The Attitude Behind Adultery, Part 2

Father God, we thank you for tonight and the opportunity to

be together. Thank you Lord for for today.

Lord, you are a great God and you have given us the stay to

live and our prayer would be that you would have been

glorified in our lives. We think of where we are today

and our walk with you and pray that the things that we learned

tonight will enable us to live even closer to you in days and

weeks and months ahead. We realize, Lord, that life is

but a vapor. We don't last forever on this

planet. We want to live for the glory of

our Lord. So we just pray that the things

that we learned this evening would stick with us and that our

hearts should be challenged and changed.

That Lord, you'd use us and our families to be a testimony for

Your glory and that you use in the workplace to stand and

represent You and our schools, our neighborhood, no matter

where we're at. Father, we would stand strong on

the truth of your word. And those who come in contact

with us would know that Jesus Christ reigned supreme in our

heart and life. That's our prayer.

Father, in Jesus name, Amen. Take your Bible and turn with

me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 5. You know, when I think about

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

this sermon and I read it over and over again, I'm taken back

by the fact that that we have the record of, of a sermon that

Jesus preached. I know the whole Scripture is

God inspired and God breathed. I understand that.

And it's not that the, if you have a red letter edition, that

the red letters are more inspired than the black letters.

That's not the case. It's all inspired by by the

Lord, but but to be able to see how he says what he says.

So you are paralyzed or you are blind or you are lame or you are

deaf or dumb and and you need healing.

So you go to to this, this Carpenter, this Messiah like

person, this individual who is sweeping all of Judea, all of

Galilee, He's surrounded the capitalist, he's in Jerusalem,

he's everywhere and you want to be healed.

So you go to him and you are and you are in a Matthew chapter 4

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

tells us that that a large crowd was following him and it talks

about those regions that I just mentioned.

They're in the thousands, not the hundreds.

And they, they are all overwhelmed by what Christ has

done. And yet Christ knows that at the

heart of everything is, is their hearts that are not right with

him. And so he's concerned about

their spirituality, not their physicality.

Although He's compassionate, kind, merciful, loving, and he

heals them all, He's more concerned about their heart.

That's his burden. And so while they're all there

and they're all excited about being healed and they're all

excited about being able to walk and run and see and hear and and

everything is is better, life's good.

He sits down and says, I want to tell you about real blessing,

real joy, real contentment. Do you think life is good now?

Wait till your heart is right. So He begins to talk to them

about blessing. He offers them satisfaction, He

offers them joy, He offers them contentment and goes through the

Beatitudes in the 1st 12 verses of Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

That's how He begins his sermon. He begins it with blessing.

And yet it's unlike anything they had ever heard or or seen

before. This is different and Christ

knows it's different for them. So he lets them know that the

people who live this way, that they become salt in the world

that's decaying, they become light in the world that's dark.

And then he says, do not think, do not imagine, don't even

wonder whether or not I've come to fulfill the law of the

prophets. I have, I've not come to abolish

anything. I've, I've come to fulfill

everything that Moses said, everything the prophet said,

because I know that in the back of your mind you're thinking,

what is he saying? Because what are you saying?

We have not heard before because the, the tradition of Judaism

has reigned supreme over the truth of the gospel.

And so he says, I did not come to abolish what Moses said or

what the prophet said. No, I came to fulfill it, so

much so that you need to know that if, if your righteousness

does not exceed those of your religious leaders, you'll never

be a child of the king, which had to take them back in such a

way that they were flabbergasted.

What do you mean? Our righteousness exceed that of

the scribes and Pharisees? They are holy men of God, but he

says that their their righteousness was one that was

was achieved humanly. But my righteousness is one

that's that's accomplished divinely.

It can only happen through me. And so while their righteousness

is a bunch of about a bunch of do's and don'ts, my

righteousness is that inward righteousness.

It affects the heart. He knows that, so he begins with

these six different illustrations to drive home the

point that what is happening on the outside is not necessarily

what's true on the inside, because he's all concerned about

the heart. Man looks on the outward

appearance, but God looks upon the heart.

Solomon would say is a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

He would go on to say guard your heart, because out of your heart

flow all the issues of life. Everything about life comes from

the inside. So guard your heart, protect

your heart. So the Lord begins to attack the

tradition that they've been taught, and he begins with the

whole illustration of murder. Now you've heard that it was

said you shall not murder. They were like, yeah, who does

that? Not us, but I say unto you,

those great but ologies of Scripture, no one says it better

than Christ. But I say unto you, let me give

you the real understanding of the law of God.

You've been taught this to your tradition, but this is what the

law of God really is all about. That if you have silent anger in

your heart, if you have have a a spoken anger that proceeds from

your heart, if you have a slanderous anger, hell is your

destiny because you're a murderer on the inside.

And then it comes to the illustration about adultery.

You've heard that it was said you should not commit adultery.

And they were like, of course not, we understand that we're

not sleeping with somebody else's wife.

We're not going to do that. Because you see, everything was

about the externals for the religious establishment.

As long as they didn't sleep with somebody else or murder

somebody else, they were righteous, they were good, they

had a good standing with God. But the Lord says it's not that

way. In fact, let me read to you what

He says. You've heard that it was said

you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that everyone

who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed

adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you

stumble, tear it out. Fill it from you, for it's

better for you to lose 1 of the parts of your body than for your

whole body to be thrown into hell.

If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it

from you, for it's better for you to lose 1 of the parts of

your body, then for your whole body to go into hell.

I mean, if you're on the northern slopes of the Sea of

Galilee and you're hearing these things, it's contrary to what

they've been taught. So our outline is the same as it

was for murder and will be throughout the next 4

illustrations that there is a rabbinical tradition you need to

understand and then you need to understand the biblical teaching

and then we'll get to the personal transformation.

But that won't be till next Wednesday night this week.

It's just a rabbinical teaching and the OR the rabbinical

tradition and the biblical teaching.

Christ is quoting the 7th commandment, and they would know

it well because they wanted to abide by the law of Moses.

And yet the rabbinical tradition was always focused on the deed

and they would forget or forgo the desire.

And so Christ wants to hit them in their hearts.

He wants them to understand the reality of their sin, the

depravity of their lives, the iniquity that reigns supreme,

that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked so they would

not be deceived about the true condition of the inner man.

You've heard that it was said you should not commit adultery.

Why? Because adultery is punishable

by murder. Read the book of Leviticus.

Read the book of Deuteronomy, You commit adultery, you, you

deserve death. And they didn't want to die, so

they wouldn't commit the external act of adultery.

It would be wrong to do that. And so they made sure that

didn't happen. In fact, turn over to John

John 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8. You know the story.

It's about the story of the woman caught in adultery.

Very interesting about the story.

Is that the man that she was in bed with was not brought before

Jesus. In other words, it was a setup.

They brought the woman, but not the man.

It says in verse #1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives

early in the morning. He he came again to the temple

and all the people were coming to him, and he sat down and

began to teach them. Scribes and the Pharisees

brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in

the center of the court, they said to him, Teacher, this woman

has been caught in adultery. In the very act now in the law

of Moses commanded us to stone such a woman.

What then do you say here is Jesus teaching, and what he is

teaching we do not know. But to the Pharisees and the

scribes, they could care less what he was teaching.

They had a point to make. We are followers of the law of

Moses. Are you trying to discredit the

authority of the Messiah? So they bring this woman who was

caught in the act of adultery, she's in bed with this guy and

they RIP her out of bed and bring her to the presence of of

Christ. But not the man, just the woman.

They were saying this testing him.

It says in verse 6 said they might have grounds for accusing

him, but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the

ground. Now interesting he doesn't tell

us what he writes, but he didn't say anything doesn't respond to

them. He just begins to write on the

ground. But when they persisted and

asking him, he straightened up and said to them, He who is

without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at

her. Again he stooped down and wrote

on the ground. Somewhat tend to believe that

what he was writing was the the private sins of those who

accused her. And maybe he was writing those

in the ground associated with their names because he would

know their names. He who is without sin.

In other words, you maybe not have committed adultery, but in

your heart you've lusted after this woman or or that woman who

knows what he wrote. But read on.

It says when they heard it, they they began to go out one by one,

beginning with the older ones. And he was left alone.

And the woman where she was in the center of the court, one by

one, they all begin to walk away.

Why were they convicted? Were they confronted do they see

in the writings of Christ on the ground their name with their

sin, but they began to walk away 1 by 1 and it says straighten

up. Jesus said to her, woman, where

are they didn't no one condemn you?

She said no one Lord and Jesus said I do not commit condemn you

either. Go from now on sin no more.

She was a forgiven person. She had received the forgiveness

and the to prove that she would go and no longer commit the sin

of adultery. She would live a a pure and holy

life. But you see, the the tradition

of the of the rabbis was so thick and so strong, it was all

centered around the externals. See, Christ was interested in

the source of sin, not necessarily the showing of sin,

because the source is what matters.

And the whole new covenant promise was about giving you a

new heart, a new spirit, so you could be able to keep my

statutes. Just because you methodically

keep the 10 commandments doesn't mean you're going to go to

heaven. Anybody could do that.

They could control the external acts talked about this last

week. They can make sure they didn't

kill anybody and they can make sure they didn't commit adultery

with anybody. But they could not control the

internal aspect. They could not control the anger

in their hearts. They could not control the

lustful attitudes in their hearts.

They needed a clean heart. They needed a new heart, but

that wasn't what they were interested in.

And so when you look at the rabbinical tradition, he talks

about adultery and several times throughout the Scripture it

speaks about that. In fact, he was 13.

Verse #4 says that the marriage bed is undefiled, but

fornicators, the adulterers, God will judge and He will.

In the Ephesians 5 and in Galatians 5 and the 1st

Corinthians 6 and Revelation chapter 22, it speaks about

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

adulterers not entering the Kingdom of heaven, but those are

the ones who persist in their adulterous lifestyle.

Adultery is is when a married man commits sexual sin with a

married woman or vice versa, or one who was married commit

sexual sin with someone other than their partner.

But Christ broadens that when he says a woman and everyone.

So he's going beyond the marriage bound to speak about

any woman and everyone involved. So specifically, he's talking

about adultery, but generally he's talking about purity and

holiness and the, the, the kind of lifestyle that abstains from

any kind of sexual immorality. That's the that's the emphasis.

He wants to understand that, that you've been taught a

rabbinical tradition about adultery, but it goes way beyond

that to a pure and holy lifestyle.

But they would, they would forget about the desire.

They shouldn't listen to Job. Job chapter 31 Job was a

Job 31 · chapter mention

contemporary of Abraham. Job lived before the 10

Commandments. Job was a blameless and upright

man. Job walked with God and listen

to what Job says. Job 31 verse #9 If my heart has

been enticed by a woman, or I have lurked at my neighbor's

doorway, may my wife grind for another and let others kneel

down over her, for that would be a lustful crying.

Moreover, it would be an iniquity punishable by judges.

So here is Job, living before the 10 Commandments, living

before the law is ever given, knowing that the heart is the

center of sinful behavior. Job knows this.

Job knows that the inner man needs to be cleansed.

Job knows that that lustful desire and passion for another

woman is punishable by judgment. How does he know that?

Simply because God is always concerned about the heart of a

man. That's always His concern.

So in Mark 7, Christ says that which proceeds out of the man,

that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the

heart of a men, men proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts,

murders and adulteries. Some of the Pharisees missed

that or they didn't want to have anything to do with that.

They wanted to to squelch what was happening in their hearts

and minds and just focus on the external acts because that they

can control that. And I think you control that

they they earned great standing with God and great standing in

the community with people. But the Lord was always

concerned about the heart. So you move from the rabbinical

tradition to the biblical teaching.

And Christ says these words very simply, He says, But I say to

you that everyone who looks at a woman, anyone matter who you

are, at any woman at all, with lust for her, has already

committed adultery with her in his heart.

The word for looks is a not not a casual glance.

It's not an inadvertent glance. It's a it's a longing for, it's

an intense glare. It's a continual stare.

It's not an involuntary glance. It is a purposeful fixation, a

repeated gazing. He looks at a woman and lusts

for her. That's the purpose of his

looking, to fulfill the desires of his his lustful heart.

His lustful heart causes him to to look upon her.

Note that the looking at the woman lustfully does not cause

him to commit adultery in the thoughts.

He already has committed adultery in his heart.

The lustful looking doesn't cause the sin in the heart, but

the sin in the heart causes the lustful looking.

The lustful looking is but an expression of a heart that has

already immoral and adulterous. He says it's in the heart.

It's the heart that's that's that's moving you this way.

This sounds. James says that we read this

last week. I think this is so important,

James is it this way each one verse 14 is tempted.

Now temptation's not the sin. Temptation's not sin.

Christ was tempted yet without sin, right?

Temptation is not sin because you can not succumb to

temptation. But he says this.

But each one is tempted when he is carried away, not if he is

carried away, but when he is carried away and enticed by his

own lusts. The word entices.

A is a word that means to to catch with bait.

It's a fishing term where you want to go fishing and so you,

you put the best bait on, on the hook possible to draw out all

those fish to come after you. Very deceiving, right?

And each man, each man, when he's carried away and enticed by

his own lusts, his own desires, OK, he's deceived by the bait

that is there. Then one then, when lust has

conceded, gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it

gives or brings forth death, death, a death like existent.

The way to sin is death. And James makes it very clear.

So, So how can we best illustrate this for you?

How can we help you understand how this happens?

I'm going to give you an illustration that I've given to

you before, but I want to give it to you again because you need

to understand this downward spiral that takes place in

someone's life, in someone's heart.

How does all this take place? How does no, nobody just wakes

up on on Monday and says I'm having an affair today.

I'm sleeping with my neighbor's wife today.

No one just wakes up and does that.

What? What is it that moves people to

that? What moves people to sexual sin?

What moves a man or woman to have an adulterous affair?

What is it that moves them inwardly that that would cause

them to go that direction? Well, turn back with me, if you

would, to a very familiar story. You know it well to Second

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

Samuel, Chapter 11, the story of David and Bathsheba.

David is 50 years old. David has been king for 20

years. The nation's going great.

Everything is well. Israel is a powerhouse.

David is a warrior and he is able to organize the nation,

lead the nation, and the nation is at the best place it's ever

been. By the time you come to Second

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

Samuel Chapter 11. And I want you to notice

something that David the king survived every assault by Saul.

David survived every assault by Saul, but David succumbed to the

attacks on his soul. He was able to survive every

assault by salt, but he succumbed to the attack on his

soul. How does this great king of

Israel, this man after God's own heart, end up sleeping with

Bathsheba? At this point he has seven

wives. He has a myriad of concubines.

We know of seven because the Bible tells us that.

But Second Samuel 5 verse #13 tells us that he had other wives

and more concubines while in Jerusalem.

So he probably had more than just seven wives.

But then the Bible gives us 7UP to this point.

Bathsheba then becomes #8 she becomes the last in the list of

those that are named. OK, so, so how does he get here?

What happens? Well, Proverbs 1315 says that

the way of the transgressor is hard.

You need to remember that the way of the transgressor is hard.

It's difficult, it's painful. The Bible says in Hebrews 11/25

that sin is pleasurable, but only for a season.

Not forever, only for a while, but not very long, only for a

season. In Second Samuel 11, we have a

king who gets enveloped in this downward spiral that seems to

race faster and faster and faster.

And the question comes, how does this happen?

So I'm going to give you 15 words that will show you the

downward spiral of his life. First word is carelessness.

Carelessness. For David, this is where it

begins. His moral failure didn't just

happen on the balcony of his palace by looking at Bathsheba.

No, he had already violated God's standards by accumulating

many wives. Let me read to you the standard.

Deuteronomy chapter 17 says this verse 14.

Deuteronomy 17 · chapter mention

When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and

you possess it and live in it, and you say, I will set a king

over me, like all the nations around me, you shall surely set

a king over you. Whom the Lord your God chooses

one from among your countrymen, you shall set as king over

yourselves. You may not put a foreigner over

yourselves who is not your countrymen.

Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he

cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses.

Since the Lord has said to you, you shall never return again

that way. Verse 17 of Deuteronomy 17 He

shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will

turn away, nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for

himself. God says when I choose the king

for you, remember they chose Saul, the Lord.

God chose David. When I choose the king for you,

he should not multiply horses. He should not encourage you to

return to Egypt to multiply horses, and he shall not

multiply wise. If he does, they will turn his

heart away from me. David was very careless with

that. You see, when you become

careless in any aspect of God's Word, you have begun a process

that's very dangerous in your life.

It says this in verse 18 of Deuteronomy 17.

Now should come about when he sits on the throne of his

Kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a

scroll in the presence of the Levitical priest.

It shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of

his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by

carefully observing all the words of this law and these

statutes. That his heart may not, cannot

be lifted up above his countrymen, and that he may not

turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left,

said he, and his sons may continue long in his Kingdom in

the midst of Israel. His job as king is to write in

the presence of the Levitical priesthood, the law of God, so

that he will observe that law all the days of his life.

In other words, what the word of God says, you must obey, you

must keep it. You're the king, you set the

example, you're the one who is the prime leader of your of your

Kingdom. If you can't set the example,

whose, what example will they have to follow?

This is your job as a king. The question is, was David doing

that? Was he writing the law in front

of the Levitical priests? Well, evidently he wasn't

because he was multiplying for himself wives.

So he became very careless in the commands of God.

When you become careless with any of God's command, it will

allow you to become careless in other commands that God gives.

It's a downward spiral and this is where it begins with David.

Discipline is so important in the Christian life.

Discipline will always lead to delight.

A lack of discipline will always lead to disaster, IE Second

Samuel 11. David, so important, so

carelessness, will always lead to #2 idleness.

Listen to what the text says. Then it happened in the spring,

at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and

his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the

sons of Ammon and besieged the Rabah.

But again, another but ology in Scripture.

But David stayed at Jerusalem. Idleness.

David is a warrior. That's what he's known for.

But David didn't go to war. He decided to stay home and

remain idle, not fulfilling his duty nor his responsibility.

Duty and it's fulfillment will protect you from delinquency,

but if you're not responsible and you become idle, then the

problem is you lack discipline. And discipline always leads to

disaster or lack thereof. So here he is.

When kings go out to war, where is the king?

He's in Jerusalem, he should be going to war, leading his men to

war, but he's not. You see, when you're careless in

anyone aspect of God's law, it'll affect everything else you

do. And the sad thing about it is,

is that we don't even recognize it.

So carelessness led to idleness, and idleness led to laziness.

Look what it says now. When evening came, David arose

from his bed. Stop right there.

What's David doing in bed in the evening time?

Why is he not out of bed? Why is he napping in the late

part of the day? Unless, of course, you're lazy,

and David was lazy. When you're idle and you have

nothing to do, what do you do? You get really sleepy, Lay down

in your bed, take a nap, relax, put your feet up.

And carelessness led to idleness, and idleness led to

laziness. He's in bed, but he awakes.

He gets up, says and walked around on the roof of the King's

house. Laziness always leads to

mindlessness. What's he doing walking around

the King's house? What's he thinking about?

What's he's doing? He, he hasn't fulfilled his

responsibility. He's not doing his normal duties

as king. No, he stayed back and was very

idle. That idoless led to laziness.

That laziness caused him just to get up and walk around the

house. He couldn't turn on Netflix.

He couldn't turn on Prime Video. He, he couldn't peruse the

Internet to think of something to buy off of Amazon.

He couldn't do. He just walked around the house.

He could have began to or began to write the law of God, as

Deuteronomy 17 said. He could have sat down and began

to read the law of God to keep his mind active.

But no, he became mindless because he was lazy, because he

was idle. This is the the downward spiral

of someone who's about to live a life of complete and total

disaster. You know the Bible says need to

be watchful and prayerful, right?

Christ says in the garden to his men, watch and pray lest you

enter into temptation. Did they watch and pray?

Nope. What do they do?

You got lazy and went to sleep. They weren't watchful.

They weren't prayerful. Colossians 42, Paul says be

devoted to prayer while always having this attitude of

alertness, watchfulness, very important.

David could have got up from his bed and dropped to his knees and

began to pray, be alert, but he wasn't.

And so he goes, some carelessness, which was a habit

pattern of his life because he collected many, many wives over

a long period of time. That carelessness led to

idleness, and idleness led to laziness, and laziness led to

mindlessness, and mindlessness led to feeble mindedness.

In other words, he impaired his intellect.

And it says Now when the evening came, David arose from his bed

and walked around on the roof of the King's house, and from the

roof he saw a woman bathing. Feeble mindedness.

His intellect was not sharp because he had been asleep.

His intellect was not sharp because he was not watchful and

prayerful, right. We saw a woman.

And if you've been to Israel with me and you've been in the

King's, the King's palace, you know how very easily this could

happen because at the top of Mount Zion is the King's palace.

And he would oversee the the city of Jerusalem.

And he would be able to look down and see the different

rooftops of all the different homes.

And a lot of commentators want to blame Bathsheba here.

I'm not. Unless quite sure you can do

that. I mean, they do, but I'm not so

sure you can. Why?

Because everybody's gone. They're all gone to war.

No one's home except the women. So what difference does it make

for? I bathe, right?

It's like you go into your your bathroom and turn in your shower

and shut the door. It wasn't like that.

See, so I'm, I'm not too quick to blame Bathsheba here, but I'm

quick to blame David for his feeble mindedness.

He just wasn't intellectually astute at all.

Because, you see, each man is, is is tempted when he is drawn

away and enticed by his own lusts, See, And because he

wasn't watchful, nor was he prayerful, then he could not

overcome the longing and the temptation in his heart.

This was the time to flee youthful lusts.

Second Timothy 222 But he didn't.

Why? Because you see, if you're

careless in one avenue of Scripture, you'll be careless in

other avenues of Scripture, correct?

And so because he wasn't astute to write the law of God and to

and to meditate on the law of God and to follow the law of God

every single day as was prescribed for the king, he

wasn't scripturally and biblically astute.

And so because he was careless in multiplying wives, then he

become careless with the situation with Bathsheba.

See, things are going for well for David.

Things are going great in the Kingdom.

People are happy, the nation's successful, the nation's

growing, everything's good. Even though David has been very

careless in obeying the laws of God, God blesses more so in

spite of us than because of us, because God is graceful.

But David dishonored his God by not being obedient to the word

of God. That feeble mindedness led to

his lustfulness. It says he saw a woman bathing

and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.

He had to look long and hard to determine a beauty.

That lustfulness came because of his feeble mindedness, which

became because of his mindlessness, which developed

because of his laziness, which came from his idleness, which

came from his carelessness. It was a downward spiral of sin

that would ensnare him, entrap him, and at any moment he could

have been watchful into prayer. At any moment he could have fled

youthful lusts. At any moment he could flee

immorality. He could be a modern day Joseph

at any moment. But he wasn't.

The Bible says in Psalm 11937 Turn away my eyes from looking

at vanity. The Bible says in Hebrews 12/2

look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

Isaiah 13, Excuse me? Isaiah 3315 says He who walks

righteously shuts his eyes from seeing evil.

He who walks righteously shuts his eyes from seeing evil.

David wasn't walking righteously.

Why? Because he was careless when it

came to obedience to the Word of God.

And therefore when it came to fulfill his responsibility as

king, he stayed home, became idle.

The idleness led to his laziness.

That laziness led to his mindlessness, which led to his

feeble mindedness, which led to his lustfulness, which led to

his foolishness. Look what the text says.

So David sent and inquired about the woman.

That's just plain foolishness. Dude, you're married.

You married 7 times over, you got concubines.

What more could you possibly want?

But to him, to him who wants more than enough is never

enough. And here is David since, since,

since and inquires about her. And one said, is this not

Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah?

Well, that should that should be obvious to say, oh, OK, great,

we're done. But you see when, when you're

when you're careless with the law of God, when you're careless

with the word of God and you say, you know what, I'm just not

going to do that. I'm not going to spend my time

doing this or do it. Next thing you know, it's so

easy to say, you know what, I'm not going to do that either.

You know what? And that command, you know what,

I'm not doing that one either. And you know what, I've gotten

away with it. The kingdom's flourishing.

This is great. It's OK.

And we think that the consequences will will not

happen to us because our Lord is long-suffering and patient.

And Jeremiah 414 says how long will your vain thoughts remain

within you? Empty thoughts.

Here is David, he inquired about the woman they said she's

married the wife of Uriah. Foolishness on David's part to

think that it should not end. And so the text says, David sent

messengers and took her. Wow, wow, covetousness.

David wanted another man's wife. Exodus 20 tells us Thou shalt

not covet thy neighbors wife. But he did.

To whom little is not enough, nothing is really enough.

And therefore disobeying this command, thou shalt not commit

adultery. Well, he was careless with the

other commands. What's wrong with being careless

with this command as well? He's gotten away with not doing

what was prescribed for the king.

Why would I not get away with this?

I mean, after all, everybody's gone.

As foolishness leads to covetousness, as covetous leads

to stubbornness. It says these words.

David sent messengers and took her.

Say he took her anyway, in spite of her marriage, in spite of the

7th Commandment, in spite of anything else.

He took her anyway. That's just plain stubbornness.

And that stubbornness led to fearlessness.

Look what it says. And when she came to him, he lay

with her shamelessness, which led to lawlessness.

She came to him no shame, even though his messengers knew no

shame. And that shamelessness led to

lawlessness with sin. All sin is lawlessness.

They took her and she came into him, and he lay with her.

Well, it says he didn't fear the law of God, and so he just did

what he wanted, in spite of what God's Word had said.

But remember, when you are careless with one part or any

part of God's law, this is the downward spiral that begins to

take place in a person's life. You rationalize disobedience.

You rationalize doing what you want to do.

Your stubbornness, your covetousness, your, your, your

lustfulness. You can rationalize it all the

way, but God is watching and God knows.

So that stubbornness that led to fearlessness led to lawlessness,

led to shamelessness, because it says very simply this.

And when she had purified herself from her uncleanness,

she returned to her home. No shame, no embarrassment, no

sadness. Get up, clean yourself off.

Go home, David. Clean himself off.

Remain king. No shame.

Why? Because he was stubborn.

Why? Because he was foolish.

Why? Because he was covetous.

Why? Why?

Because the downward spile of one man who decides, you know

what? I'm not going to do that part of

the law. I'm going to multiply for myself

many wives, even though I'm not supposed to do that.

And it'll be OK because after all, it is legal.

Was it moral? But it was legal.

So he rationalized his morality because he subjected it to

legalities and thought it was OK.

Well, that shamelessness led to deceitfulness, thinking nothing

would happen, Everything is going to be OK, one night stand,

no big deal, deceitfulness. And that deceitfulness led to

the relentless pattern of sinfulness through the whole

episode with Uriah, his being murdered, David lying.

David broke every commandment which led to his brokenness.

David broke every commandment, all ten of them in these few

verses in Second Samuel Chapter 11.

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

Because in his heart he hated Uriah or he wouldn't have slept

with his wife. But he murdered him, had him

killed, He lied, he stole, he coveted, he was idolatrous

because all idolatry is covetousness.

He didn't love the Lord with all of his heart, soul, mind and

strength. Listen, he even broke the 4th

commandment, which is remember the Sabbath day and keep it

holy. The Sabbath day is about

holiness and purity and sanctity.

The reason there's a Sabbath day is so that you will be holy.

David was unholy. He broke all 10 commandments.

And so in Psalm 32 says these words verse #1 how blessed is he

whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered?

How blessed is the man whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit?

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my

groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was

heavy upon me. My vitality was drained away as

with the fever heat of summer. This was his nine months of of

Bathsheba's pregnancy before he really truly repented of his

sin. Verse 5I acknowledge my sin to

you in my iniquity. I did not hide.

I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and

you forgave the guilt of my sin. Took David a long time to get

there, but that's why he's a man for God's own heart, because he

was a repentant man. I would like to say to you that

that things were really good for for David, but the sword never

left his home. His family was in shambles.

It was a mess. He was a great king.

He was a horrible father and a horrible husband, but he was a

great king. And so we learned from this

story that it's the heart of a man that matters, right?

It's all that matters. And once our heart says, you

know what, I'm not going to do what God says.

Even though it's not that big a deal, it is a big deal because

it begins to balloon in other areas of my life.

That's why it's so important for you to understand the word of

the Lord and hold on to it and cling to it.

How should a young man keep his way pure by taking heed to the

Word of God? David did not do that by word.

I've hid my heart that I might not sin against thee.

David didn't do that either, because he was supposed to read

the Word, write the Word, and observe the law of God all the

days of his kingship. And he didn't.

It cost him. But he would soon write the

Psalms and begin to tell us about his confession and the

importance of the Word of God in his life, having come to realize

that when you're careless with it, it will cost you greatly.

The attitude behind adultery is everything.

It's all in the heart. We can say we don't do this and

we don't do that, but we do do this and we do do that.

God doesn't care. God wants a clean heart, a pure

heart, a heart after Him. And the hope is, and it's true

that Christ always provides a way of cleansing.

You're never so filthy that you cannot be cleansed by the blood

of the Lamb. Christ cleanses man from a sin,

and David's a perfect example of that.

God forgave him the guilt of a sin, not just a sin, but all

that was on the inside that he felt guilty about.

And that's the good news about this lesson.

It's a very valuable lesson for us.

We raise our children, try to provide for them.

A biblical example of purity and holiness.

So important. And next week we'll we'll talk

to you about our personal transformation.

What needs to happen in my life so I don't begin this downward

spiral that causes me to lose control and engage in sinful

behavior? What does God's word say about

that? We'll pick that up next week.

Let me pray with you, Father. Thank you, Lord, for tonight and

a chance to be with your people. Thank you, Father, for a chance

to be in Your word. Thank you for the reminder that

Your Word is true. And I pray that all of us would

realize the the necessary elements of being in the Word

everyday, memorizing, obeying, teaching, reading the Word of

God. It's we.

We've been made clean through the word which you've spoken to

us. John 15.

Lord, help us to be cleansed on the inside.

Help our hearts be right for you.

You are a forgiving God. You are a God that cleanses us

from all of our sin. May we leave here today not

thinking that we cannot be forgiven.

We can be. All we have to do is come to you

and you forgive because that's who you are and we thank you in

Jesus name, Amen.