John Hagee - Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery (10/03/2022)
In this sermon on the Seventh Commandment from Exodus 20:14, the preacher defines adultery as any sex outside biblical marriage between one man and one woman, condemns sexual impurity including pornography and cohabitation, warns of its destructive consequences on families and society, and calls for purity to preserve self-esteem, health, and eternal destiny.
The Seventh Commandment: No Adultery
"Thou shall not commit adultery" is God’s bill of rights for all property owners. No, wait—that was last week. Today: the seventh commandment is very simple. Sex outside of marriage is forbidden. It means to keep sexually pure.
Jesus gave his concept of marriage in Matthew, saying, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife". The two words you should catch here are "Leave" and "Cleave". Say that with me. "Leave" and "Cleave".
It is easier to leave your mother after marriage in Jesus' generation. She did not have a cell phone or a fax or an e-mail or two cars in the garage to track you down and follow you on your honeymoon.
God's Design for Marriage
Fact one, the only marriages God will ever recognize is between a man and a woman. The combination is Adam and Eve, not Adam and Bruce.
Fact two, Jesus said, "For this cause". What cause? For the cause of sexual union, for the cause of creating a family, for the cause to be fruitful and multiply. Do not get married and raise cats and dogs. Have children also. That is God’s primary purpose in marriage.
Radical feminists are attacking marriage, and women, and children, as empty-headed people, meaningless and dysfunctional people. That is absolutely not so. There is nothing more holy. There is nothing more sacred. There is nothing more precious in the sight of God than a godly mother taking care of her children.
God bless every mother committed to her children and to her husband. You are the hope of America. Solomon states that your worth is far above rubies: that you are priceless, precious and priceless. Abraham Lincoln said, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world". May God bless every righteous mother caring for her husband and her children today in the United States of America.
The Seal of the Marital Covenant
Fact three, they twain shall come and be one flesh. "One flesh" means sexual union. Sex is the seal of the covenant. In the Bible, the most binding element of the covenant required the shedding of blood.
Go with me to the scene where God is bequeathing to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants, meaning the Jewish people, forever the land of Israel. In Genesis 15, Abraham took a heifer, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, and split them in half. It was a bloody scene as the carcasses were split.
And God walked between the carcasses, reciting the contents of the covenant. The smoking lamp and the burning furnace was the symbolic form of God himself passing between the pieces, reciting the contents of the covenant. Basically said that God gave the Promised Land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their seed forever by blood covenant.
And when the dust settles in the Middle East, Israel will own all of the land that God promised. Iran cannot stop that. The United Nations cannot stop that. Russia cannot stop that. Israel belongs to the Jewish people completely and forever!
So what does the blood covenant have to do with marriage? When a man marries a virgin, the rupturing of the hymen is the shedding of blood. It is the seal of the covenant, and it is binding for life. "What God has put together, let no man put asunder". The sexual union seals the covenant.
Marriage Illustrated: Like Mashed Potatoes
Marriage is a lot like making mashed potatoes. Bring that. Bring that out here. I know a lot of people have never seen potatoes like this, but this is what they look like before you get to Whataburger.
Meet Mr. And Mrs. Potato. They are individuals. They are sovereign. They have their own opinions. They think everything is hunky-dory in their own universe. And then they agree to get married. Uh.
And shortly after they are married, she says, "All you want to do is play golf three times a week, and ignore me. And my mother told me this is exactly how you were going to be. And if that is how you are going to be, I want you to pack up and move out, because I will never be able to stand you".
He comes back, "All you know how to fix for supper are what you can stuff in the oven. And by the time I eat it, it is not good enough to feed the dog. That is all you can do. Why did I ever marry you? My momma told me you were no good".
That keeps going until you look like this. And then you are thrown into hot water where you are pulled out and you get mashed, just thoroughly mashed, just thoroughly mashed. And then after about ten years, you look like this. You cannot tell one from the other. You lose your identity. You think alike. You talk alike. You are alike. That is marriage. It is not easy. Can I get an "Amen"?
Jesus Raises the Standard on Lust
Jesus said, "Whosoever looks on a woman and lusts after her has committed adultery with her already". Now think about that. In the Old Testament under the law of Moses, you could look at a woman and lust and lust and lust. As long as you did not have sex with her, you were alright.
Now comes Jesus of Nazareth, who is putting the constitution and bylaws of the church in Matthew 5, 6 and 7, and he makes this statement: "If you look at a woman and lust after her, you have committed adultery already". Do you read pornographic magazines? Do you watch porno on the internet? Hmmm. Jesus said you are committing adultery. Hmmm.
Under the law of Moses, you could look and lust. But Jesus said that is out. Jesus raised the bar in Matthew 5. If it is in your heart, you have done it. And on that basis, most of the churches in America need to recognize they are not pure because God says so, not because John Hagee says so, but because the Word of God says so. And you will answer for that when you stand in front of God.
Get pornography out of your life. Get those magazines you have hidden under the bed out of your life.
Why Adultery Is Forbidden: Destruction of Family
Why is adultery forbidden? I repeat, because it destroys the family. Why is America coming apart at the seams? Because the traditional family is falling apart. It has been for 50 years.
Why are gangs in the street ruling our cities? Because the children of America suffer from the phantom father, the father who abandoned them, the father who was never there, the father who released them to the thugs in the street. And now, they are the ones that are burning down the cities. They are the ones that are shooting the cops. They are the ones that are looking for guidance. They found it. They found it in the dope culture.
Feminists attack marriage and childbearing as slavery and bondage. The government subsidizes fornication. Have an illegitimate child, and the government will give you a monthly check. The tax laws punish those who marry and reward those who shack up.
By the way, if you are living with someone that you are not married to, one of you move out, and move out today! You are living in adultery!
Adultery Destroys Self-Esteem and Fellowship
Why is adultery forbidden? Because it destroys self-esteem. It destroys fellowship with God. And when you are cut off from God, life is not worth living.
The true story from a Washington newspaper, it tells of a young morally-emancipated couple, who defied the seventh commandment. They were found locked in each other’s arms in a gas-filled apartment.
On the table was a letter that had been written by the woman. Quote, the letter said, "We have been accustomed to laugh, Fred and I, at the moral code as a set of manmade rules to frighten timid people into being good. But we now have learned through our own experience, 'the wages of sin is death'. Yes, many times worse than death. It is actually hell on earth," end of quote.
They pried their dead bodies apart and buried them after they committed suicide.
Fatherless Children and Societal Rage
Adultery is forbidden because it produces a child that will never know its father, who will live life with a hole in its heart, an emotional cripple that will live all the days of its life.
America’s streets are asphalt jungles. They are filled with millions of children who do not know their father. And that is why the rage and burning down the cities and robbing the stores and shooting policemen.
If there was ever a day for these major cities, woke cities, to reconsider their sanity, is rehire every policeman and give them a raise.
Adultery Reduces Marriage Chances
Hello, singles. Listen up. Adultery is forbidden because it drastically reduces your chance of marriage.
Sweetheart, the more you give yourself sexually to that clown you are living with the less your chance to capture prince charming. He will dump you and go on to new conquests. The unknown is fascinating. Throw that away, and you are out of the game. You are just garbage.
Young lady, if some hormone hurricane has the urge to merge with you, and tries to get you to sacrifice your virginity to prove your love, slap his face until his ears ring like chapel bells, and call your daddy.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Death
Adultery is forbidden, because sexually transmitted diseases will kill you. "The wages of sin is death" is not an illusion: it is a reality.
God did not command us to stay sexually pure because he did not know how much fun it is. He knows! He also knew sexual impurity could kill you. That is love. It is not legalism.
Statistics reveal that 60% of high school girls by the age of 15 had sexual intercourse, 70% of boys. Remember, when you get into bed with someone, you are going to bed with perhaps several hundred people.
Recently, CNN carried a report that 40% of America’s high school students admitted to having sex with four to six partners. That is how sexual diseases are spreading like fire, immorality. And you cannot get a shot for immorality. God’s cure is the seventh command. Stay sexually pure. Be moral. Abstain. What is wrong with that? Nothing!
Eternal Consequences of Impurity
The Bible’s position on adultery is very clear. Moses did not write it down, and then the rest of the Bible forget it. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 6, "Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned"?
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God"? "The unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God". That means you are not going to heaven!
Now here are the people he considers unrighteous, Paul. The Holy Spirit is saying this through Paul. "Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, or abusers of themselves with mankind… Shall inherit the Kingdom of God".
According to saint Paul, and the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, if you were sexually impure, you are not going to heaven. John wrote in Revelation 21:8, there are eight groups of people that will spend eternity in outer darkness.
I am going to read them. I am asking you, "Are you on this list"? "But the fearful". Who are "The fearful"? "The fearful" are people who were afraid to confess that Jesus Christ was Lord.
If someone ever asks you, "Is Jesus the Lord of your life"? You look them in the eye and say, "Absolutely. How about you"? Be bold. Be strong. Stand up. You believe in something: speak it out. Certainly the ungodly are not afraid to tell you what they believe.
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake of fire that burns with brimstone. This is the second death". That is very clear!
Joseph vs. David: Choices and Outcomes
The Old Testament reactions to adultery. Let us compare the actions of Joseph in Egypt and king David. Both were mighty men of God. Joseph was a slave in Egypt. He was seduced by Potiphar’s desperate housewife. "Come lie with me," she says.
Now here are reasons why Joseph could have easily said, "Yes". One, he was a slave. There was no moral code for slaves. Two, he was out of town. No one knew him. He was strong every time.
What did it cost him? It cost him 12 years in the penitentiary. You say, "Society would have looked at him and said, 'you are a stupid boy'". But God looked down and said, "That is my champion. I am going to promote him from that penitentiary to being the second in command in the greatest nation on the face of the earth".
When the from the pit to the palace, from the prison to the penthouse in one day. He became the second most powerful man in all of the earth, because he was loyal to God’s moral code.
What about king David? King David was driven to murder, and the sword of sorrow never departed from his house. His daughter was raped. His son, Absalom, was a rebel, who was slaughtered, hanging by his hair by one of David’s generals.
David was forbidden to build the temple because God said, "You are a bloody man". Why? Because he killed the husband of Bathsheba, because he had impregnated her. God did not allow him to build the temple, which is what he considered his top priority in life. His top priority in life was lost because he violated the law of God.
God did not stop loving him. But God did not allow him to accomplish his destiny.
Practical Steps to Sexual Purity
How can we keep clean? Face the fact that the seventh commandment is given to save your life, your marriage, your emotional and mental health, and your soul. Keep it!
This is straight from my mother’s lips. She raised four sons. She said, "Do not date anyone you would not marry, because you will marry someone you date". Boy, that is a tough standard for a teenager even then.
Getting a date with my mother in the house, you could join the FBI quicker than that. Bible: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers". If you had not dated her to start with, if you had not dated him to start with, you would not want to marry that person now.
Here is what you do, young person. Tell him or her, "Change now or get lost". "Stop drinking now or get lost". "Get a job now or get lost". "Go to church now or get lost". "Find Jesus now or get lost. Bye".
Remember that you belong to God and you are far more precious to him than you know. I think one of the great things that we are going to discover in heaven is how much God loved us and how much he wanted to do for us if we would just have obeyed the things he asked us to do.
The Bible says, "Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit". The Holy Spirit is living in you, allegedly, if you are submitted to God.
You Are Precious Like Undiscovered Diamonds
The true story: one day in South Africa, a man stopped to watch young boys playing marbles. He noticed that the marbles flashed and sparkled in the sunlight. His curiosity was aroused. Upon investigation, he discovered to his amazement that the boys playing marbles were playing marbles with diamonds. Those diamonds were worth millions of dollars. They had no idea their real value.
The point is, I believe we have no idea how precious you, you, and you are to God. You are God’s child. He sent his son to this earth to die for you: that you can have eternal life. You are God’s treasure. He wants to show you his love. He wants to show you his miracle-working power.
The miracle power of Jesus Christ should be manifested in the church, because God desires for you to have his very best. We are the bride of Christ. The ministry of Jesus Christ was a ministry of miracles. The Bible is a book of miracles. Christians should live their lives expecting a miracle.
The Bible says, "Nothing is impossible to those that believe". Jesus said, "Whatsoever you ask the father in my name, he will do it". Say that with me. "He will do it".
John 2:23, "Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover… Many believed in his name". Why? "Because of the miracles which he did," not what he spoke, not what he taught, but because of the supernatural power of God that was demonstrated in his life.
A Miracle Moment in the Church
Why not have a miracle moment at Cornerstone Church on Sunday morning at the close of the service like we are going to do right now where every person in the building, who wants a miracle, should be given the opportunity to pray for that miracle?
There is an awesome, supernatural power in this sanctuary. Now think in these terms: the Bible says, "When just two or three of you get together, you have the power to say to a mountain, 'be moved and cast into the sea'". That, my friend, is power.
We are several thousand people here. There is enough supernatural energy in this room to conquer every cancer, to bring every prayer that you have been praying to reality, for the walls of Jericho to fall down in your defense: that God will give you the desires of your heart.
But you have not because you ask not. The Bible says, right now in this service, that God has the ability to meet your every need. "Ask and you shall receive". Say that with me. "Ask and you shall receive".
So I am saying to you right now, if you need a miracle in your body, a miracle in your marriage, your emotions, fear, anger, resentment, you need a miracle in your family because there is a lack of unity, there is division and there is bitterness, or you are a businessman and you need God’s direction in a business opportunity, America, as a nation, needs a spiritual and moral revival. And that is going to require a miracle.
If you need a miracle and you believe that Jesus will give it to you, I believe he loves you enough to give it to you today. I want you to stand. I want to pray that God will give you that miracle.
For the next couple of minutes, I want you to raise your voice and lift your hands, and you ask God for the miracle that you need.
Heavenly Father, thousands of people at Cornerstone Church right now are talking to you about the miracle that they need in their lives. Right now in this service, marriages are being saved, families are being reunited: fear, anger, and resentment are being conquered. The miracle of unity is coming to families. Businessmen, who need God’s direction in a business opportunity, are experiencing that right now.
The miracle of a spiritual awakening in America can be a reality, because where two or three of you have gathered together, I will be there. Therefore, the Lord of hosts is in this sanctuary right now. And every word we speak is being recorded in heaven. And every barrier is being broken. And every form of resistance is collapsing, because the Kingdom of God will endure. Righteousness will conquer evil. Good will conquer the bad, because the Lord of hosts is in the house! Give him praise and the glory of God!
The miracle of a spiritual awakening in America can be a reality, because where two or three of you have gathered together, I will be there. Therefore, the Lord of hosts is in this sanctuary right now. And every word we speak is being recorded in heaven. And every barrier is being broken. And every form of resistance is collapsing, because the Kingdom of God will endure. Righteousness will conquer evil. Good will conquer the bad, because the Lord of hosts is in the house! Give him praise and the glory of God!