirit of the commandment and what it is exposing in our hearts. This is what we read in this simple commandment. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not commit adultery. That is, of course, when a married person is sexually involved with someone to whom the person with someone whom the person is not married and again we would be wrong to place all the emphasis merely on the act itself as the pharisees did the real problem is that lust begins to overtake the heart now we see this tonight and there's a reason i chose the the familiar david and bathsheba narrative uh to expose this we see this tonight and it's a helpful to look at just for a moment the path that we see the holy spirit inspired for us to study that's really what i want to focus for us to see what landed and where it brought david into this downward spiral into sin the narrative with basheba is intertwined with a series of victories over the syrians and the people of ammon we read in in verse two there that it happened that late one afternoon when david arose from his couch think of the the imagery that's being given he is relaxed he is calm he is lounging and he walked out on the roof of the king's house that he saw from the wolf a roof a woman bathing and the woman was very beautiful you get the sense of complete and total complacency, self-confidence. He walks out. He gets up from his sleep. Everyone else is gone. The kingdom, in some ways, he's alone. All of his officers are off fighting. He's alone. And he walks outside, and there he looks out on his roof. And lo and behold, the temptation is set right in front of him. Sometimes we say to people, you know, when I was younger, older people will say we didn't have it, you know, the button of a phone to pull up this stuff. And that's true. It's much more widespread, much easier to get. But it was always there. Satan's always used it. David got caught in it. And you'll notice this here that he rises from his bed totally off guard guard down he sees this woman bathing and immediately David inquires about her someone says is not this Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite then David sent messengers notice the brevity of this notice the the shocking brevity of which it was inspired. Then David sent messengers, took her, she came to him, and he lay with her. Once the intent was established, it didn't take much to follow through with the action, did it? The strong picture that comes across here that the language Scripture is using is that he walks out, he sees her, and he beholds her as beautiful. He sees what he should not have seen. He entertained it. He lusted within his heart and immediately he went and inquired and he walked out and then he took. He took. You not only have the seventh commandment, you've got the eight because he stole. You have the ninth wrapped into this because of the false witness that we just read about. You've got the tenth in covetousness. You've got everything going on here wrapped up in this which is really remarkable and i'm going to come back to that and we should say that that in looking at the path that is given here when we deal with temptation temptation itself not being the sin but what was obvious here is that the temptation gave birth the sin because he immediately began to entertain it in his mind and in his heart that's what's brought out in the text that's what the text is telling us the text seems to capture the picture even stronger as it says that the temptation came at the moment his guard was completely down you think that's coincidence i mean we say we have three sworn enemies you don't think that the world the devil and our flesh are working at the moment guard is down israel's off at war he's in a position of complete vulnerability and ease he rises up israel's off their armor is on they're fighting as if to say israel was out on the battlefield with swords up on the other side of the land david's in peace time his sword was down i have to pause here and consider the path that's presented to us and i can't say it any better than john owen so i'm going to read him this is so helpful listen to how he describes how sin entices the emotions and and and children uh i want you to focus on this and really think about this in the way when you are thinking about going and doing something that and you're being presented with something what goes on in you how are you processing that he says the affections are snared when they are aroused by sin doing something against God's law. When sin prevails, it captures the affections completely within it. Sin continually obsesses the imagination with positive images. The lust of the eyes enters the soul. This is so good. Forcing the imagination to portray its intentions. john of course he says speaks of this as the lust of the eyes because it constantly represents these images to the mind and to the soul just as our natural eyes present images of outward objects to the brain indeed the actual sight of the eyes often occasions these imaginations aiken declared how synod prevailed over him in joshua 7 first he saw the gold and the babylonian garments then he coveted them seeing them he imagined their value to him and then he fixed them in his desiring heart the enticement of sin is heightened when the imagination dominates over the mind it implants vain thoughts within the mind and delights secretly in its complacency when we indulge with delight in the in in thoughts of forbidden things this is big we commit sin when we indulge with delight in thoughts of forbidden things we commit sin even though our will has not yet consented to perform the deed so helpful and we have to understand that all these thoughts come and go he says as messengers carrying sin with them such thoughts inflame the imagination and entangle the affections more and more when the soul willingly listens to these seductions it has already lost its affections for christ and has become seduced and then it moves to action now this was david's path this is what happened we tend to look only at the outward observance of commandments without ever looking inwardly to see that this problem always as jesus taught us stems from the heart it was jesus's teaching himself that he had to constantly clarify in his day when he said for it's out of the heart and then he went to describe shocking things that come out of the heart out of the heart proceeds and listen to this murders sixth commandment adulteries seventh commandment fornications thefts eighth commandment false witness ninth commandment blasphemies ninth commandment i mean he's he's going through the commands saying all of that is coming out of your your hearts. It originated there. It started there. So it should be a red flag to anyone who tells you ever to listen to your heart, by the way. And when we begin to understand the Ten Commandments this way, the first thing it will cause us to do and realize is that these may be broken even when the physical action is not resulted. David had just went through the full cycle to the full end and ruin of this. We looked at that with Cain, didn't we? We stressed with Cain that he had killed his brother and his blood had cried out from the ground, remember that. But long before that, God had said, long before that, God had said, why are you angry, Cain? Anger's ripping you up. Bitterness has overcome you. And that's no less true with the seventh commandment. Now when the Pharisees were abusing the law and not appreciating its vast exposure of the heart, which Jesus had essentially come to correct and teach in the Sermon on the Mount, vast exposure of the human heart, I can't help but see Jesus raising this incident, at least implicitly, in the Sermon on the Mount itself. I believe he has David and Bathsheba on his mind when he's talking to the Pharisees. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. How many adulteries have been committed in the hearts of members of the Escondido URC tonight? Probing question, isn't it? In light of that, Jesus says in breaking the seventh commandment, We see here that David's problem began long before he made the call for Bathsheba to come. That's so much to learn, isn't it? About sin. About the heart. It really is what we learned in James last time with Cain working its way out to murder. Isn't it interesting in both of these scenarios when you study the path, both of these scenarios work their way out to murder? That's not a coincidence. I mean, James knew what he was talking about when he said each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by his own desire. This is what Owen's working from. His own desire. Then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's fully grown, brings forth death. You just read a passage about sin becoming fully grown and leading to death. God stopped it before it ruined David in death. Perseverance of the saints, by the way. I was amazed when Dobson years ago interviewed Bundy, the serial killer, and he confessed that his path to getting there was pornography. I was floored. His path to getting there was pornography. A serial killer. And this issue is brought to the forefront in the passage. David entertained a lustful look and soon he found himself going at all costs to satisfy that lust and nothing was going to stop him. Nothing was going to stop him. Everything else began to happen. I mean, it's just a tragic event. You see all the hypocrisy that went on in this passage? Did you feel it? Did you hear it when we read it? David, she was, Joab used Uriah in the whole thing to do what was wrong on his end. He used Uriah, just say it's going to be Uriah. David thrusts him out on the battlefield and even though Joab had not obeyed what David would want because Uriah was put out there and killed David, oh, it just happens, it's okay. Uriah dies. And the noble character of Uriah just shines in this thing, doesn't it? I mean, this is King David. After a period of mourning, he takes Bathsheba for his wife. And I've often wondered, how long did he go on in that sin without confessing it? My baby came out of it. How long? How long did he go up to worship? How long did he say his prayers? How long did he sing the psalms? How long? A simple, lustful look. Entertained in the mind. Started the path of adultery. Unchecked, look where it'll take you. Before us, all sorts of things. Now we transfer this to our society and where we live and we're raising children and all of this. It's just remarkable, isn't it? The terrible things on television. We prop this up in our living room. It's got to be some kind of idolatry when every point of your furniture is pointed toward that thing, right? We prop it up in our living room. We bring it in. Satan works overtime to bring it in. And think of the power of the lust of the eye. You see the power of sin? You see what Scripture says, the deceitfulness of sin? What does this say about the depravity of the human heart when God has given to man a wife to enjoy or a woman a husband to enjoy and they would rather fill their mind with things that aren't real or take something that is not theirs. They would rather disconnect from what is real and beautiful and God-given in God's sight and carry themselves into fantasy land which isn't even real. It's a lie. But it's powerful. It's estimated that 30-60% of all married individuals in the United States will engage in infidelity at some point in their marriage. And these numbers are probably, as this I'm quoting here, on the conservative side, if you consider that close to half of all marriages end in divorce, people are most likely to stray as relationships fall apart. What would the statistics be if in this survey, not only the literal act of adultery, but the act of lusting were captured and could be captured, what would the statistics be? 100%. 100. How many of us are adulterers tonight? How many? And if you haven't done the real act, doesn't James come along and say adulterers and adulteresses? Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred to God? i'm hoping you see how utterly destructive it is and and paul made this point when he said in corinthians and dealing with the great problem of sexual immorality that in dealing with this problem as the corinthians were so immersed in a culture that had accepted it and tolerated that paul said listen the way he dealt with it was fascinating the way he motivated and pulled them out of it was fascinating to me it always has been fascinating to me when he said not all things are lawful but not all things are helpful and i will not be brought under the power of any think of david under the power and then he goes on to say your bodies are his there are many things we in the body can do that bring us under the power of something else now now think of the the canons tonight which talked about the body of sin that's still present it's mastery its dominion is shattered but in the body of sin is still present and paul tells us how to deal with the body of sin the sinful nature i think the first thing to realize in the arena of this sin and out of the heart that proceeds all of these things is to realize that the particular sins that belong to sexual immorality in the seventh commandment that it's addressing are far more destructive and have far greater reaching consequences in our lives than we have thought a lot about. And that's important. The way that Paul motivated new life behavior in this regard was to remind Christians that their bodies were Christ's. That's how he did it. They've been joined to him. You're temples of the Holy Spirit. You remember what he said in 1 Corinthians 6.15, shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not. What Paul is saying is sexual immorality has the particular perverse consequence of forming another union. In other words, think of it this way. When I choose sexual sin and now as someone who is in Jesus Christ, been made a member of Christ, what I'm doing, and if we learn to think this way, I believe it will really help us. What I'm doing is, think about it. If I learn to think this way, how would it prompt me to be all the more on guard every time I see something or I'm tempted with something to think, oh, I'm in Christ. I've been joined to Him. My body is His. My whole person. And therefore, when I commit adultery, when I commit sexual morality, when I commit all these things, it's as inappropriate as if Jesus were doing it. do you feel that do you feel the punch of that you're joined to him it's as inappropriate as if jesus were doing it which is a terrible thought why would i introduce that into my life when when i'm one with him who am i bringing into that union that's not mine my body is christ and and and that's the restraint that paul gave here when i'm joined to christ whatever i'm doing i'm bringing into that union and he says or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her for as is written the two will become one flesh but he was joined to the lord becomes one spirit with him so in other words you're sinning against the body of christ and that's what he he's really wanting us to think about in these particular sins in marriage god sanctions something that's beautiful between a man and a woman they become one flesh designed to represent the union of Christ with his bride, the church, and to reflect our union with him. So think about how awful it is then to join something into that union outside of the union between the man and the woman that God has formed together. What God has formed together, let not man separate. And now think of how awful it is to join another party outside of that union between you and Jesus. if every time I thought when I'm tempted, Christ loved me. He died for me. He gave His life for me. He promises to raise my body. Every time I'm tempted to give my body to satisfaction other than Him, I'm taking what belongs to Him. What He purchased. What He bought with His precious blood. What He's joined to Him. And I'm joining it with something contrary to his body or the wife or the husband that he's given. There's so much more to this than just sexual fulfillment, isn't there? There's nothing casual about sex outside of God's design. Nothing. What a power to an incentive to stop. Heidelberg picks this up. Did you catch that tonight? that God forbids not only, does the seventh commandment forbid not only such scandalous sins as adultery? And the answer is, listen to this, we are temples of the Holy Spirit. It's working from 1 Corinthians. Spirit, body, and soul. The Holy Spirit, body and soul, excuse me. Body and soul. And God wants both to be kept clean and holy. That is why He forbids everything which incites unchastity, whether it be actions, looks, talks, thoughts, or desires. Now, I want to make sure I close with hope here as the great adulterer in Scripture had hope. How do men, how do women? It's wrong to think that women don't struggle with these things. How do you get out? You've looked at the problem, you've looked at the consequences, you've looked at what you're doing. How do we respond to what is a very real problem for all of us? Well, Paul says flee it. Run the other way as fast as you can. When we look at what happened here with David, you see what that fleeing looks like. What had happened with David? Here's where perseverance of the saints is woven together tonight. God didn't have to do this. But God loved David. And what did God do? God sent Nathan. And Nathan told the parable. And Nathan confronted David's sin. And after Nathan brings the charge from the Lord, notice he rehearses all that the Lord had done for David. Oh, I've anointed you as king over Israel. I've delivered you from the hand of Saul. Think about Saul. And David's probably thinking, I'm no better. You're not. I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your keeping and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I would have given you much more. You've killed Uriah the Hittite by the sword. You've taken his wife to be your wife. You've killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. I've done this. I've given this. David says to Nathan, not much. I've sinned against the Lord. It's such a powerful moment. I've sinned. I agree. I've sinned. Have mercy on me, O God. Psalm 51 comes out of this. According to Your loving kindness, according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Against you and you only have I done this evil in your sight. I've sinned against the Lord. Nathan, God has put away your sin. You will not die. Wow. Wow. Where did He put it? Nailed it to the cross for Him. You see, when there is genuine sorrow in your hearts over sin, A zealous desire for God's forgiving mercy. He's always told you in Scripture to the broken and contrite, He'll never forbid you. He'll never cast you out. David would suffer earthly consequences, sure. These have earthly consequences. You don't ever escape those in this life. You may not. But when there's true repentance and faith, and the blood of Christ washes us and removes our sin, From the sight of God. Isn't that amazing that God even delights to pardon and cleanse us and cleanse adulterers and adulteresses, which is what we all are. Because there was one who knew no sin who became sin for us. That we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Maybe tonight there are men and women here who are really struggling with guilt and facing that first things first. Confess it. Confess your sins to the Lord. The door's always open. If He told you to go forgive somebody seven times seven, that means it's because He's doing it for you 70 times seven. It's indefinite. Keep coming. But I can't help to think that one of the greatest passages to cling to comes out of the book of Colossians. And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. I know of no better way to help the struggling young person. I know of no better way to help the struggling old person. I've seen it in the ministry. It doesn't matter the age. I've seen men in the convalescent home with the same problem. And hear what he just said to you. God made you alive. God has forgiven all of your trespasses. He's canceled the record of debt. It's already done. But when did he do it? He nailed it to the cross. He nailed it to the cross. It's done. And he says, believe him. That's the first path forward. Confess it. Believe His Gospel promises. And then ask Him. Ask Him for deliverance. I had someone say to me the other day, I thought it was so beautiful, Pastor, for a long time I was stuck in a particular sin. And every time I did it, I would cry. Every time I did it, I would cry. And I did not stop asking the Lord to take that desire away. and i can testify he did it for me i no longer do that he blessed me by killing that desire that i would no longer sin against him and is that not his will for your life i believe he'll do that for you too those who have been redeemed by christ let us do all that we can to live decent and chaste lives serving only christ seeking his kingdom as we heard this morning carefully guarding our hearts and eyes to the glory of god seeking forgiveness from him by grace and doing his will and in doing that we will in thankfulness honor his intention for the seventh commandment let's thank him together tonight heavenly father we come to you realizing how damaging and destructive this sin has been in all of our lives we don't hide it together tonight we confess it we are adulterers and adulterers adulterous sins sexual morality has often filled our hearts we have acted on the lusts and the temptations and had you not stopped us it would all have ended in death and looking at the world and knowing that for many it will we know that you have called us to a new and a living way forgive us lord for our sins we have sinned against the Lord put away our sin don't bring that shame that we deserve out upon to for everyone to see cover us and thank you that that shame fell on Christ on the cross when he was stripped in our and stripped naked exposing ultimately the sins of our own lives and that all the justice and wrath was meted out there, all of our sins nailed to the cross, that we have been forgiven. Help us now then to view our bodies as belonging to Christ. And let us live thankfully. Thank You, Lord, for the grace that You've shown to us today by Your marvelous and wondrous Word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.