Read Textual Sermon from John Hagee
The Seventh Commandment
What do we mean by adultery? The seventh commandment is very simple: sex outside of marriage is forbidden—period. It means keep sexually pure. Some of you believe that you are sexually pure, but in just a minute I’m going to introduce you to the teaching of Jesus Christ in the Book of Matthew, and you’re going to wonder about that. You may not be as pure as you think you are.
Jesus gave His concept of marriage, saying, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife.” Listen to those two words: He shall leave and cleave. Say that with me: He shall leave and cleave.
Fact number one: The only marriages God will ever recognize are between a man and a woman—Adam and Eve, not Adam and Bruce.
[Bible – Genesis 2:24, KJV] “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Fact two: Jesus said, “for this cause.” What cause? For the cause of sexual union, for the cause of creating a family—be fruitful and multiply. That’s God’s primary purpose in marriage. Radical feminists attack marriage and women who have children as empty-headed, meaningless, and dysfunctional. That’s not so. There is nothing more holy, there is nothing more sacred, there is nothing more precious in the sight of God than the godly mother caring for her children. God bless every mother committed to her children and to her husband. You are the hope of America. Solomon says your worth is far above rubies. You are priceless. You are precious. Men, can I hear an amen? Abraham Lincoln said, “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”
Fact three: “And they twain shall become one flesh.” One flesh—that’s the sexual union. Sex is the seal of the covenant. In the Bible, the most binding form of covenant required the shedding of blood. There are three kinds of covenants in the Bible: the salt covenant, the shoe covenant, and the blood covenant. The blood covenant was the greatest covenant; it was unbreakable. When God gave Abraham and his seed the covenant for the Holy Land in Genesis 15, Abraham took a heifer, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon, and cut them in half. He walked between the halves with God; the smoking lamp in that Scripture is the symbol of God. 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.
Jesus continues with fact four: “Wherefore they are no more twain”—meaning two—“but one flesh.” When you get married, God sees both of you, or He sees neither of you.
Marriage is like making mashed potatoes; it’s a good illustration. You start out with things that are separate and sovereign, wrapped in their own flesh and happy about it. Then the honeymoon is over and life begins—things like, “If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen,” or, “If your mother doesn’t stop calling here every 30 minutes, I’m going to rip the phone out of the wall.” As your life progresses, two individual potatoes are skinned alive. Then they go into the next phase: cut into pieces and thrown into boiling hot water, where they sweat it out together month after month in intense heat. Now the cook takes a metal masher and crushes them until you can’t tell one from the other. They look alike, they talk alike, they think alike—they are now one flesh. That’s marriage. It’s not easy. Can I get an amen?
Jesus, in fact five, says, “Therefore what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” The sexual union seals the covenant. Your marriage is like a tea bag: you don’t know how strong it is until you put it in hot water. One old maid said, “What do I need with a man? I have a stove that smokes, a parrot that curses, and a cat that stays out all night.”
This commandment is not just for married people; it’s for singles as well. Jesus said—listen up, men—“Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already.”
[Bible – Exodus 20:14, KJV] “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
[Bible – Matthew 5:27–28, KJV] “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
In the Old Testament, you could look and lust; in the New Testament, Jesus raised the bar. Think about it: if you look at “Miss Beautiful” walking down the beach in a bathing suit that leaves her 90% naked—“Oh, Jesus, where are You now? You certainly knocked the lights out, Lord, when You made that.” Back in the day, it took a cotton gin a whole day to make enough cotton to have enough fabric to make a woman’s dress. Today a silkworm can do it on his lunch break. Under the Law of Moses, you could look and lust; as long as you did not have sex, you were safe. But when Jesus raised the bar of morality, He said if you look and lust, you’ve committed adultery. On that basis, most of the churches in America need to hear this message, because you’re not nearly as pure as you think you are.
Why is adultery forbidden? Because it destroys the family. There it is—it destroys the family. Why is America coming apart at the seams? Because the traditional family is falling apart. Why are gangs in the streets taking over the cities of America? Because the children of America suffer from the phantom father—father who is absent from them, father who refuses to give them leadership—so they go into the street looking for leadership. The phantom father lives in the same house with the children, but he never spends time with them. That’s wrong— that’s wrong.
Feminists attack marriage and childbearing as slavery and bondage. The government subsidizes fornication: “Have an illegitimate baby and the government will give you a monthly check.” The IRS tax laws punish those who are married and reward those who are immoral. Now 87,000 IRS agents are coming to your house to check to make sure you’re keeping that law. Transgender ideology is an effort to remove masculine leadership from American society; think about that. And it’s a war against women. Men who identify as women are now allowed to compete against women in athletic events. Thanks to Governor Abbott, this is against the law in Texas. I have an idea—very soon that’s going to be the law all over America.
God’s law demands masculine leadership.
[Bible – Ephesians 5:23, NKJV] “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”
The husband is the spiritual authority of the home—period. Some women say, “Well, I can’t trust my husband to lead because I just can’t trust his decisions.” I guess not; look who he decided to marry!
In America, child abuse has become a national epidemic. The Bible says children are a gift of God, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Childbearing is an act of love. Many moderns are too wrapped up in themselves; they are too self-infatuated, self-centered to spare love for another human being. A poison tree bears no fruit. You’re not bearing fruit because you’re sophisticated; it’s because you’re self-centered, arrogant, godless, and have no care for the next generation.
Has God placed a precious dream in your heart—one that you’ve gently tucked away? Perhaps it feels overwhelmed, too big, or too costly, and you wonder, “What if I stumble? Where do I begin?” Take heart: when God plants a dream within you, He also gives you everything you need to make it a reality. Our part is to stay close to His Word. If God brings you to it, He will surely bring you through it.
A civilization sick with humanism, socialism, skepticism, and narcissism is producing a small group of society’s most precious treasure—children. America’s birth rate is lower now than in 1944, when 7.5 million men were at war serving this country overseas. Think about that. Listen up, young people: Who will be there to comfort you in your latter years? And your latter years are coming, one at a time. You will one day wake up, look in the mirror, and say, “Who in God’s name is that?” It’s you. It has been said, and I repeat: grandchildren are God’s reward for not killing your own children when they were teenagers.
God’s command to Adam and Eve is valid for the 21st century: be fruitful and multiply. Say that—be fruitful and multiply. A true story from a Washington newspaper tells of a young, morally emancipated couple who defied the seventh commandment. They were found locked in each other’s arms, having committed suicide because they were so disturbed with the quality of their lives. They pried their dead bodies apart and said, “We have learned through our own experience the wages of sin is death—many times worse than death, hell on earth, as a matter of fact.” End of quote. They pried their dead bodies apart and buried them, because you do not break the laws of God—the laws of God will break you.
[Bible – Proverbs 6:27, KJV] “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?”
Adultery is forbidden because it produces a child that will never know its father, who will live a life with a hole in the heart and emotional ——— all the days of life. America’s streets are asphalt jungles filled with millions of children who do not know their father. They’re burning our cities down, they’re robbing our stores, they’re shooting the police—why? Because they’ve never been instructed by a godly father on how to conduct themselves. That’s why adultery is forbidden.
Adultery drastically reduces your chance of marriage. Listen closely, sweetheart: the more you give yourself sexually, the less chance you have to capture Prince Charming. He will dump you and go to other conquests. The unknown is fascinating—throw that away and you’re out of the game. God did not command us to stay sexually pure because He doesn’t know how much fun it is. He knows—and He also knows sexual impurity can destroy you. That’s God’s love, not legalism. Be committed in loyalty to one person for life, and you’ll live a joyful, happy life.
The Bible’s position on adultery is very clear. Moses didn’t write it down and then the rest of the Bible’s authors forget it. Solomon said in Proverbs 6 that sexual fire burns. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind… shall inherit the kingdom of God.” Without repentance and God’s forgiveness, you are not going to heaven.
[Bible – 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, KJV] “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators… nor adulterers… nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind… shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
Why am I preaching sermons like this? Because someday I’m going to stand in front of God and give an account for every sermon I preached, and I don’t want God to look me in the eye and say, “You didn’t have the nerve to touch on that because it wasn’t congruous to the crooked society in which you were living.” And you’re going to give an account of what you do with what I’m presenting here. Without repentance and God’s forgiveness, none of us are going to go to heaven. I assure you, every night I pray the Lord’s Prayer, because I’m sure I have done something that day that was wrong. Let me help you with that: we are all fatally flawed flesh. None of us is perfect. The only perfect person who ever walked on this earth was crucified by the Roman government. God has not given us these truths to torment us; He’s given us these truths to reward us, so that our life on earth can be rich, and our life with Him in eternity will be beyond the wildest joy you can possibly imagine. If we will do it God’s way, it’s going to be a wonderful way. Amen.
Jesus Raises the Standard
Let’s 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 wife. She repeatedly asked Joseph, “Come lie with me.” Reasons why he could have said yes: He was a slave; there was no moral code for slaves. He was out of town, in a foreign country. Who are you when you go out of town? She asked him several times. It may be easy to say no once, but over and over again? His morality saved his life. He rejected every time she offered. “This will be a sin against God,” he said. “I can’t do it.”
But then consider King David and Bathsheba. Bathsheba was bathing naked on the rooftop. David saw her. He was the king; he could have what he wanted, and generally he got it—and in this case he did. He sent for her and committed adultery. He got her pregnant. He had her husband Uriah murdered to cover his sin.
What was the result of these two decisions? Joseph rose to become the prime minister of Egypt, the second most powerful man on the face of the earth. He reached his divine destiny. He saved Egypt and the Jewish people from starvation with his interpretation of dreams. Those Jewish people produced Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who produced Jesus Christ, who died for you and me. Joseph’s life affected every person in this room and every person listening who has received Jesus Christ, because he was loyal to the moral code of God.
Almighty David, on the other hand, was driven to commit murder, and his house was filled with destruction. His daughter was raped by his son. His other son Absalom was a rebel who was slaughtered, hanging by his hair from a tree. When the general in David’s army rode up and saw him hanging, he threw three spears through his heart while he screamed. Twenty-two thousand men in David’s army were killed fighting Absalom’s army. Absalom was a brat who didn’t have his father’s attention. David was forbidden to build the temple because he did not reach potential. He died with the blood of an innocent man on his hands. Those nineteen wars he fought counted for very little when it came to his potential.
How can we keep clean? Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers. Think about that. If you didn’t date her or him to start with, you wouldn’t want to marry them eventually. Don’t date anybody you wouldn’t think about marrying. Love at first sight is generally cured by a second look. There are two periods in a man’s life when he doesn’t understand women: that’s before he’s married, and after he’s married.
Listen to the statement of an absolute fool: “Oh, he’ll change after he marries me.” Wrong. “Oh, she’ll change after she marries me.” Wrong, wrong, wrong. Tell him or her to change now, or get lost. Get a job now. Go to church now. Receive Jesus now. Don’t marry a promise; marry performance. Not “I’m going to do,” but “What have you done?”—that’s what you want.
Purity, Identity, and Belonging to God
In closing, remember that you belong to God, and you are far more precious to Him than you know. I think about that on a regular basis—how much God loved us, that He would send His only Son to the cross to die to save me and every one of you.
The Bible says, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” The true story: one day in South Africa, a man stopped to watch young boys who were playing marbles. He noticed that the marbles flashed and sparkled in the sunlight. His curiosity was aroused. He stopped his car, got out, and upon investigation discovered to his amazement that the boys were playing marbles with diamonds. They were worth a fortune; they had no idea how valuable they were. You have no idea how precious you are to God. You are His child. His Son gave His life to save you. You are God’s treasure. He wants to show you His love now. He wants to show you His miracle-working power for your life. He wants to give you a pure and holy life. He wants you to have joy that is unspeakable. He wants you to have peace that surpasses understanding. He wants you to have hope for the future. He wants you to have prosperity in every dimension of your life. But it’s up to you. It’s up to you to do it God’s way to have what God has.
Can we stand? How many of you know the Lord’s Prayer? I want us to say that together today. This is the prayer I pray every night before I go to bed, because I’m sure I have done something God didn’t really like that day. Say the Lord’s Prayer:
“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; and may the Lord give you His peace. May you leave this assembly determined to keep God’s Ten Commandments, for they are the path to righteousness that leads to the throne of God. They are the path that brings peace, love, joy, confidence, and success. They are God’s blueprint for your future. Read it, live it, enjoy it—because it’s God’s will for your life. In the authority of Jesus’ name we pray, and all of God’s children said, Amen.
Note on Scripture Insertions:
- Genesis 2:24; 2) Exodus 20:14; 3) Matthew 5:27–28; 4) Ephesians 5:23; 5) Proverbs 6:27; (1 Corinthians 6:9–10 referenced and quoted within the limit.)
Questions this sermon answers:
- What does the seventh commandment forbid, and why?
- How does Jesus expand the definition of adultery?
- Why is sexual purity vital for individuals, families, and society?
- What are the covenantal purposes of marriage?
- What are the contrasting outcomes of sexual integrity (Joseph) versus sexual sin (David)?
- How can believers pursue purity in relationships and marriage?
