Participants: Carlton P. Byrd
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000031
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00:01 (Theme Song) Jesus is worthy
00:10 oh yes, he's worthy worthy of all... 00:18 (Music) 00:22 PB: The Ten Commandments are a package deal. 00:27 James 2:10 says that the breaking of one 00:31 is like the breaking of all of them. 00:35 In commandment number seven, thou shalt not commit adultery, 00:40 God preserved the sanctity of marriage and the family 00:44 on planet earth where it is so threatened. 00:49 But this commandment could probably in our world today be 00:53 filed away into the endangered species category. 00:58 Because it appears that many have forgotten thou shalt not 01:04 commit adultery. 01:07 Now the word adultery comes from the word adulter, which 01:10 means to contaminate. 01:12 And so the word itself suggests that this act of 01:16 behavior leads us into the contamination of that which 01:20 God holds and has preserved as sacred. 01:23 Amazingly, this commandment, if you think about it, this 01:29 commandment, commandment number seven, thou shalt not 01:31 commit adultery, is right before thou shalt not steal 01:36 and thou shalt not bear false witness or lie. 01:40 Which then may mean that the very mentioning of it, the 01:44 practicing of it, adultery that is, is to steal the 01:48 property of another and then lie to cover it up. 01:54 Three things I want to say tonight about this adultery. 01:59 Number one, let's look at the consequences of adultery. 02:05 The first consequence of adultery is simply this, 02:08 adultery defies God. 02:12 Let me say that again. 02:14 Adultery defies whom, everybody? 02:17 Adultery defies God. 02:18 So often when we speak of adultery, we speak of it in 02:22 horizontal terms, that we're just dealing with 02:26 our fellow man. 02:27 But with adultery there's a vertical beam connected to it. 02:32 You do remember in Genesis, Chapter 39, that there was 02:36 this handsome, young man by the name of Joseph, who was 02:41 given custodianship over the affairs of Potiphar, Potiphar 02:45 who works in the government of Egypt right next to Pharaoh, 02:49 has said to Joseph that, you have all free land to 02:54 everything I own. 02:55 Everything I have in the kingdom, you have 02:58 access to it. 02:59 But Potiphar's wife, Sister Potiphar, 03:02 took that to be quite literal. 03:05 She came on to young, handsome Joseph. 03:09 He backed up from her really, really quick. 03:12 So quick that he left his coat behind him when he 03:16 was running from her. 03:18 But notice, Joseph did not say to Sister Potiphar, I cannot 03:24 do this evil in the sight of my master, Potiphar. 03:27 Nor did Joseph violate the right of Potiphar's wife. 03:32 He said, however, how can I do this evil and wicked thing 03:36 in the sight of God. 03:39 The confession of David after he had sinned against Uriah, 03:43 had taken Bathsheba to be his property and plotted the 03:46 murderous plan for her husband, in Psalm 51 David 03:49 lifts up his voice and David begins to earnestly prayer in 03:52 a confessional by saying that his sins are ever before him 03:58 and he needs the cleansing power of God to come 04:01 in his life. 04:03 So the first consequence that we all need to take into 04:07 consideration on this subject, an act of adultery, is that 04:10 adultery defies God. 04:14 Number two, adultery destroys families. 04:18 Families are destroyed by adultery. 04:24 I've read where children have never quite recovered from the 04:27 divorce caused by adultery. 04:30 In fact, I read of a young man who had lived beneath the 04:33 pains of adultery and had become rather successful in 04:37 his life, but against the pressures of life he 04:40 committed suicide. 04:42 In his committing suicide he left a note and in the note he 04:46 simply hinted that there was something lost years ago in 04:50 his life when his mother and his father had separated and 04:53 divorced caused by adultery. 04:55 The Bible teaches that God has a commitment to family and 05:00 there were times that God has such a commitment to the 05:03 family that in Deuteronomy 22:22, that God would even 05:06 kill on behalf of adultery. 05:09 Adultery defies God, adultery destroys families, but then 05:15 also adultery destroys marriages. 05:19 You see, marriage is an exclusive right that God has 05:22 given to a man and a woman. 05:25 I don't care what society says, it is an exclusive right 05:29 that God has given to a man and a woman. 05:34 That God has in it given exclusive, permanent rights. 05:39 In it God has cemented the family. 05:44 When we come into the covenant of marriage, Genesis 2:24, you 05:46 know it, the Bible talks about that a man will leave his 05:49 mother and his father and cleave to his wife, and from 05:52 the cleaving children would come and he said, this is a 05:56 permanent relationship. 05:59 But another consequence of adultery, number three. 06:03 Adultery denies love. 06:06 Love is denied in adultery. 06:11 In Romans 13:8-10 Paul rewrites the commandment, but 06:14 in it he tags along in it and says, but remember that the 06:18 fulfillment of this comes in that one commandment that we 06:21 love our neighbor as ourselves, that if one loves 06:25 his or her neighbor as himself or herself, that there are 06:28 certain lines that you will not cross. 06:32 There are certain things that will not be done. 06:36 But adultery does something else. 06:38 Number four. 06:39 Adultery derides faithfulness. 06:42 Because God has placed the covenant of marriage in a very 06:46 high place and whenever trust is lost, it becomes a 06:51 destruction, it becomes deterioration upon the family 06:55 and God says, family is real important to me. 06:59 So it derives faithfulness. 07:00 But also, number five, adultery does something else. 07:05 Adultery degrades people. 07:07 It physically degrades a person. 07:11 They're treated like property even in the name of love. 07:16 But it also, number six, another consequence 07:19 of adultery is sexually transmitted diseases. 07:23 And then, what about the emotional scarring 07:28 that comes along with it? 07:29 The heartbreak, the nervous breakdown, the anxiety, all of 07:35 the tension that comes along with it, and I'm told that 07:39 when you engage in such behavior, boy, it's hard 07:44 on you physically. 07:46 And then finally, number seven, because of completion. 07:49 There's spiritual implications associated with adultery. 07:54 The implication of it is that God has created us in his 07:57 image, that God has created us in his likeness and God wants 08:02 to preserve purity within our human body. 08:06 Now these are the consequences. 08:08 But how do we get to this? 08:10 Something had to happen in order for us to get to this. 08:12 Now, we could simply end right here and say it came to this 08:18 because of one word, sin. 08:21 And people, listen to me carefully, people 08:26 underestimate what sin is. 08:30 Problem with most Christians is we really don't understand 08:35 what sin is. 08:38 The average believer believes that sin is bad behavior. 08:43 That sin is just doing something wrong. 08:46 But sin is much more than that. 08:49 Sin is the total depravity of man, which means that the 08:54 entire being of a person is touched by sin, the way you 08:57 think, the way you act, the way you behave, the way you 09:02 look at life, sin has scarred and marred all of us. 09:06 That's why the text says, all have sinned. 09:10 Not, you all have sinned, but all have sinned and come short 09:18 of the glory of God. 09:20 And you'll never get on the right track until you have a 09:25 healthy understanding and healthy idea of what sin is. 09:30 Not only must we have a lofty and high idea of who God is, 09:34 but we also, friends of mine, we must know what sin is. 09:39 Sin happens to the best of us. 09:41 One of the causes of adultery is uncertain standards. 09:47 The certain standard and expectations have to be made 09:52 early in life. 09:53 If they have not, they need to be implemented today because 09:57 there is always, listen to me good, there's always conflict 10:01 between divine principles and contemporary thought. 10:05 God says, thou shalt not commit adultery. 10:09 Contemporary thought says that everybody's doing it, 10:13 so it must be okay. 10:15 Another cause, number two, unrestrained sexuality. 10:20 Now let's be clear. 10:22 Sex is a gift from God. 10:25 I don't know any book that talks about sex more 10:29 than the Bible. 10:30 You want to read some really steamy stuff, read the 10:35 Psalm of Solomon. 10:36 Do I have a witness in this place? 10:38 I know some people said it's talking about God and his 10:41 church and it is doing much of that, but it's really speaking 10:45 out in terms of human and physical sexual encounters. 10:47 Read it some time. 10:50 The Bible is full of sex. 10:52 So what God says is, I'm not trying 10:55 to restrict that. 10:56 I'm not trying to keep you from intimacy, but I've got to 11:01 put some limits on it because if I don't you all will 11:04 go crazy in here. 11:05 So God says, I'm going to put, you all don't hear me, ha-ha. 11:13 God says, I've got to put some boundaries on it. 11:19 But then here is another cause. 11:22 Not only unrestrained sexuality, but number three, 11:28 unfulfilled desire. 11:30 Some people go into adultery and fornication, which, by the 11:34 way, is the same thing in this commandment. 11:36 Fornication is adultery. 11:39 Some people try to say that the two are different but some 11:41 people go into adultery, fornication, whatever else, 11:44 because of their lack of fulfillment in the 11:47 human sexuality. 11:48 Others say it's not just unsatisfactory marriages, but 11:51 unlimited opportunities. 11:55 So when I get one, I just do whatever else I can do. 11:59 But then number four, another cause, the 12:02 undisciplined lifestyle. 12:05 When a lifestyle gets undisciplined, when a 12:10 lifestyle gets wild, you know, men gone wild, women gone 12:15 wild, only God knows what will happen to you. 12:21 You're at your weakest moment in life whenever you 12:26 get out of discipline. 12:28 There are some singles in here that thought they were off 12:32 the hook when we talk about adultery. 12:35 They were having a lot of sport of all of us 12:38 married folk. 12:39 So let's bring the singles up in here, too. 12:42 Come on, say Amen. 12:43 One of the things that Jesus does with this commandment is 12:48 he expands upon the definition. 12:51 Adultery, back in the day, for the most part was defined that 12:57 a married man was not to be involved with a married woman 13:02 or an unmarried woman, or a married woman was not to be 13:05 involved with a married man or an unmarried man. 13:08 That was it. 13:09 It was a violation of covenant. 13:11 It was the transgressing and trespassing of another 13:15 person's property. 13:16 It could equal up to death. 13:18 That's how severe it was. 13:19 And Jesus, my friends, knew that he would enter in this 13:23 new dispensation called grace. 13:25 Everybody say grace. 13:26 He said, I need to revise what this whole subject 13:31 of infidelity is. 13:32 And so the Bible says in Matthew, Chapter 5, verses 27 13:36 and 28, read it when you go home, Jesus expands on it. 13:39 In Matthew 5:27 Jesus says, "Ye have heard that it was 13:43 said by them of old times, ye shall not commit adultery." 13:47 Now, remember, it was Jesus who said in the first place, 13:50 "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the 13:53 prophets, I am come not to destroy but to fulfill." But 13:57 in verse 28 of Matthew 5, Jesus says, "But I say unto 14:01 you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has 14:08 already committed adultery in his own heart." Jesus here 14:14 then gets everybody. 14:16 Married folk, single folk, all kinds of folk, because there 14:22 are a lot of people who are basically good and this is not 14:26 chiding or a reduction of your morality, who would say, 14:28 Pastor Byrd, I would never ever, never ever, ever never 14:31 commit the act of adultery. 14:32 Never. But Jesus says, you may not commit 14:36 the act of adultery, but a whole lot of you all 14:39 have committed the attitude of adultery. 14:42 Look down at folk and you say, anybody that would do that is 14:47 just scorned, filthy, they just vile. 14:50 They don't deserve to live. 14:51 Jesus says, I understand all that. 14:53 I hear you. 14:54 I feel you and I fill you. 14:56 But how are you doing in your attitude? 15:02 He says, because even if you look at a woman, look at a 15:06 man, lustfully, you have already committed in your 15:09 heart what you say you haven't committed with your body. 15:13 Now let me say this, because I know some of you are asking. 15:17 Yeah, Pastor Byrd, I don't care what you say, 15:19 the attitude is not worse than the act. 15:22 But it must be equal because I hear Jesus say, 15:25 adultery is not just a physical problem, 15:29 the act is physical, but the problem is not. 15:34 You may commit the act of adultery in your body but 15:38 there's got to be something wrong beneath the skin for if 15:41 you have it in the body. 15:43 He says there is something soulless, something 15:47 attitudinal that's going on in your mind, there is something 15:50 that's beneath the skin that needs to be worked on because 15:53 there's more than just the act, it's your attitude and 15:57 there are two things that happen in the past, says 16:02 Matthew 5:27-28. 16:03 He says your mind and your eyes get you in trouble. 16:06 And so then the consecration of the mind is necessary. 16:11 No wonder the Apostle Paul would later come along and 16:14 say, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. 16:18 Don't be conformed to the pattern of this world. 16:22 In other words, this world says everything is all right 16:25 with what you've been doing, but if you transform your mind 16:28 and put the mind of Jesus in its place, you will be renewed 16:31 day by day. 16:33 The devil is after your mind. 16:36 The reason why this is so clear with our attitude is 16:39 because you know and I know, we know, your body 16:43 can be one place, but your mind be 16:46 somewhere else. 16:47 So then Jesus said, check your eyes. 16:52 Everybody going to walk through church with 16:56 their heads down. 16:57 Now, please, let's be clear. 16:59 This is not against admiration or appreciation, but Jesus is 17:04 saying that there are just some people that their eyes 17:07 keep them in trouble. 17:11 I don't have time to tell it all tonight, but if you look 17:14 at the life of Samson, here is this robust, strong, handsome 17:20 man who has the anointing of God on his life and he has 17:26 been specifically chosen for an anointed task. 17:29 This man, however, keeps failing because he keeps 17:32 looking in the wrong direction. 17:34 And although he had his eyes on what he needed, he 17:39 recklessly looked around and everybody else he looked at 17:43 always got him in trouble, specifically Delilah. 17:47 And the point that I'm making here tonight is this, there 17:51 are a whole lot of folk who will say, I've never done it, 17:54 I just thought it. 17:57 But God says, that's just as bad, because as a man thinketh 18:02 in his heart, so is he. 18:05 Because if you just keep thinking it, it's just a matter 18:09 of time before you do it. 18:11 The problem with many folk is this, it's not the act first, 18:18 but it's the attitude. 18:20 We begin to feed our behavior, feed our attitude so much 18:24 until we start looking for ways that we can execute 18:28 what's in us. 18:30 Because Jesus says, it's what goes in a man and comes out of 18:34 a man that defiles him. 18:36 In other words, if you put it in you, it's just a matter 18:40 of time before it has to come out again. 18:43 Out of the heart, Jesus says, flows the issues of life. 18:46 So you put filth in your head, filth will come out 18:52 of your mouth. 18:54 Put filth in your heart, filth will come out of your body. 18:58 It's just a matter of time that whatever is inside of you 19:03 has to come out of you, and if you can't say Amen, 19:07 just say ouch! 19:09 Somebody told me last night, oh, you stepped on my toes. 19:12 I got to go buy me some boots. 19:13 Go get the boots and come to church. 19:16 Now, there's another issue here. 19:20 It's not just on certain standards, it's not just 19:23 unrestrained sexuality, it's not just 19:26 unfulfilled desire, undisciplined lifestyles, but 19:28 number five, what about un-confessed sin that 19:32 gets us in trouble. 19:34 That we refuse to confess the sin in our lives. 19:38 The lord wants us to confess it. 19:42 He says, number one, you've got to recognize your lust. 19:46 What about Mark 7. 19:47 Go there with me. 19:48 Go to the book of Mark. 19:49 Mark, Chapter 7 and let's go to verse 20. 19:53 Let's see what the word of God has to say. 19:56 Mark 7:20. The word of God. 20:02 Jesus himself speaking says, "And he said, 'That which 20:06 cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 20:11 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil 20:15 thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, 20:20 covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an 20:23 evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil 20:28 things come from within, and defile the man.'" One of the 20:37 things that happens is we don't recognize what's 20:39 happening to us. 20:41 And more than that, we refuse to deal with it. 20:44 We just say, well, it ain't me. 20:46 I haven't been caught--yet. 20:49 But you know, you can run from God but you can't hide. 20:54 God is everywhere. 20:57 God is omnipresent. 20:59 God is all places at the same time. 21:03 You never quite get away from God, do you? 21:06 You never get away from the pain and the guilt. 21:10 God is always looking over your shoulder, spirit of God 21:16 moving in where you are, picking up your Bible, you'll 21:20 open your Bible and the spirit of God will confront you on 21:23 every page. 21:26 One last thing. 21:28 Tonight, is there a cure? 21:33 What about the cure for adultery? 21:36 Well, thank and praise God for that. 21:39 Four things. 21:40 The first thing in curing this problem, one is preventative. 21:46 Preventative has four things. 21:50 Number one, agree with God. 21:52 Do what, everybody? 21:53 Find yourself, whether it's adultery, whether it's 21:57 stealing, whether it's lying, whether it's cheating, 22:01 whatever it is, the first thing you need to do is agree 22:05 with God from God's point of view. 22:08 What God wants you to do about the particular situation. 22:11 That's the first thing. 22:13 Because let's be clear, everybody, everyone up in 22:16 here, everyone watching, everyone has a challenge. 22:20 Everyone has a weakness and in order to get the cure, you 22:25 have to agree with God. 22:31 The second thing as recorded in 2 Peter 3:18 is to 22:33 grow in grace. 22:34 Peter says, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord 22:38 Jesus Christ. 22:39 Because you see, friends of mine, the more you get to know 22:43 about the Lord, the more you get to know about Jesus 22:47 Christ, the more you grow in him, the better your 22:50 chances to survive the assault of life. 22:53 The more you walk with Jesus, the more you read of Jesus, 22:57 the more you pray and talk to Jesus, the more you come out 23:02 night after night and study Jesus, the better your chances 23:05 in fighting Satan. 23:07 Ephesians 5 teaches that we--number 3--need to then 23:12 walk in the Spirit. 23:14 The problem with most of us is we want to end something and 23:17 then we walk in the Spirit. 23:19 We want to end it first, then let's walk in the Spirit. 23:21 But it never works that way because there are people who 23:24 come and they listen and they say, as soon as I get myself 23:28 right, then I'm going to walk in the Spirit. 23:31 I've had people come to me night after night, here at the 23:34 revival, Pastor, you're preaching the word of God, the 23:37 seventh day is the Sabbath. 23:39 Pastor, my body is the temple of God. 23:41 Pastor, I need to join this church, I need to join this 23:45 ministry, I need to be baptized, but I need to 23:48 get right first. 23:51 You'll never be right. 23:53 You're righteous, my righteousness is filthy rags 23:55 in the sight of God. 23:58 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 24:00 You have to make up in your mind that, I'm going to 24:05 walk in the spirit of God. 24:07 And let me tell you something. 24:09 As you begin to walk in the Spirit of God, as you begin to 24:12 grow in God's spirit, as you walk, God will then begin to 24:16 flush out unclean areas in your life. 24:20 Number four, the cure. 24:23 Guard yourself with the Spirit of God. 24:28 In the remedial area for a cure for adultery, infidelity, 24:31 ask God to give you a repentant spirit. 24:36 You've got to be sorry. 24:38 When I say sorry, I mean sorry, not sorry you 24:41 got caught. 24:41 Do I have a witness in this place? 24:44 You've got to be repentant. 24:45 John 8:1-11, the woman the Bible teaches was caught in 24:49 the very act of adultery. 24:51 Yes, she got caught, but she was sorry. 24:54 What am I trying to say? 24:55 Don't be wrong and strong. 24:57 And if any man or woman be in Christ, he's a new creature. 25:05 All things are passed away. 25:10 All things become new. 25:16 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 25:20 Thou shalt not make unto me any graven image. 25:24 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 25:27 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 25:32 Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be 25:36 long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth you. 25:39 Thou shalt not kill. 25:42 And thou shalt not commit adultery. 25:51 God is saying to each of us, love me in the way that 25:58 I want to be loved. 26:01 This is how I want you to love me and this is how I want you 26:05 to love your fellow man. 26:09 PB: I would like to thank you very much for tuning in to the 26:12 Breath of Life telecast today. 26:13 I do hope that you were blessed by the word 26:17 of God today. 26:19 I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to 26:21 become a partner of the Breath of Life television ministry. 26:24 That's right, you may give a tax deductible donation and 26:27 partner with us as we seek to give hope and peace of mind to 26:32 the dying world in which we live. 26:34 To contact us feel free to give us a call at 26:37 877-BOL-OFFER. 26:42 Again that's 877-BOL-OFFER. 26:47 Or feel free to write us at the address shown on your 26:50 screen. 26:51 Finally, you can reach us by logging onto our web site at 26:54 www.breathoflife.tv. 27:00 Again, thank you very much for tuning in today and we want to 27:04 thank you in advance for partnering with our ministry. 27:07 May God continue to bless you. 27:08 <: The Breath of Life gift offer this week is "Help In 27:12 Daily Living," a practical guide to everyday blessings by 27:15 renowned Christian author Ellen G. 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Box 340, 27:58 Newbury Park, CA 91319. 27:59 Break out of the ordinary life and into the extraordinary 28:04 life God intended for you to live. 28:07 Get your copy of "Help In Daily Living" today. 28:12 PB: That's why the text says, all have sinned. 28:16 Not you all have sinned. 28:18 There's not any book that talks about sex 28:22 more than the Bible. 28:23 If you put filth in your head, filth will come out |
Revised 2015-02-06