This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Jesus and the Law” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 2, 1986.

First of all, Matthew 5, and we will look at verses 27 and 28. You have heard that it was said to you of old, “You shall not commit adultery,” but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Then from Matthew 19, beginning with verse 3: The Pharisees also came to him, testing him, and said to him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that he who created them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

Therefore they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They say to him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He says to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery. And whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.”

Then Matthew 22, verse 23. On that day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers with us. The first married a wife and died, leaving no children. He left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second, and the third, down to the seventh. And after them all, the woman died. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her.”

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scripture, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. And Exodus, Chapter 20, verse 14: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Our Father, You are the God of holiness, and Lord before You, it is true, we draw back because of that holiness which is Yours. Father, we ask that Your people, even ourselves, may serve You with delight, in the knowledge that Jesus Christ, our holiness, has preceded us, and therefore we have access to You through Him. May we delight, Lord, in serving You in a way consistent with that holiness which has been made ours through Christ.

To this end we preach, to this end we fear. Amen. I was wondering whether I should submit this sermon to a review board for a rating. I doubt if we could rate it G, possibly PG. I do not know about R. We certainly do not want to rate it X. We come to the seventh commandment: Thou shalt not commit adultery.

And I want you to feel something of the circumstances that existed before that commandment broke forth upon Sinai and was delivered to the children of Israel. The world before the coming of God at Sinai—what characterized the mind of man, and we certainly cannot extract from that the mind of those who are closest to God, even the patriarchs. The world, then, before the coming of God at Sinai, with regard to this matter of the relationship between a man and a woman. This matter of marriage and the bond that is to exist between male and female. What of marriage?

I do not think I am telling you anything new by suggesting to you that, in large measure, marriage before Sinai, marriage in the world around Israel, and to a degree within Israel herself, was a matter of economics, a matter of economic relationships and arrangements.

And as marriage pertained to sexuality and to sex, it was primarily for the production of children, specifically heirs, male offspring. Now I know that as we reverse this history and these circumstances, we often feel self-righteous and superior, believing we have moved far beyond those days, at least in Western culture, supposedly. This point is important: marriage was an economic relationship, an arrangement. Families entered into agreements with one another to enhance their property, and they sealed their covenants and bonds through marriage.

Of course, we know how important male heirs were in the world we are discussing. But what about the arrangement itself? We are accustomed to the idea of one man and one woman. We understand this as the original intention, as it appears from the garden. But in the world into which God came at Sinai, there was only a memory of monogamy. We do find examples of it, but economic considerations remained central. You see, many people, the majority, could not afford more than one household. They lacked the property, they lacked the wealth. As we note this fact, that there was a memory of monogamy—a faint image of it—on the earth and in human relationships at that time, we also recognize that there was no external or specific requirement for it. There was no law or legislation regarding it. What might we say about the distribution of marital bonds?

Do you understand something of the circumstances in the ancient world? The patriarchs in this regard proved more honorable. But what if a woman is included in a contract and cannot bear children? What if she is included in a contract and does not bear sons? Then she may be set aside.

And it was perfectly acceptable and expected in the world into which God came. The dissolution of marriage bonds was a common practice. We may think that our world and the freedom we have in this matter in our country is quite extraordinary. This is not true. Divorce is an ancient custom. These features, then, pertain to marriage itself. And the commandment, as you know, concerns marriage. Specifically, it concerns infidelity and adultery. What about adultery in the world into which God came? Was it an evil? Yes, it was an evil. It was regarded as an evil.

We know this. It was so among the families of the Patriarchs. We know it was also true among the nations of the world at that time. We need only consider the experience of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. The Egyptians did not regard adultery favorably.

And Joseph found himself in prison. But that is the point, you see. Joseph found himself in prison. He was not hanged, nor stoned. He found himself in prison. Adultery was regarded as an evil, but it was not considered the severe evil that it became in light of the law of God.

The reason for this is that, once again, the woman was viewed in economic terms. The woman was regarded as property. When there was a case of adultery, it was seen merely as stealing something that belonged to someone else. It was seen as claiming for oneself a piece of property that belonged to someone else.

This was the reasoning, and therefore adultery was judged the same as robbery or theft. But there were other aspects to the treatment of adultery in the ancient world. To be sure, adultery was an evil and was punished. We have considered the reason for this, but was it punished in every case? No, it was not.

You see, some people had permission to commit adultery. There were kings, there were rulers, there were governors, there were people in high positions. It was their right, their privilege, to take whomever they wished for themselves, and it mattered little that those women belonged to someone else. This was the custom of the ancient world, the world into which God came at Simon. Adultery was forbidden to most, but not to others. For them, it was considered a right and a privilege. You can understand something of the fear that Abraham and Isaac felt as they traveled and lived in lands where they believed there was no fear of God. They thought, “They will take my life and kill me.” That is what they believed would happen, because that is how those people lived. There is yet another dimension to this matter, and this relates specifically to sex.

In the ancient world, when we consider the matter of adultery, it was indeed an evil, an evil for most, but not for all. And finally, in this regard, it was a responsibility even for all, because in this matter of sex, the ancient world viewed sex itself as sacred. There was what was called sacred sex practiced in pagan societies, and this sacred sex was considered a religious obligation, a religious duty.

I believe you can understand and see what was happening in the world into which God came. As you know something about the religion of the Canaanites, you realize clearly that the religious practices of the Canaanite tribes included temple prostitution and sacred sex. You also know how strongly the Lord opposed this practice and how deeply it was an abomination to Him.

Take stock of what was happening to the mind of humanity. Marriage in this condition, marriage in a fallen world. The original intention of God was distorted by the debris of human misuse, misunderstanding, and outright perversity. Now, people were establishing shrines and temples to sanctify their ideas and attitudes toward sex. Nothing less was occurring at those shrines than the complete worship of Eros. Do you understand to what extent humanity had fallen? Humanity had moved the original mysteries of sexuality and the sexual relationship between a man and a woman from the marriage bed, for which it was intended, to shrines and temples.

And that became the focus of their delight and desire. Do you think that married sex only recently became routine and dull and filled with jealousy? No. Humanity, in its perversity, has even sanctified it in order to avoid the responsibilities it owes to its own spouse.

You see, the joy, the light, the thrill come from elsewhere. They do not come at home. This is the world into which God came. This is not merely an ancient attitude. Some of you are familiar with the development of literature in the English-speaking world. Some of you know of this development as it relates to the medieval period and a tradition that arose during that time. This tradition was known as the courtly love tradition. Its central idea was that one could not love one’s wife and must instead have a mistress. This idea existed under the appearance of Christian culture and society. This is one more example in this regard.

I know how the Puritans are viewed. When it comes to sex, the Puritans are often thought to be prudish. Nothing is further from the truth. The Puritans were joyful people, believe it or not. They were known for the large amounts of beer they consumed at ordinations. But more than that, they truly enjoyed life in their homes. They loved their wives deeply, and I mean deeply. It has been said more than once: The sin for which the world has never forgiven the pure is the sin of writing love letters to their own wives.

So, some parallels in our own situation, more modern. But you have a picture here of the world into which God came at Simon. This is the state of affairs. You know my thesis. You know what I have been arguing all along, what I have been preaching. The coming of God changes everything. The appearance of God makes all things new. Everything is transformed. If there is progress, and it is not for the sake of progress alone, do not misunderstand me. But if there is progress, if we recognize it and see it, why?

Why does it come? Is it because some activist has taken up a particular moral issue, made it a matter of concern, and promoted it? Something that comes from his own mind. Is it because Karl Marx appeared on the scene in the 19th century? Is that why things change? Is that how we are to understand progress? If there is progress according to human judgment, it comes because God has appeared and set things right, and now we see them as they truly are. God comes, it is final. And His coming means transformation. It means renewal. It means that you can never view even marriage the same again. But this commandment is five short words. It changes everything.

But consider these things. It is true, as you read through the Law of Moses. We are not fully out of the woods yet, because marriage still appears to be based on economic arrangements. There is the agreement between families, the dowry, the exchange of property, and all that goes with it. This is true. But the bonds of marriage have been strengthened. Specific laws have been given to protect the family and even to protect the wife, the woman.

We are not all the way home yet, but the decision has been made. What about monogamy, one man, one woman? Again, we are not all the way home yet. We know that even after the giving of the law, the Israelites practiced polygamy without divine judgment. Polygamy was still common, but monogamy was increasingly practiced, even though there was no explicit command requiring it. And what of divorce?

Again, we are not all the way home yet. But the light is shining. We are told by Jesus in the passage in Matthew, “Because of the hardness of your hearts, God allowed you to divorce your wives. But when he comes, then we will, in effect, be all the way home.” Divorce is now viewed with strong disapproval. It is a new day, even in this matter.

But more specifically now, as it pertains to the matter of adultery, let us understand the transformations that have taken place and their remedial effect. Adultery is an evil. All the world recognized this before, but now adultery is an evil, the seriousness of which is emphasized by the punishment prescribed against it and against those who practice it. For nothing less than the death penalty is the requirement.

Not imprisonment, not the payment of a fine. You see the movement? The woman before, in that circumstance in the ancient world, was merely considered property. But the intrusion of God into its finite reign marks a new day. It is death. It is not imprisonment, as with robbery and theft. It is not the payment of a fine. It is death. And is adultery forbidden to all? Absolutely. Even the high and the mighty? Yes. No one is excluded.

Some have said that there is a tragedy laid within the pages and lines of the Song of Solomon. Some have interpreted the Song of Solomon along these lines. They have said that what is in view there is the taking of a woman promised to someone else, literally married to someone else, or betrothed, by Solomon himself for his own pleasure. What a tragedy, for Israel has fallen to the depths of a nation’s decline by that act, if it is in fact true. Is the King Solomon himself free from the law? Is he above the law?

No. And finally, and probably the most difficult and complex of the matters, we have spoken about the practice of the ancient world concerning sacred places. This now is absolutely forbidden. It is an abomination to the people of God, an abomination before God.

If it was permitted, encouraged, or demanded among the pagans, it is looked upon as an indication of the depths to which the depravity of humanity has gone. This was true before the coming of God at Sinai. The worship of Eros, of sex itself, is categorically rejected.

And such acts are viewed as adultery. But as they are viewed as adultery, a new light is shining upon the whole of the relationship between men and women. Because you see, God is putting things into perspective. That the Israelites would go and frequent these shrines and temples, involve themselves in prostitution, was not seen simply as an act of physical infidelity. It was an act of spiritual infidelity. So you are not speaking here simply of a matter of physical adultery, but of spiritual adultery.

And this, therefore, pushes the whole matter of the relationship between man and woman onto a new plane, and by so doing, mystery is not denied in that relationship, but is purified and reaffirmed in the place where it was intended. The mystery of sex and the mystery of the relationship between a man and a woman are restored to the marriage union as they were meant to be. The focus of a man’s joy and delight, sexually, is to be his wife. And this exalts the woman. And, his wife, Onia.

Do not deceive yourselves. Remember that I was right. I speak to you, knowing the world in which you live. It is not a world to which I am a stranger. I know what you see every day. I know what temptations pass by you while you are out of work. I understand this. But do not deceive yourselves, please. Do you think you can stop by the newsstand? Do you think you can rent that B.C. Army film? Friend, it is sex for money. It is sex for money. You are paying for it. It is prostitution. And your joy is fleeting. Sexually, it is not part of your life. Period. Period. Now you know, we must stop. But I must say, in conclusion, one word more.

The coming of God at Sinai is but a preliminary coming of God. The final appearance prior to the Day of Judgment is the appearance of God in Jesus Christ. And as the passages that we have read this morning suggest, it is with the appearance of Jesus that the wrath is revealed.

And in Him and because of Him, we are coming home. Man to be what he is meant to be. And woman to be all that she is meant to be. Father in heaven, we ask that we may hear the sentiment of Your word, the power of it, that we may be caught up in the realization that the coming of our God changes everything.

And as it was true in the day of Moses, how much more is it true now in the day of Jesus Christ? For in Him all things are made straight and made clear. We are living in the light of His glorious revelation of Your intention for us, yes, male and female, in the world. May You be blessed, O God, by us, in our lives, in our marriages, in the relationships common to life, male and female, Lord Jesus Christ.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.